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On politics: Bredesen acting vice presidential
Monday, June 9, 2008 at 2:33am
If Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen doesn’t want to be vice president on his party’s presidential ticket this year, he has a funny way of showing it.
Bredesen has been alternately vague and demure when questioned by this state’s press corps about his interest in filling out the second slot on his Democratic Party’s presidential ticket. The telling part of the story is what led local reporters to ask such a question.
Out of nowhere, Bredesen interjected himself into national Democratic Party business by offering advice on how to settle the infamous “superdelegate” crisis for DNC Chair Howard Dean. The accompanying attention from the national press was enough to get the questions about any White House hopes Bredesen has asked locally.
Bredesen gained national attention again last week for another reason altogether. After a lengthy state of apparent indecision, Bredesen got on Illinois Sen. Barack Obama’s presidential bandwagon with a very late in the game endorsement. The fair-weather nod for Obama came also with a quip from Bredesen about how Tennessee is probably not in play in 2008 for the Democratic ticket.
Bredesen has always been a politician who wanted to appear actually above politics, thus all the bewilderment in his eyes when asked if he has plans for higher office.
The arguments for Bredesen as a vice presidential choice for Obama are obvious. The down-side, though, is huge.
Bredesen is a popular, Democratic governor in a Red State. Popular wisdom would see Obama pick a fairly conservative Southern senator or governor able to fill out the ticket and deliver the South — stemming the tide of Democrats willing to cross party lines and vote for presumptive GOP nominee John McCain.
Bredesen’s bona fides as a businessman and health care leader could also help burnish the credentials of an otherwise very inexperienced prospective future administration.
The real roadblock, though, is that Bredesen and Obama’s ideals tend to differ greatly.
Other governing decisions Bredesen has made — hard, tough decisions — could also come back to bite a Barack Obama running mate. Most notably, Bredesen’s very difficult decision to cut thousands from the state’s federally subsidized health care crisis is tough. It shows him being a fiscal conservative, but the move would be perceived in the Obama camp as outright cruelty.
Perhaps another gubernatorial decision Bredesen made not thinking of his political future was the three executions that have happened under Bredesen, one by electric chair. Despite the fact Bredesen was simply following the law of the land, he would be held accountable for these decisions running on the ticket.
Obama needs a running mate whose politics match his own as he is the first true liberal to win his party’s nomination in some time. A choice like Bredesen differs too greatly and strays too far. In years past, someone to balance out the ticket was an idea. With Obama, is may be more of a search and adventure.
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Filed under: City Voices
This is laughable. Someone has too much time on their hands.
I agree. This isn't plausible. I'm a Bredesen fan, but he doesn't have the right qualities for the veep candidate. In particular, his charisma deficit is as big as the federal budget deficit.I favor Wesley Clark, not because I'm such a huge fan of his but because I think he'd be an excellent complement to Obama.
Put him on the ticket. Either outcome it's win-win for Tennessee.He loses and its a fantastic slapdown.He wins and we get him out of Tennessee.Yea howdy!
No way, Obama would still lose Tn. If he picks Srickland from Ohio, he wins.
Obama met with Bredesen last year to discuss this very idea. Regardless, I'd doubt that he would accept the VP spot since he was leaning towards Hillary.
He wife is a stronger canidate. We all know what happened when she decided she wanted the bunker. (or is it really a dungeon?)Heaven help us if he gets anywhere need Federal money.
Bredesen will be in a cabinet position on Health, if the democrats regain majority in the state house and senate. We will then appoint another democratic governor and hopfully swing Tennesse to the Democrats. Remember a 1000 votes was the difference last major election, remember the sorry Republican hack machine that ran the racist add on Harold Ford the same ones that ran the add on Michell Obama that Corker always ask to pull after they run them. I think the public is going to backlash against that kind of dirty politics. It's time for a change. VOTE DEMOCRATIC!
