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« Where Do Pulitzer Winners Get Their Inspiration? | Main | Will Bredesen Turn TennCare Lemon Into Political Lemonade? » January 24, 2005Bredesen Watch
Bredesen's secret is no secret at all: It's respect. He doesn't view rural people, or southerners, with the thinly disguised contempt that is found, all-too-often among national Democratic figures.There are reasons to think Bredesen would make a formidable Democratic nominee. But he's not invincible. In Tennessee, basically, Bredesen has been a single-issue governor, focusing on getting the state's fiscal house in order. He's managed to avoid big fights over abortion, gay marriage and other hot-button social issues - but that can't last forever. And as a governor he hasn't been required to take a position on the war in Iraq. Perhaps that won't matter four years from now, but the chances are good that the war against Islamofascist terror will still be a hot war somewhere on the globe in 2008, and no matter what position he takes Bredesen would surely alienate a chunk of the Democratic Party. Meanwhile, Bredesen is busily slashing TennCare, the state's gold-plated healthcare welfare giveaway, program instead of doing what the Left wants - expanding it to cover more people more generously. And he's been publicly cool to the Left's desire to impose a state income tax on top of all the other taxes the people of Tennessee already pay. I'm just not sure Bredesen's competent-fiscal-manager brand of politics will be enough to get him through the Left-dominated Democratic nominating process. Bredesen in 2008? He has a better chance to win the White House than the Democratic primary. UPDATE: I have, with this post, added a new category to HobbsOnline: Bredesen Watch, which will track Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen as he moves toward an inevitable run for the U.S. Senate, vice president or president. Past posts regarding Bredesen will be added to this category as time permits. Why have I created this new category? Because he is not invincible. Posted in Bredesen Watch
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I do think that governance is the key to reviving the Democratic Party's flagging fortunes. Consequently, look to effective government to find the Democratic stars of the future. However, I also think that there shouldn't be too much glee about the cutbacks in TennCare. While it may help the budget of the state of Tennessee, it won't do much to solve the problems in the health care system or stem the rising costs there. Posted by: Dave Schuler at January 24, 2005 09:23 AMI thought is single issue was that he wasn't Sunquist, who was a terrible candidate. Posted by: SayUncle at January 24, 2005 10:00 AMsayuncle...between the two I'll take Bredesen over Sunquist anyday. Bill, you do know that with this new catagory, you are going to be the main source of info for bredesen, right? Posted by: mr lawson at January 24, 2005 11:16 AMYeah. That's the point. Though I'm hoping to get some other Tennessee bloggers to pitch in - once I launch BredesenWatch.com! Posted by: Bill Hobbs at January 24, 2005 11:55 AMIt appears that Bredesen may have the same problem that Joe Lieberman had in 2004 in the Democratic primaries and that John McCain had in 2000 in the Republican primaries: He cannot withstand the gauntlet through which the ideologically pure of his party will put him. Instead, the Democrats are likely again to nominate somebody who cannot win the general election or someone who cannot gain a substantial majority vote if they do win. The irony in the cases of both Lieberman and McCain is that they actually stand squarely in the mainstream of their parties' respective liberal and conservative orientations. But ideologues marching to certain lemming-like tunes appear bent on denying their parties' nominations to candidates who can actually put together majorities in general elections. Barring some new wrinkles designed to take practicality into account through the preconvention process, Bredesen would have trouble attaining his party's nomination. Posted by: Mark at January 24, 2005 12:04 PMYeah. My fondest wish for Bredesen Watch would be for it to make sure that the ultra-Left is well informed as to his pro-business/pro-capitalism leanings, while the moderate wing of the Democratic party is well aware of his healthcare-slashing and his more liberal views on other subjects, thus making him unelectable via the Democratic primary process - so the Democrats will nominate yet another lefty loonybird and lose yet again. Er. Posted by: Bill Hobbs at January 24, 2005 12:40 PMI think Bredesen's not a bad candidate for Pres. If he holds fiscal conservative I'd vote for him. As a Tennessee physician blogger, I will do my newbie best to help you keep an eye on Governor Phil. Let's see how he does. Posted by: DrTony at January 24, 2005 08:51 PMPost a comment
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