There has been a lot of negativity surrounding the two Tennessee retirements involving Bart Gordon and John Tanner. TN-6, which is Gordon’s district appears to be the real trouble spot If you look at the numbers it gives you reason for concern given the R+13 slant of the district. I think we all know that this district will be particularly hard to hold, but that not mean we should not draft the best possible candidate.
NOTE: I apologize if my R+13 number is incorrect.
I preceded to do a little research on some of the candidates who are out there on our side of the aisle. I headed on over to Politics1 and found a description for Terry Ashe, it read Wilson County Sheriff, Farmer, Businessman, Vietnam War Veteran. I figure this guy sounds like a good fit given they can’t use the same lines that I always hear against Democrats. The ones about never creating a job, ambulance chaser or liberal professor.
So if you actually Google Terry Ashe, you will find that he has an outstanding military record. Sheriff Terry Ashe has been awarded 3 purple hearts, two Bronze stars and had a Congressional Resolution passed in his honor in 1989. This goes without mentioning his numerous Sheriff of the Year Awards and the non-profit organizations he belongs to. You can find his entire resume here:
http://www.wilsoncotnsheriff.c…
I then went ahead and took a look at the possible federal contributions that Ashe had made in the past. I know many of you are afraid of a Dan Boren or Zell Miller type in this type of district. Terry Ashe does not appear to fit that mold. Terry Ashe gave money to Jim Sasser in 1993, Al Gore in 2000 and Harold Ford Jr. in 2006.
You can find that information here:
http://www.newsmeat.com/fec/by…
I tend to believe that this means we or someone out in the Netroots community should get a hold of Terry, get him some funds and let the guy run. I would certainly love to find out how Republicans would go about attacking a guy with such an impeccable resume in a district that has sent a Dem to Washington before.