"Bredesen’s bona fides as a businessman and health care leader could also help burnish the credentials of an otherwise very inexperienced prospective future administration."Healthcare leader?!!! Its funny that healthcare leader and businessman are mentioned in the same sentence. As a "Businessman" Bredesen should realize that Tenncare is bankrupting the sate (1/3 of the state's budget) and CUT BACK or eliminate this program. But, Bredesen is a POLITICIAN first and a businessman second. Therefore, he will cut jobs and lay people off before he cuts back Tenncare. If everyone thinks our economy is in a slump now, just wait until Tenncare (a.k.a. Hillarycare) is Federalized! By the way, Bredesen answers this question of Tenncare's cost by saying that they reduced projected spending on Tenncare for this year. This is the same political doublespeak that the government has been using for decades. Reducing projected increased spending is NOT cutting back Tenncare! Its like boasting that one saved $50 on an item when they still spent $500. If Obama wants him as his running mate, I say, "GO FOR IT!" Either way, it'll make sure that Bredesen doesn't get elected another term as Governor.
I'm not a Dem, but I would seriously consider voting Dem if Bredesen was the VP choice.
indy, Bredesen is term limited.I like Bredesen and I think he is doing a good job. He is also where he should be, out on the national campaign trail is not the place for him. And I sure wouldn't want to see Bubba Ramsey running the state. We saw what the last R governor did. Obama needs to pick someone with stronger foreign policy and/or military credentials. Hillary and Richardson both fit the former and CLark and Webb both fit the latter. Also as was already pointed out Phil's speeches are even more sleep-inducing than McCain's. If McCain picked Kevin Spacey look-alike Huckster Huckabee as a running mate the Veep debate would be embarrassing. This despite the fact that Bredesen is all substance and Huckabee is a nutjob. I do think Bredesen on the ticket could pull Tennessee into the D column, although I basically agree with slacker that other states offer better chances. Like New Mexico..
easy (or somebody with some knowledge):What happens if Bredesen leaves before his term is up? Do we get Bubba or someone appointed by Bredesen? I know when Spitzer had his little 'problem' in NY the Dem Lt. Gov took over. But our setup is different here.
Quite a sentence, Clint Brewer: “The accompanying attention from the national press was enough to get the questions about any White House hopes Bredesen has asked locally.” Couldn’t you have read your work before sending it to the rest of us? (I won’t mention the interesting spelling of “wisdom”.)Worse than the writing, though, Mr. Brewer, is that this is supposed to be a NEWS story, thus objective, w/ all statements provable. What is your proof that the presidential administration of Barack Obama will be “very inexperienced”?As to the three men whom we have killed while Phil Bredesen was governor, you, again, distort the facts: It is equally the “law of the land” for the governor to stop the killing. Bredesen cannot hide his acts—& ours--behind the law, since the law permits him more than one choice. He chose to kill these men &, like those of us who approved the killing, is accountable.As to Obama as “the first true liberal”, please cite some facts here, too. Did you read or hear his speech to A.I.P.A.C.? Have you read his plans for health care? These are hardly the words of a liberal.Mr. Brewer, if you cannot keep your opinions out of your writing and if you feel no need to bolster those opinions w/ substance, then please stick to editing & to speaking on talk radio, where I understand, you are a conservative mainstay.
You have got to be kidding and not serious about Bredesen. Obama needs a white man or woman,not a brother.
Jesus, is the City Paper going off the rails on national political reporting.It's bad enough that they're pushing the TN GOP's story on Michelle Obama, now they're trying to float Bredesen as a vice-presidential candidate... something NOBODY who follows politics is even entertaining.But that's not the worst of it. From Clint Brewer, we're getting these lovely gems:"Bredesen’s very difficult decision to cut thousands from the state’s federally subsidized health care crisis is tough. It shows him being a fiscal conservative, but the move would be perceived in the Obama camp as outright cruelty".Really? As a former state senator, you think that Barack Obama isn't sympathetic to the executive decisions that Bredesen and other governors have to make on state subsidized healthcare programs? Bredesen should be 100% in favor of Obama's healthcare plan, which would relieve the burden of states to come up with state money to kick in for healthcare.Or how about this one?"Obama needs a running mate whose politics match his own as he is the first true liberal to win his party’s nomination in some time".Only right-wingers (and lazy media pundits) believe that Obama is a true liberal. Obama supports fiscal conservatism, welfare reform, and getting tough on countries like Pakistan and Saudi Arabia who have supported/are supporting terrorists. Sure, Obama is progressive on issues like taxation, choice, and the environment - but he's not out of the Democratic Party mainstream or, for that matter, the mainstream of public opinion. Barack Obama is a "liberal" only when compared to right-wing fascists like George W. Bush and John McCain. And, apparently, Clint Brewer.Stick to the local reporting, City Paper. You're embarrassing yourselves.
mjb says "As to Obama as “the first true liberal”, please cite some facts here, too".First, what a person says during a campaign has zero bearing on what the actual politics of the person is. "Political campaign" is a euphemism for "pandering". Check the man's voting record for a true indication of his politics.Second, where do you get off making the outrageous statement that obama would by assasinated by a Clint Brewer listener? That might possibly be the single most inflammatory, bigoted statement that has ever come out of your cpu. How about you "citing some facts".
