Bob Tuke, former Chair of the Tennessee Democratic Party, isn't running for the US Senate, he's marching. Tuke, a former Marine, decided to reprise Lamar Alexander's famous walk across Tennessee in his campaign against Jake Butcher in the 1978 Gubernatorial race.
I caught up (literally) with Tuke as he made his way down Rosa Parks Blvd on his way towards Fisk University. Dressed in his marine combat shirt and his army issued combat boots, Tuke was walking at a brisk clip, starting out at Nashville's Municipal Auditorium with the intended stopping point at the Country Music Hall of Fame.
While some have mocked his march across Tennessee, Tuke seems to think the benefits of walking across the state are that you get to meet people you wouldn't normally get a chance to see at an orchestrated event at a union hall, including a mother on welfare trying volunteering for HUGGS, which (I believe) tries to get people out of welfare and help reform ex-offenders. He also feels it will help to better educate him on the problems in smaller communities which often get lost in the press. In addition, there is the ancillary benefit of perhaps losing a little weight and keeping in shape (similar to Jason Powell who vowed to lose 58 pounds in his quest for State Rep.).
On the issues, Mr. Tuke doesn't mince words in his criticism of Sen. Lamar Alexander who he says has "one of the worst records in the Senate on Veterans issues," including a vote against a bi-partisan, Jim Webb sponsored amendmentto call for military members to be deployed for one year at home for every year in Iraq. The measure was supported by 56 members of the Senate, but because of Republican filibustering tactics supported by Sen. Alexander, it was not able to be passed.
While Bob Tuke is most often associated with his Marine service, he earns his living as an adoption attorney, and when I asked what effect that would have on how he'd be as a Senator, Tuke said, "while a lot of people talk about 'family values,' I've lived it for 25 years by helping to reform Tennessee's adoption laws and helping to draft our new adoption code...I've got two adopted kids myself and helped form hundreds of families." Tuke believes that his life story, both as an adoption lawyer, marine, and devoted husband of 38 years, would make it tough for the Republicans to attempt to smear him like they've done to other Democrats in the past..."I'd like to see them try," says Tuke.
In addition to Tuke's Senate run, he started out the year as the Political Director for the Obama for America campaign. I asked Tuke if there was any chance he'd back away from Sen. Obama should the Republicans come after him on it, he said flat-out "no way". And while many of their policies, such as Iraq and Health Care, are similar, one area of disagreement between he and Sen. Obama is on the Capital Gains tax, which Tuke believes is one of the only things working well economically.
Ultimately, while most political observers tend to think the chances of taking Alexander's Senate seat are between slim and none, Bob Tuke shows no signs of letting this race go without a fight, and while he still has to get passed his primary challenger Mike Padgett of Knoxville, he thinks that he'll make a strong showing in November once Alexander's record is fully explored and people get a chance to hear Tuke's life story.
Visit TukeforTennessee.com for more information.
Nashville for the 21st Century