TNDP Chair Chip Forrester's Latest Video Address

Here you go:

In A Cold Gray Winter, Glimmerings of Hope for the TNDP

After years of losing ground across the state, and after suffering a crushing defeat of historic proportions in the November general election, it seemed that the Tennessee Democratic Party (TNDP) was headed for a bitter winter of discontent in January of 2009.  Worse yet, there was no sign of a 'son of York' to brighten the long dark winter ahead.  Then, surprisingly, in the midst of one of the coldest, grayest winters in decades, hope for Tennessee Democrats flickered from at least four different directions in the bleak winter of 2008-2009:

1. In a Byzantine coup d’état, Tennessee House Democrats succeeded in electing a rogue Republican (St. Rep. Kent Williams) to the position of Speaker of the House. This in spite of the fact that Republicans had just won control of the TN House for the first time since Reconstruction and in spite of the fact that the Republicans had settled on their leader, ultra-conservative St. Rep. Jason Mumpower, to become the new Speaker. It was no doubt a back-room political deal of the 19th century kind, but it showed that all 49 House Democrats working with only one off-the-reservation Republican could still wield real political power in Nashville. It was an ice-cold shower for TN Republicans... and it got the TNDP out of the  political intensive  care unit.

2. The defeat, by a large margin, of the English-only amendment to the Nashville city charter. Supported by a wide range of Democratic elected officials, religious organizations, business groups and progressives of all stripes, the anti-English-only campaign crushed the far-right effort to make English the only language used in Music City government. Although credit for this progressive victory truly belongs to many people, the lion's share of the praise goes to Nashville Mayor Karl Dean and - most especially - to long-time Democratic Party organizer, Jim Hester. Many Democrats, and probably most progressives, thought the effort to stop the English-only madness would be nearly impossible. Instead, a broad coalition of Nashville groups, under the masterful leadership of Mr. Hester, made it look easy.

3. The election of Chip Forrester as Chair of the Tennessee Democratic Party. Although he was a long-time member of the Democratic Party establishment, Mr. Forrester's run for Party Chair was accompanied by an acknowledgment of the Party's failures and a sincere effort to reach out to all of the Party's base. He travelled the state to seek support from all elements of the TNDP and made numerous pledges to take the fight into enemy (Republican) territory. Chip's vigorous and inclusive campaign quickly garnered the necessary votes to assure him of election to the the post of Party Chair. Bizarrely, only after he had wrapped up the election, did many elected Democratic officials announce their discomfort with Chip and threw their support to another candidate.  It was totally strange, especially since the reasons offered by establishment Democrats for opposing Forrester were weak at best. Maybe it's one of those Paul Harvey 'page two' kinda of things - you know, 'the rest of the story'. Maybe in time we will find out the true reason(s) for their dislike of Forrester, but no statements yet made in public sufficiently explain the top Dems opposition to Forrester. We hope they'll get over their resistance to the new Party Chair and move on.

4. The announcement by State Senator Andy Berke (D-Chattanooga) that he is considering a run for Governor in 2010. Sen. Berke is one of the most able and appealing elected officials in the state.  A gubernatorial run by him would give the Democratic Party the chance to nominate a candidate for governor who could connect with all segments of the TNDP.  Berke would, in our opinion, stand a very good chance of winning the state house. A potential Berke for Governor campaign could well be the brightest hope Tennessee Democrats have seen in a period where we've already gotten more than our share of good news. Run Andy run!

A Few Words About Our New Look

As a follow-up to my post yesterday, I wanted to take a couple for minutes to point out several changes in the look of ElectBlue's home page. We have:

- Made modest changes in the top banner, reflecting the numerous Democratic victories in November;

- Changed the Obama campaign direct-link icon to that of the White House website. How sweet, that!

- Removed all direct-link icons to the 2008 campaign websites of the US Senate candidates we supported. All of those contests are long ago decided, with the exception of that of Al Franken in MN. However, we expect Franken will eventually be declared the winner there. He at least has sufficient funds to pay for the remaining required legal efforts;

- Removed the direct-link icon to Nashville For All of Us, following the thrashing of the English-only crowd's effort to amend Music's City's Charter.  Another sweet victory!

- Retained the direct-link icon to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) and added a direct-link icon to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC). After all,  November 2010 is just around the corner!

- Most importantly, we have added a direct-link icon to the Tennessee Democratic Party (TNDP). We are very encouraged by the recent selection of Chip Forrester as State Democratic Party Chair. He and the TNDP are going to need a lot of funding to bring the party back from the wilderness. Given the inexplicable resistance to Mr. Forrester by some of TN's highest elected Democrats, it's particularly important for progressives to donate as much as they can to the TNDP. This direct-link icon provides an easy and totally secure way to do that.