Time For Truth: If Bredesen resigns mid-term, the Speaker of the Senate becomes Governor, serving the remainder of Bredesen's term (no special election).Until the Legislature organizes in January, that would be Ramsey. After the Legislature organizes (first Tuesday after Jan. 1, I think), it would depend on who's elected Speaker in the organizational session.That hinges on the balance of power in the Senate, etc.
Someone in Bredesen's position would presumably wait until the few days before Jan. 20 to resign.
Morpheus, et al: Folks, you need to do some more reading so that you have context beyond your own little worlds.The column makes the case against Bredesen being a VP choice. He is on the list of almost every major pundit in the msm and the blogosphere as a VP choice. It has been widely discussed.Here are links to three very different news sources, even a foreign news service.http://www.cqpolitics.com/wmspage.cfm?parm1=5&docID=news-000002888504http://www.upi.com/Emerging_Threats/2008/06/04/Atlantic_Eye_Obamas_vice_presidents/UPI-14901212622080/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bill-scher/no-nightmare-ticket_b_103034.htmlHis name has also been bandied about by fairly well-known newspapers like The Washington Post.Tune in or drop out,kids, but don't straddle the line.Secondly, MJB, your insults about my writing are fine. The next time, though, you talk about anyone getting shot - particularly a presidential candidate - and you are banned for life. The post in question has been deleted. Clean up your act or move on.I'm pretty flexible on being called names, but that is not acceptable behavior on this board.
Thanks, Morph, for the concurrence.Snap, your remark is offensive. Thanks for showing your true colors.JDG & ClintB, I didn’t say that a listener of Clint Brewer’s would assassinate Obama (note the capital “O”). I wrote that the racist who would kill Obama to make a president of his White male vice-president would PERHAPS be a listener to one of the shows on which Clint Brewer is a guest. Note the “perhaps”. Is it unreasonable to expect that a racist with a gun is more likely to listen to, say, Steve Gill than, say, to Diane Rehm?As for discussing the prospect of Obama’s getting shot, ClintB, it, too, “has been widely discussed”. (I just googled the words “Obama”, “assassination”, “president”, & “African American”: 130,000 citations. Googling the words “Bredesen” & “vice president” got me 75,900 citations. According to those numbers, which topic is more story-worthy?)In January, the NEW YORK TIMES POLITICS BLOG discussed this horrific prospect and mentioned “documented fears among blacks [sic] that Mr. Obama will be assassinated if elected”. Last October, an article in the TIMES itself, not simply its blog, also spoke of these fears among African American women, in particular. Shall we presume that the thoughts or fears of African-Americans are banned from THE CITY PAPER?Doris Lessing, Nobel laureate, said, in February, that Obama “would certainly not last long, a black [sic] man in the position of president. They would murder him.” I suppose that you should ban her, too.Because of death threats, the Secret Service began protecting Obama earlier than they had protected any previous presidential candidate. The notion that an African-American candidate—and president—would be under increased danger was joked about not too long ago in the late lamented comic strip, THE BOONDOCKS. In addition, need I mention the small dust-up less than two weeks ago, when Hillary Clinton cited Robert Kennedy’s assassination?As for your piece, ClintB, if it is a “column mak[ing] a case”, then it doesn’t belong under “News” but, rather, under “Opinion”, which was the point of my criticism, which you, thin-skinnedly, read as “insults”, although you corrected your “widom”, so I guess even “insults” are of some use?Thanks for the citations, but I had no objection to the subject matter of the piece, just its unfounded assertions & its overt opining in an alleged news story. (By the way, the first piece doesn’t know when to use “who” & when “whom” or that “currently” is more accurate than “presently” or that Colin Powell is a Republican. The second piece uses “raised” when it means “reared” & has a typical British fear of commas, although it does know enough to use “emerita” when referring to a woman. See? I don’t criticize only your work. And I would never call you names.