Hope ‘08
Big political news out of the Nashville Post’s shop today. Beloved Governor Ned McWherter’s son, Mike, is considering a run for Senate against Lamar Alexander:
Most political observers had anticipated Tennessee Democrats to put up a sacrifical lamb against Alexander. Should McWherter enter the race, it will be apparent that they are not taking the election lying down.
Indeed. I suggest you read the whole thing. I remember wondering why Lamar Alexander was making such a big splash when he announced his reelection bid back in April. It’s become a bit clearer to me now.
Maybe Ingram and Alexander had an inkling that young McWherter was getting to the age where he would be looking to make his own bones in politics as he has in the private sector. Or maybe they just knew that ‘08 would be a high turnout year for Democrats and it’s better to be safe than sorry. Either way, I’m sure they are now glad they did what they did.
Mike McWherter would definitely change the calculus for this race. A McWherter run would present Alexander with a son of a popular moderate-to-conservative Democratic Governor in a year when Republicans are despised.
A Presidential election year makes things volatile. This particular year will be radioactive. The only reason that Lamar was assumed safe was because no one of note appeared to be on the horizon to challenge him.
The party had been sitting back for years waiting on Harold Ford Jr. as the great statewide hope. But, in an open seat scenario, in a miserable year for Republicans, Junior couldn’t connect and hit the homerun. Now there is a void and Mike McWherter is stepping into the lurch.
Lamar Alexander is extremely beloved by Republicans and has more than few friends among the Democratic elite. But Mike McWherter, with his name, is a player the minute the announces. The only question is whether he can play at Lamar’s level and, more importantly, at Tom Ingram’s level.
This electorate is extremely upset with George Bush and his whole fudging crew. Lamar has a voting record that puts him securely within that crew. Lamar is vulnerable with the right candidate standing in opposition to him. Mike McWherter looks like he could be that candidate in a way that no one else who had been discussed previously could have been.
Worst case scenario for McWherter is that he goes down in an honorable defeat to a respected incumbent getting his name out there for his next political move. It is no lose for him and a might win for the Democratic party.
SEE ALSO:
Braisted
on June 22nd, 2007 at 2:42 pm
ACK, you write this like a Democratic wish list. Could you possibly gush any more over MM, and portend any more gloom and doom for the Republican camp? Come now.
While Bush is obviously unpopular with the national electorate, Tennesseeans are much more friendly towards his administration than the nation as a whole. Also, TN is a firmly red state, which is an advantage you seem to try and play off by noting that Mcwherter was a “moderate-to-conservative” governor. What the hell are you basing that on? Mcwherter was blue dog, but there was nothing conservative about his governance.
And so far as I know, Mcwherter isn’t looked back upon too fondly by the public as a whole. The only thing he’s going to contribute to his son’s race is name recognition, which Lamar already has; so that’s no advantage, only an asset.
Drop the conservative act, Adam. You’re not fooling anyone anymore.
on June 22nd, 2007 at 2:53 pm
I agree Matt. Unless Governor Phil runs, Lamar isnt going to have a problem. Besides next year isnt shaping up to be a good year for Tn Dems. They face a very bad map in the State Senate, Hillary or Obama will not spend one penny next fall in this state and it will be 18 years since a McWherter was on a statewide ballot. Sure Lamar went 20 years without his name being on a ballot but he kept a pretty high profile during that time. The McWherter clan hasn’t.
on June 22nd, 2007 at 3:02 pm
I don’t know jack about Mike but I’ll enjoy seeing Lamar! eat his votes. You can’t pretend to be “your own man” and then vote lockstep with the other water-carrying Republibots 99.9% of the time.
It’s really funny to see all these Republicans try to run away from Bush, now that he’s so unpopular. This will be fun. I’ve saved every single letter his office sent me as he tried to explain why he voted the way he did on so many bills.
on June 22nd, 2007 at 3:08 pm
They face a very bad map in the State Senate, Hillary or Obama will not spend one penny next fall in this state and it will be 18 years since a McWherter was on a statewide ballot.
