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« Cooley Resigns | Main | Running on Empty: Tennessean Gas Tax Story Rife With Misrepresentations » December 2, 2006Bredesen Versus Lamar?A.C. Kleinheider notes some speculation on the Democratic side of Tennessee politics that Bob Tuke, the Nashville attorney who served as the Tennessee Democratic Party's chairman during the most recent election cycle, may run for the Democratic nomination to challenge incumbent Republican U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander in 2008. Tuke would be a sacrficial lamb.
If he won, he'd be a U.S. Senator, if he lost he'd still be governor. By the way, I was looking at Wikipedia's entry on Bredesen and it says "Bredesen ran his first political campaign in 1987, when he ran for mayor of Nashville." That's not true. Years earlier Bredesen ran for the state legislature in Massachussets. I don't remember the details, but someone needs to update Bredesen's Wikipedia entry. Posted in Campaign Season
Comments
I'm not so sure he would. If he won, he'd be turning the Governorship over to (presumably) Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey, a Republican. I believe 2008 will be a bad year for the Democrats, having to defend their colossal mismanagement of Congress, and Bredesen (running in a GOP state) would have to swim against that tide, all to simply become a Senate backbencher (and probably in the minority party). I don't think Bredesen's reelection victory translates into massive support. Because of the non-existent campaign by Sen. Bryson, Bredesen went virtually unchallenged, and that was outrageous given the scandals and mismanagement that has gone on. The last time a supposedly popular Dem Governor from a Republican state tried to leave office mid-term was Ben Nelson of Nebraska, and he got shellacked by Chuck Hagel for an open Senate seat (and only barely won after he was out of office for another open seat). For Bredesen, especially if he harbors Presidential ambitions, leaving the Governorship for the Senate is not the best way to go. Posted by: D.J. Jones at December 2, 2006 12:39 PMI think any challenge to Alexander will be predicated on perceptions of strength or weakness. Even a weak Alexander is a formidable Tennessee candidate. Bredesen, I think, could be on several VP short lists. He could add executive gravitas to Hiliary's lack thereof, as well as being a "Southern" governor who is seen as a businessman & fiscally conservative. Posted by: Whitehorse at December 3, 2006 8:26 PMI'm also picking him for a presidential run or a possible VP slot. Otherwise why abandon his more fiscally liberal ideology and an income tax push over the past 5 years? I predicted that he would do an income tax push OR make a run at the White House. Also, he's not really senate material. He's accustomed to being in charge and making decisions. Senate is about debate and compromise. I'm not sure that is in his personality. He wants to be a highly popular fiscal conservative Governor from a southern state... a feat he has achieved. This makes him a first round draft choice for the White House and I'm not sure what the Repubs could put up against him to stop him. You may be right, though, Bill. I guess it depends on how well he and the Democrat party get along and whether Phil wants to do that to himself and his family. Posted by: Jimmy at December 4, 2006 10:23 AMPost a comment
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