Phil Bredesen is no spring chicken.
At 74, he’s by far the oldest non-incumbent among the 14 races I’m highlighting in The Gavels.
What he’s got going for him is this. He would be one of the few Senators with a hard-sciences degree (Physics in his case). He was twice elected governor of Tennessee, in 2002 and 2006. He was also mayor of Nashville for eight years. So he can win state-wide elections in Tennessee.
Bredesen has a reputation as a fiscal conservative, he came in with significant business experience, he had worked within healthcare and founded an insurance company. As governor he made extensive cuts to Tennessee’s health care system to reduce the state deficit. He was successful in reducing costs, but it required removing tens of thousands of Tennesseans from Medicaid. Whatever he was doing, Tennesseans liked it, he won re-election by a margin of 39% (not a typo).
Bredesen is running for Bob Corker’s seat. Bob Corker’s claim to fame is as a fiscal conservative, but somehow he found a way to vote for tax cuts which added a trillion dollars to the deficit. He also chairs the foreign relations committee, where’s he’s generally a fair voice. Corker and Bredesen have known each other for decades and Corker said he would not campaign against Bredesen.
After reiterating a vow that he would not campaign against Bredesen, Corker also declared that there's "no question" the Democrat would "have crossover appeal" in November's closely watched race to succeed him.
"I think he’s got real appeal," the retiring Corker said of Bredesen, describing the Democrat as "a friend of mine" and a productive partner for more than two decades. — www.politico.com/...
Part of that has to do with the circumstances around Corker’s decision to not run for re-election. After Trump won, it was clear that Corker would face a primary challenge. He decided to step down instead. That lead to Marsha Blackburn winning the Republican nomination. She’s a regular on Fox News who touted her credentials in this manner after native daughter Taylor Swift endorsed Bredesen:
“Tennesseans are more interested in the fact that Marsha Blackburn is endorsed by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, by the Fraternal Order of Police, by the Police Benevolent Association and by the National Rifle Association, where I have an ‘A’ rating and their endorsement,” Blackburn said. — www.foxnews.com/...
So Bredesen has a hard edged reactionary as an opponent. Blackburn had not run state-wide, but she does have Trump tweeting on her behalf.
Hardly anyone here is going to confuse Bredesen for a progressive. His platform is middle-of-the-road Democrat for Health Care and the Economy. He does have a strong record and commitment to Education. He said he would have voted for Kavanaugh, with the caveat that he did not have access to the documents other senators saw.
In general, Bredesen’s 2018 campaign aesthetic is “don’t mention I’m a Democrat too much.” He ran an ad that was a compilation of all the nice things that Tennessee Republicans have said about him, and he’s made sure to get it on the record that he would vote against Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer in any Democratic caucus elections. Bredesen has made an ad that shows him shooting skeet and touting the fact that as governor, he had an A rating from the National Rifle Association (he doesn’t mention that now he has a D grade) and said he would turn down campaign help from Hillary Clinton. The guy wants no part of the #resistance label. — fivethirtyeight.com/...
Instead, Bredesen doggedly steers the conversation back to local issues like Tennessee’s opioid and Asian carp infestations. “Blackburn is going to say, ‘Chuck Schumer this, Nancy Pelosi that, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama,’ to try to nationalize the race,” a Tennessee Democratic strategist says. “Governor Bredesen is just going to say, ‘You know me, you know I’ve done a good job, I’m just asking to do it again.’” — www.vanityfair.com/...
That’s not what this is about. This race, and all these races are about wresting back control of the Senate, about getting those gavels. Most paths to a Senate majority go through Tennessee, and this is a winnable race.
— @subirgrewal
You can donate to all 14 of Senate candidates (via ActBlue) in tight races or challenging an incumbent Republican. You can also use the same ActBlue Link to allocate different amounts to all or any one of the candidates.
They are all worthy of attention because we need a 50 state strategy to show people who’re victims of country club Republicans that we will fight for them.
The Gavels is about gaining control of the Senate and its committees. Prior diaries are on David Baria (MS), Jenny Wilson (UT), Jane Raybould (NE), Gary Trauner (WY), Heidi Heitkamp (ND),
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