I don’t know. He will be able to raise money. He will have powerful people looking to do good for him. He will have a lot of activist support. Corker could craft his own message out of the ether essentially. Lamar has a record to defend and an administration to run away from.
I’m not saying it is a layup for McWherter at all. Lamar is still favored but he’ll have to work for it though and with the animus towards this administration there is no telling what could happen.
Sometimes the only way to win is to show up. The Democrats have proven they are showing up.
on June 22nd, 2007 at 3:14 pm
I wouldn’t be so quick to say that Hillary or Obama wouldn’t spend money here next fall. I would certainly hope that Hillary at the very least is aware that Al Gore would have won here in 2000 with just a little more effort. And I hope Obama remembers the large turnout he got here when he campaigned for Ford last year.
on June 22nd, 2007 at 3:30 pm
Gold,
I think Obama would have a better shot at taking Tennessee than Hillary would. That is unless of course Freddie wins, in which case he’ll carry the Southeast, and the Democrats will carry the rest of the country.
on June 22nd, 2007 at 4:26 pm
I agree Sean.
on June 22nd, 2007 at 5:30 pm
While the conservative base is extremely irate over how Lamar has handled the Immigration fiasco, still the conservative voters would not vote for Mike McWherter. Frankly, I nor 99.9% of Tennesseans have never heard of him.
on June 22nd, 2007 at 7:20 pm
This west TN REP voter could almost vote for most any DEM they chose to run. My Rep/Sen’s do not in any way represent me and I will happily enjoy their defeat in the next election. Dozens of calls and emails to each of them resulted in not even an automated reply from them. They have no interest in what their constituents feel or think…..therefore I have no interest in their re-election.
on June 22nd, 2007 at 7:27 pm
What? McWherter? Hey, I lived in the fair state of Tennessee when Ned was governor. The question I kept getting asked; “How can anyone take your governor serious when he is a dead ringer for Porky Pig”?
on June 22nd, 2007 at 7:42 pm
Lamar is certainly not loved by this conservative. He has gone all wobbly on the immigration betrayal. I think Ed Bryant should run against him in the primary.
Trey
on June 22nd, 2007 at 11:01 pm
To hell with inherited political power.
And that goes not just for McWherter II but for Clinton II, and…I hate to say it…Gore II.
on June 23rd, 2007 at 6:27 am
I am not all that sure after his tepid support for the amnesty bill (instead of an outright rejection of it) that Lamar can survive a challenge. I am looking more at the Republicans for someone to unseat Alexander. My vote would be Marsha Blackburn.
on June 23rd, 2007 at 6:53 pm
[…] governor Ned McWherter’s son, Mike McWherter for senate against incumbent Lamar Alexander. Carter opines as […]
on June 23rd, 2007 at 7:11 pm
Lamar wins in a cakewalk because the non-neanderthals still control the state GOP. Every time some theocrat like Ed Bryant runs, he loses. That may change in a few years, but for now, the GOP electorate (read: not the activist “base”) still pulls the lever for the Baker-wing Main Street Republicans.
I don’t know what McWherter really does in this race except raise his profile. I’m a liberal Democrat and I like Lamar Alexander for the most part. That may be reason enough for the right wingnuts to primary him but it’s an asset for Lamar in the end that he has Dems like me in his corner. Of course, living in Maryville I drive the Parkway named after him every day. He’s done a decent job in protecting the Smokies, which bolsters him here in East TN against anti-immigrant zealots.
on June 25th, 2007 at 12:56 pm
[…] first journalists to get sound and picture of Michael Ray McWherter confirming what Ken Whitehouse had reported last Friday — that young Mike McWherter is seriously considering a run for Untied States […]
on June 27th, 2007 at 2:04 pm
[…] TN-Sen: Republican incumbent Lamar! Alexander may get a primary challenge. […]
on June 27th, 2007 at 3:08 pm
If Obama is the Dem candidate, watch for considerable $ to be spent here. Junior almost pulled it off and Obama should do better. But whether or not the DNC spends $ here on a presidential candidate next year Repubs may be in for a surprise. The game is about up for them thanks to young enlightened voters and the internet. You really can’t fool most of the people all the time and that’s what the GOP has to do to win.