MARSHA BLACKBURN OF TENNESSEE: SHE ONLY VOTES THE PARTY LINE…PERIOD

…Bredesen currently has slight lead over Blackburn in Tennessee Senate race.

Tennessee may not be as red as some people think

It is appearing that in some deep red states that voted for Donald Trump, some of the residents are tiring of Trump’s lying and of his confrontational brand of politics.

Tennessee is apparently one of those states.

In the seat that would replace retiring Senator Bob Corker, Representative Marsha Blackburn is running against Phil Bredesen, a popular former Tennessee governor running on a moderate platform with a deep well of goodwill from his eight years in office.  Even the country singer Taylor Swift is supporting the former governor over Ms. Blackburn, and Swift has over a million followers on Twitter, and many live in Tennessee.

I have never had much respect for Ms. Blackburn who is a serious supporter of President Trump.  When a conservative political canvasser showed up in a Knoxville neighborhood, many of the individuals that had voted for Trump seemed to be tiring of the president and his taking credit for what others have done.  In a local retirement community, many of the residents were more inclined to vote for the former governor instead of the Tennessee representative, Ms. Blackburn.

The polls in Tennessee show that the Democrat Bredesen has a slight lead over Blackburn, but it really is a toss-up at this point.  Being a strong supporter of Trump is a questionable positive for Ms. Blackburn.

Thomas Cigarran, the chairman of the Nashville Predators hockey team and a longtime GOP donor, said he and his Republican peers are supporting Bredesen because they view Blackburn as a “poster child of an ideologue”.

                  

“Marsha is going to vote the party line. That’s it,” he said. “We have way too much of that already. There’s no indication in the 16 years that any change in her behavior would be forthcoming. She is who she is.”

Cigarran hosted a fundraiser at his large Nashville home last week in support of Bredesen.  About 40 of his 50 guests were Republicans who were similarly frustrated with both Blackburn and Trump, he said.

Earlier this year, Senator Corker, a Republican, had lavished praise on former Governor Bredesen.  This drew concern from the Senate Majority Leader, Mitch McConnell (R-KY), who told Corker in a private conversation that he was not being helpful to the party.

President Trump has slammed the Tennessee Democrat, calls him a total 'total tool' of Chuck Schumer.  As usual, how the president knows that is a real question as Bredesen says he has respect for Schumer, but has never met the Senator.  I guess that is just another of Trump’s many falsehoods.

GOP groups are deploying their full arsenal. Americans for Prosperity, the political arm of the conservative Koch network has announced a $2 million television ad campaign attacking Bredesen.  That's on top of the $2.5 million it already spent on the race. The Senate Leadership Fund, the main Senate GOP super PAC, which has spent $2.5 million on ads in the state so far, said it plans to spend roughly $3 million through the fall.

Blackburn’s backers are banking that although some Tennessee voters are souring on the president, vocal support from Trump’s rallies should boost turnout among the GOP base.  Trump made his second visit to the state in support of Blackburn, telling a packed rally that “a vote for Marsha is really a vote for me and everything that we stand for.”  

Based on what some Tennessee residents have voiced, having Trump’s support may or may not be that positive.

The difficulty for Republicans is in part because of the unique politics of Tennessee, and the fact that Bredesen, who left office in 2011, has remained a household Tennessee name.  It brings out a kind of nostalgia for those less-divisive political times.  He is a pro-business politician more in the mold of Senator Corker, a moderate who has sparred with Trump.  And that is not the case of Ms. Blackburn, who is deeply conservative and one of the president’s most loyal supporters.

Rather than railing against Trump as other Democratic candidates have done nationally, Bredesen has praised some aspects of the president’s agenda, such as his efforts to strike down regulations on businesses.

“Tennessee has a reputation for being super Republican, super conservative, and it certainly is a red state, there’s no debate about that,” said John Geer, polling and political science expert and Dean of the Vanderbilt University College of Arts and Science. “But I don’t think it’s quite as red as some people think.”

In an interview this week, Bredesen demurred when asked his position on Judge Kavanaugh.  He argued that, at age 74, he can be relied on to serve as an independent voice because he has no ambitions for higher office beyond the Senate.  He said the fact that the race remains competitive is a sign that his centrist message is appealing to voters across the political spectrum.

“I’ve got to rally Democrats. I’ve got to persuade a bunch of independents . . . and business minded Republicans,” he said. “I did it as governor, and I think quite successfully. The fact that this campaign is obviously very competitive right now is evidence to that.”

“Bredesen was one of the best governors we ever had. Problem is, he’s a Democrat,” said David Singer, 85, a retired professor and Blackburn supporter at a cafe in Murfreesboro, about an hour’s drive south of Nashville. “I’m afraid of upsetting the balance between the Republicans’ and the Democrats’ hold on the Senate right now.”

But while Blackburn inspires the Trump base, she is alienating some more-moderate Republicans who have grown very weary of Trump’s brand of incendiary rhetoric.  They view her as an extension of the current polarization in Washington.

Here’s hoping that fact will seep into the voters when they go into the voting booth next month.

Copyright G. Ater  2018