All previous posts remain easily accessible from the archive, where they are sorted by year and month on the left-hand side of the home page. An index by topic of the entire blogsite can be found in the lower left portion of the home page. Readers wanting to know more about ElectBlue, or wishing to contact us, can always click on the appropriate icon  on the left-hand side of the home page.

Tough Times for Tennessee Democrats

While President-elect Barack Obama was leading the Democratic Party to sweeping victories in most of the country on November 4th, the oldest political party on earth was suffering crushing defeats in the Volunteer State. Not only did PE Obama underperform Sen. John Kerry's anemic 2004 numbers in Tennessee, the Democratic challenger (Bob Tuke) for the US Senate seat held by Republican Lamar Alexander was utterly humiliated in one of the worst thrashings a serious Democratic candidate for state-wide office has ever endured in the land of Andrew Jackson.

Even more devastating to Democrats in TN, the Republicans seized control of both houses of the state legislature for the first time since Reconstruction. The defeats suffered by Democrats spanned the state, with stunning losses in all three of Tennessee's historic "grand divisions" (East, Middle and West). With redistricting looming after the 2010 census, GOP control of the legislature most likely portends even more future electoral losses for Tennessee Democrats.

As a dyed-in-the-wool, double-dipped, true-believing, yellow-dog Democrat, it is very painful for me to admit this, but the magnitude of the catastrophe which befell the Tennessee Democratic Party (TNDP) twelve days ago is nothing short of breathtaking. Much more hurtful is the realization that this need not have happened. Although Tennessee is deep in the Red Belt, Democrats can win in these states. TNDP officials' whining about Tennessee's strong Republican leanings and their gnashing of teeth about the steep demographic challenges we face won't cut it. 

Just look around at our neighboring states, every one of them as ruby-red as Tennessee. In KY, NC, VA, GA and even MS, Democrats ran credible state and local campaigns in 2008. Democratic candidates won US Senate and gubernatorial races in VA and NC, forced a run-off in the GA Senate contest and ran valiant state wide campaigns for the US Senate in KY and MS. Why couldn't Tennessee Democrats manage to do the same?

The sad, awful truth is that the TNDP has become the captive of an inept, corrupt, power-hungry network of good old boys determined to hold on to their idea of political relevance no matter what. Compounding their incompetence and greed, many of the leaders of the TNDP are in fact DINOs (Democrats In Name Only), fleeing in terror at any mention by the Republicans of hot-button issues like God, guns or gays. Many of these DINOs pay only lip-service to the national Democratic Party, it's leaders and its core beliefs. They've sold their souls to the Republican donors who largely fund their campaigns these days. A state political party that has lost its moral fiber is living on borrowed time.

On November 4th, time ran out and the "no matter what" happened.  The TNDP has been shown the door by the voters of Tennessee. As disheartening as election day was, this is no time for Tennessee Democrats to give up. Instead, it's time to start over. Tennessee Democrats should look at this electoral debacle as an opportunity for rebirth, re-commitment and a renewal of our moral courage. 

We can - and should - forgive the unhelpful, tepid endorsement of the Obama-Biden ticket by our sitting Democratic governor (Phil Bredesen) and a post-election cheap shot at progressive bloggers by the head of the TNDP (Gray Sasser). Even the TNDP's disgraceful persecution of a Democratic state senator (Rosalind Kurita), who dared defy the Party big-wigs, can be put behind us. Focusing on the sins of the past will not get us where we need to be. Let us just hope that they are lessons learned.

So, take heart. There are, indeed, some signs of hope. In the chaotic days since the election, it seems that all of the top officials of the TNDP have decided to resign in the near future. A good thing, that. Moreover, Tennessee Democrats are blessed with some leaders of real courage and conviction. US Representatives Jim Cooper and Steve Cohen come to mind. We also have two nationally prominent Democrats who can help lead their native state's party out of the wilderness: former Vice-President Al Gore and former US Representative Harold Ford, Jr., who now heads the Democratic Leadership Council. Both of these fine men can, and should, provide much-needed guidance to a state party that has lost its way -- and nearly everything else. 

With a new leadership team at the helm, a sincere outreach to all of the key Democratic constituencies (including progressive bloggers), a genuine effort to be inclusive and a complete break with the good old boy politics of the past, the TNDP can return to being the vibrant, competitive party it once was. Anything less, I fear, will only lead to decades more of disappointing Novembers for Tennessee Democrats. (See this related post.)

Check out these Tennessee Blogs for more on this topic:

PostPolitics

R. Neal

SeanBraisted

TinyCatPants

LeftWingCracker

SharonCobb

SouthernBeale

FreedomToSpeak

Newscoma

TennesseeGuerillaWomen

NashvilleScene