Some quick hits on the election now underway --
Enclave picks out a telling Congressional vote cast by Senate candidate Harold Ford Jr.:
"After much thought, I have decided that I cannot in good conscience vote for a man who supports the notion of detaining American citizens without the writ of habeas corpus. My Democratic friends need not bother to tell me how important taking back Congress in November is. Taking back Congress matters little to me when we face a bleak future of omnipotent Bush-picked tribunals declaring anyone an "unlawful enemy combatant." Congress has made itself moot in such a world."
State pundits and bloggers participate in a lively political roundtable about the Tennessee Senate race. Go listen!
From Facing South, R. Neal has a post about the whirlwind Religious Right campaign via the dubious James Dobson to support a referendum on Tennessee's ballot to amend the constitution. The proposed change is totally unwarranted and unnecessary - there's already a law on the books stating that marriage is defined to be between a man and a woman. I see no reason for this referendum other than to scare up some voters who fear "The Gays". So vote no.
The other referendum to amend the constitution is a non-binding change that merely opens up the possibility of freezing property taxes for senior citizens -- which could lead to a different tax structure in every county. What's the point of this referendum? Maybe another effort to get a certain group of voters to the polls??
I was reading some numbers on this year's primary for the US Senate and noted that Harold Ford Jr received over 333,000 votes (total votes in the Democrat primary were 415,900) while Corker received just over 230,000 (total votes in the GOP primary were 481,187). This race is soooo close, but I would imagine keeping an eye on which candidate carries Hamilton County may show who the winner will be .... maybe. Ford's number will certainly increase the farther west you travel in Tennessee.
Your predictions are welcome.
Thanks for sharing that quote by Ford. I support him anyway, but I was unaware of his firm stance against torture or pulling the rug on habeas corpus.
ReplyDeleteI may send him a few more bucks.
You're right...its going to be really, really close, and I don't think Jr. will win. Tennessee voters aren't that smart. Dobson ammendments are the natural evolution of Karl Rove fear politics, and it works like a good cotton gin.
Check out the post at my place today about Corker's and RNC's campaign ads.