Governor Phil Bredesen of Tennessee will be term-limited out of office in two years, meaning that we could see spirited primaries on both sides of the fence for the opportunity to win the state’s top job.
On the Republican side, a number of names have emerged, including U.S. Rep. Zach Wamp, Shelby Co. District Attorney Bill Gibbons, and Knoxville Mayor Bill Haslam.
Lincoln Davis and Harold Ford, Jr. have been the Democrats with the most buzz around their potential candidacies, but if it were up to you, who would you like to see run for the job?
From Politics1:
Apparently there is an up and coming State Senator named Andy Berke. He’s 40, from Chattanooga, and a lawyer and he won his seat in a special election in 2007. If he doesn’t give it a shot now he may well do it soon. I do not like giving up any of our congressional seats to run for higher office here especially a seat like Davis’ which a Republican would likely grab. It’s incredible that we still have a majority of U. S. House seats here considering the trend this state has seen since 2000, when Gore finished relatively close (or 1996 when Clinton won it).
We should instead try to win back the state senate which is barely held by Republicans and hold on to the state legislature were we have a very slim margin I believe and while Berke wouldn’t help this cause he’s much more expendable than Davis.
I’m no fan of Davis or Ford but between the two, I’d go with Ford.
My favorite TN politician that I’d love to see in the governor’s mansion? Steve Cohen. But I can only dream..
He has statewide name recognition and he doesn’t have a seat in congress to give up. He is also a moderate, which can’t hurt him, especially in a state like Tennessee.
Berke is really the potential star here as far as our issues. His campaign just sent out an email saying he’s looking at the race and people are talking. He’s the best at talking about what it means to be a dem out of this group. A lot of TN dems are all about blue dog talk.
Say he would run? (as a “Democrat”)
I think Lincoln Davis is best suited for this race because:
1. He is a moderate and TN voters want a moderate governor.
2. Lincoln Davis’ seat in Congress is gone–PERIOD. He was elected to Congress in 2002 after the Democratic state legislature re-districted. If a reublican wins the governor seat, republicans would control all 3 branches and would redistrict Davis out of office.
3. I worked on Harold Ford’s campaign in 2006 and it was not impressive.
4. Ford had a ton of money from his time in Congress and the DSCC put a ton in as well but it was not enough. Ford will not enjoy the financial parity he had with Corker in this governor’s race.
5. Lincoln Davis is a Congressman from a swing district and could have coat tails in state races as well.
6. I live in Knoxville (Republicanville) and witness fracturing in the Democratic Party continually. I believe Lincoln Davis could be the best candidate to solidify all Democrats on election day.
John Jay Hooker is not the Democratic candidate, we will have a fighting chance. He’s one of my least favorite candidates of all time. If he’s still alive and not incapacitated in 2010, he will at least run for the Democratic nomination.
A moderate Democrat can win in Tennessee. I don’t know if Harold Ford Jr. would want to run for governor, but I think he would have some statewide appeal. I worry, however, about having race injected into the political contest. I’m still pissed with the ads with the racial overtones in the 2006 ad.
but this Berke kid sounds good as well and Davis might want to stick in Congress.