Whither Tennessee's Senate Race?

Maybe it's because pollsters and pundits have decided that Tennessee will be stained a deep red this political season.

Maybe it's because voters here are still fatigued from 2006's exhausting Senate race between Democrat Harold Ford Jr. and the ultimate victor, Republican Bob Corker.

Maybe it's because it's been a good year for the roses.

I don't know. Your guess is as good as mine.

Whatever the reason, something seems to have stymied a race that many viewed as a golden opportunity to unseat one of the biggest phonies to ever represent the Volunteer State, Republican U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander.

An extreme rightwing conservative who passes himself off as a populist moderate, Alexander enters this election season of "change" as a candidate who cannot escape his allegiance to a party that has shifted so hard to the right that Richard Nixon and Barry Goldwater would be considered liberals by its current standards.

He comes off like a kindly old grandfather, but like it or not, Alexander's folksy demeanor cannot hide the one thing his conservative backers treasure most: his voting record.

For example, in 2005 Alexander voted against a bill that would fund education and contraceptives to combat teen pregnancy. (Republican family values?)

A year later, he voted in favor of changing the Constitution to prevent same-sex marriage and to ban flag desecration. (Apparently, Alexander thinks he knows better than our nation's Fore Fathers what's best for our citizens.)

When it comes to education, Alexander is a man of the people, right?

Not so fast. Incredibly (or not), Alexander -- who was President George H.W. Bush's Secretary of Education -- earned an abysmal 27% rating from the National Education Association (NEA) in 2003, indicating a shameful anti-public education record. In the years that followed, he voted against investing in community learning centers; against $5 billion for grants to local educational agencies; and against redirecting $11 billion from corporate tax loopholes to education.

These are but a few of the truths that shatter Alexander's deceptive image as a middle-of-the-road moderate.

When is Democratic challenger Bob Tuke going to fully engage this George Bush-like impostor?

We can only hope it's sooner than later. Otherwise there won't be enough time to list the ways in which Alexander is out of step with Tennessee -- and the number of times he has voted against our interests.

John Brake is the former chairman of Tennessee's Williamson County Democratic Party. He is also a columnist for the Williamson Herald.

Tennessee's Bob Tuke Blasts Republicans on Financial Crisis

In his weekly message to Tennessee voters, Bob Tuke, Democratic candidate for the US Senate, lambasts Republican economic policy. Tuke is challenging incumbent Republican Lamar Alexander in the November election. Mr. Tuke writes: 

We all have been reading about something I never thought I would see - the failure or takeover of three of the largest and most venerable investment banks in America, together with the failure of several commercial banks and mortgage lenders across the United States. Add to those catastrophes the threats to the financial viability of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae and the insurance giant AIG, and we face a financial industry crisis we have not witnessed since the Great Depression. 

Of course this crisis does not necessarily mean there will be a world-wide financial collapse, but such a collapse is possible unless there is substantially better financial governance in the next several weeks than we have had in the past several years. CEO's and Boards of Directors in the private sector need to rein in the aggressive and reckless risk-taking that has weakened our financial markets and the public confidence in them. Government regulators need to enforce the laws and regulations that already are on the books, and they need to write and enforce new regulations that will require more sensible lending and investment policies and that will hold accountable those who fail to obey the rules. Congress, especially the Senate, needs to do its job of oversight. 

I have been practicing law in the financial services industries for more than 30 years, and I have never seen such willful incompetence in both the private and government sectors. On the private side we have witnessed grossly exorbitant salaries and benefits claimed by executives (and awarded by ineffective Boards of Directors), greed in investments in subprime mortgage loans with losses that were entirely predictable, and failure to manage portfolios and people the way good business executives generally have in America for decades.

On the government side, the regulators of the financial services industries simply abdicated. Led by our historically incompetent President and Vice President, and influenced by lobbyists and massive campaign contributions, the Bush-Cheney-Alexander Republican approach of letting the financial markets govern themselves has resulted in this debacle. It did not have to happen. Proper regulation and Congressional oversight could have - and should have - curtailed subprime mortgage lending. The unsound housing investment bubble could have been prevented. Reckless investments by traditionally conservative institutions could have been stopped. 

This is another reason I am running for the U.S. Senate: To offer Tennesseans a Senator who understands the financial industries and who will not be influenced by massive campaign contributions and cozy relationships with lobbyists. Lamar Alexander has voted lockstep with the Bush administration's economic policies and has voted to strike down legislation to protect consumers and to eliminate adequate oversight of our nation's financial system, which has led to the disaster we face today. At the same time he has received approximately $3 million in contributions from executives and PACs of banks, realtors and securities companies for his ardent opposition to government oversight that would have protected borrowers and consumers.

I will look after the interests of the people of Tennessee and America instead of giving in to the interests of big money and their cronies. Together, let's Take the Hill.

Al Gore Endorses Tuke in TN Senate Race

Former Vice-President Al Gore has strongly endorsed Bob Tuke, Democratic candidate for the US Senate seat from Tennessee currently held by Republican Lamar Alexander. In a statement posted on Tuke's website, Gore writes:

"I am pleased to endorse my friend, Bob Tuke, to be the next U.S. Senator from my home state of Tennessee. Bob's plans to immediately and aggressively produce alternative energy in Tennessee will help solve the climate crisis, clean our air, create new jobs, and relieve the heavy burden of energy prices across America. But Bob is more than a candidate with timely solutions to pressing problems facing our nation and our planet. He is also a man of great honor and integrity. Bob has the life experience that we need to turn our country around. As a Marine combat veteran in Vietnam, Bob led troops in battle. The U.S. Senate would be well served to have his perspective as we finally bring an end to the mismanaged war in Iraq. These are just a few of the reasons that I am proud to give him my full support and endorsement."