"Tenn. Sen . Thompson won't seek re-election"

dow jones news | 03/08/02 | dow jones

[JDGreen123]

Right. McWherter served 8 years and had to leave due to term limits. Sundquist beat Nashville's tax and spend mayor Phil Bredesen in 1994. The Democrats are running Bredesen again in 2002 vs. Van Hilleary, current US Congressman.

[ListeningLady]

I've got family in Shelby Country in the liberal John Tanner's district--and they will vote in a heartbeat for Ed Bryant or any other conservative who runs for the Senate.

Furthermore my family, as well as many others I know in Shelby County outside of metro Memphis, will literally crawl to the polls to vote for anyone who runs against Harold Ford, Jr. His family's brand of politics does not sit well with many of the Tennesseans I know. Memphis is not the hometown I fondly remember--and the Ford family is a major cause of my current disillusionment. Sensible folks in Tennessee feel the same way.

[sport]

fbi file, my friend, fbi file

hillary and bill tell Moyahan to retire in order for hillary to get his seat in the Senate.
They tell jeffords to switch.
They play lott like a fish on a line
They tell Thompson not to run for re-election.

Results, gore runs for Senate seat, hillary runs for President.

[tdadams]

If you don't like to be called a "hayseed", don't refer to others as a "boy", as you did to me. Okay? Outright humor and appropriate sarcasm is one thing. IMO, your remark was out of line.

Since you're not from the southeast, you wouldn't know that what I said originally is often said (verbatim) humorously to visitors here. I think it was a line from a movie, but I'm not sure. So, it was meant in complete jest and not at all as a slight toward you personally.

In any case, peace.

[tdadams]

I am not from TN, but I thought Sundquist beat a non-incumbent in 1994.

This is true. At one time, Don Sundquist was a model Republican. His popularity couldn't have been higher. That all changed in 1999. That's when Don went psychotic (and I'm saying that half joking and half seriously - with his bizarre behavior lately, I sincerely believe he may be having mental health issues). Overnight, he became public enemy number one, as documented by my protest photos from the July 12th storming of the capitol.

I think a lot of the intricacies of Tennessee politics and how things have been shifting and changing over the last 3 years specifically and 10 years in general are lost on people outside the state.

[tdadams]

Maybe this photo best illustrates how Tennesseans feel about Don Sundquist.

This is some of the kinder stuff too. Protests at the capitol were nearly an every day occurance during last year's legislative session. I've seen people dressed up like a Nazi wearing a picture of Sundquist on their face and a name badge of "Adolf Sundquist" if that gives you some idea how people here hate this guy.

If Sundquist were to announce he's stepping down from office, Tennessee would look something like Berlin in the fall of 1989 when the wall came down. People would be crying tears of joy, cheering in the streets, and partying like their team just won the Super Bowl (which it almost did in 2000, BTW, go Titans!).

[tdadams]

I imagine TN is ready to return to its liberal Democrat roots, a la Gore, Kefauver, Hull, Cooper, etc.

I have to diagree with you. I live just blocks from the capitol and work very closely with Tennessee politics on levels ranging from neighborhoods all the way to Washington. Tennessee has been trending more conservative and Republican over the last 10 years. No Democrat has won a statewide office since 1992.

[aristeides]

If Gore gets the Senate seat, I'm not sure it helps Hillary run, in 2004, at least. However, it would help the Dems keep the Senate, which at the moment is the only way they can block Bush appointments to the judiciary. Maybe they decided they had to blackmail Thompson into withdrawing because they decided they could not win the presidential election in 2004.

Bush recess appointments to the judiciary are the obvious way to foil this little plan. I wonder when the Bush administration will decide that is the way to go.

[linn37]

He's a pretty boy so its a shame he's liberal? I wish you people sighing over his looks had heard this punk and the nasty crap he said about Bush during the election and the recount. Then you would seem him for the ugly little troll that he is.(sorry just had to get it out of my system)

[JoeMomma]

I've got family in Shelby Country in the liberal John Tanner's district--and they will vote in a heartbeat for Ed Bryant or any other conservative who runs for the Senate.

My big problem with Bryant is that he is an H-1B visa supporter -- hardly a conservative position.

[JoeMomma]

[Decentralize]

My big problem with Bryant is that he is an H-1B visa supporter -- hardly a conservative position.

To be fair though that does seem to be the only immigration issue on which he is weak. (See his Report Card)

[D. Miles]

The age requirement in age 30, Ford is 31. I had a senior moment and couldn't recall the age needed to run for the senate, sorry!

[Wphile]

Hey, no problem. I couldn't remember either!

[JoeMomma]

Perhaps. But the H-1B visa issue is one that actually harms working Americans. Just a classic case where Ed Bryant puts CEO values (and campaign contributions) over those of regular hard-working Americans. What's sad is that not many people know that he is an H-1B supporter.

[ListeningLady]

You are right on the H-1B visa point--but I do think Bryant is conservative on most other issues. There are other possible candidates that I am sure would probably line up better for our cause on every single issue than Ed Bryant.

The point I am making, however, is that, positively and without a doubt, Ed Bryant would be a better senator than either Al Gore or Harold Ford, Jr. And, if Bryant turns out to be the Republican candidate running against a typical liberal Tennessee Democrat, then I and my family will use whatever influence we have to support Bryant's efforts.

[JoeMomma]

It's probably because Bryant's unprincipled (and CEO-cash-influenced) stance on H-1B is one that directly affects my trade -- computer programming. I'm not a particularly conservative fellow, but I'm not at all liberal either (I did vote for Bush and the entire GOP ticket in 2000). Lamar Alexander is running too, so it'll be a conservative vs moderate showdown. Alexander is the best fit for Tennessee, but I think given the current state of the GOP in Tennessee, Bryant would (sadly) win a primary.

On the Democratic side, Gore's already stated he's not running. Harold Ford Jr is not a liberal in the sense of his father or even Al Gore. Ford is actually a pretty centrist politician (one of the Blue Dogs, like Tanner) -- economically moderate/conservative and socially liberal/libertarian. It's unfortunate that his last name is Ford, because he's actually nothing like his family in terms of politics and character.