You Will Observe Regular Order Mutha...

Anthony Weiner must've had a bad honeymoon because he certainly did not come back relaxed and refreshed. The Congressman from New York goes off on his colleagues for failing to suspend the rules and pass (a motion that requires 2/3rds of the House) an amendment to "provide up to $7.4 billion in health care aid to rescue and recovery workers who have faced health problems since their work in the wake of the September 11 attacks."



The measure had the support of 12 Republicans and was opposed by 4 Democrats, one of whom was our fine Congressman Jim Cooper.

(Via TPM)

See Also: Anthony Wiener and Peter King going at it on Fox News. Money quote, "How's that cracker jack Peter King whip organization working out?"

The Case for McWherter

If you are like me and think having a clear primary field merits the Governorship...vote McWherter:



Via Woods

Yarbro Releases Numbers, Outraises Henry Again

Jeff Yarbro's campaign put out a statement claiming to have raised more in the past month than Sen. Henry:

Between July 1 and 26, the Yarbro Campaign raised $43,280. The incumbent, Sen. Douglas Henry, raised $31,050 during the same timeframe. Sen. Henry has made an additional $100,000 loan to his campaign to finance the misleading, personal attack ad currently airing and has now invested $300,000 of his family fortune in his bid to win an 11th term. The Henry Campaign disclosure also reveals that he has raised the $75,000 statutory maximum from political action committees for his primary campaign.

The report still isn't posted on the TREF's website, so I don't know how this is all split up. I checked with the campaign though and they said of the amount they raised about 5% was earmarked towards the general election. In comparison, Sen. Henry's take includes a lot of money, about 50% of his July haul, that is earmarked for the general in the event that he should win.

Of interest, Sen. Henry also got a boost from the National Health Corp PAC to the tune of about $500 ($1,000 total). That would be the same company Sen. Henry attacked Yarbro over because the firm he works for represents them.

Update:

The report is up, it shows what I wrote up there plus that Yarbro spent $153K and ended the period with about $80K in the bank. About $3,400 of the $43K raised in July was earmarked for the general election.

Republicans All Hat No Cattle

Sen. Eric Stewart is none too pleased with the pander-fest that is taking place tomorrow as Republican lawmakers leave their districts to go down to Arizona in order to present a non-binding resolution (worthless piece of paper) to Governor Jan Brewer:

Amid soaring unemployment in their districts and pleas from voters to focus on jobs and the economy, Tennessee Republican lawmakers are flying to Arizona on Friday to present a do-nothing resolution to Arizona’s governor.

“Apparently Tennessee Republicans think political junkets to Arizona are more important than unemployment in their own districts,” said state Sen. Eric Stewart of Belvidere. “I get angry when lawmakers take the people they represent for fools and just downright lie to them about the facts.

“Make no mistake: this trip is all about politics and pandering. The resolution commends Arizona’s immigration law, but does absolutely nothing to address Tennessee’s illegal immigration issues.”

Sen. Bill Ketron of Murfreesboro, Rep. Joe Carr of Lascassas and Rep. Tony Shipley of Kingsport will be among Republican lawmakers going to Arizona on Friday to present a nonbinding resolution that cost Tennessee taxpayers $500.

The Other District 21 Primary

The Scene has an extensive write-up of the 21st Senate Republican primary race and an exciting behind the scenes look at James Chesser's big break onto public access television.

Henry Drops Another $100K on Primary Race

The pre-primary financial disclosures are trickling in and first up is Senatuh Douglas Henry who can't outraise his challenger Jeff Yarbro but he can sure outwealth him.

Sen. Henry has loaned his campaign an additional $100K on top of the $200K he loaned himself earlier this year. The money was spent largely on polling of the district and his television ad blitz featuring Governor Bredesen with cameo by Douglas Henry, and needlessly amateurish video of Jeff Yarbro.

Yarbro's finance reports aren't up yet, but at his last hurrah fundraiser this past Tuesday he announced to the crowd that he will have raised over $300,000 over the course of the campaign.

Update:

Mike Byrd reports that Henry "volunteers" may be getting paid to support the Senatuh. I'm not seeing it reflected in the financial report, but that doesn't mean its not happening.

McWherter Feels Your Pain

After Zach Wamp made another in a series of dumb ass comments, Mike McWherter is standing up for the little guy:

“As I have travelled to all 95 counties, people tell me over and over again they want to work,” said Mike McWherter. “They need jobs, not lectures and attacks from Congressman Wamp. My goal is simple we have to put Tennesseans back to work, not blame them for being unemployed.”

If you like what you just read, they'd love to have some of your money...

Primary Turnout Update

Early voting increased in every location yesterday compared to Monday, and more people were picking up GOP ballots than Democratic ones.

2,581 people picked up a GOP ballot compared with 1,998 people choosing the Democratic ballot yesterday, thus increasing GOP primary vote total to about 500 above the Democrats. This may very well be the first time in Davidson County history that more people will have voted in a Republican primary than a Democratic one (just a hunch, too lazy to investigate that one).

Does this mean that there are now more Republicans? Not necessarily. I've talked to a few people who, like me, chose the Republican ballot because they live in uncontested Democratic districts and are scared of Angry Smurf and Yosemite Sam.

But short of going through each and every voter profile, its hard to tell how big the pattern of normally Democratic voters switching primaries is. While I'm still fairly confident that David Smith is going to win, unless you are comfortable seeing the five words, "Juvenile Court Clerk Eric Crafton," I suggest you go out and vote even if you may not have much of anything worthwhile going on in your legislative districts.

Bucket o' Beer, Bowl of Wings, and Tim Lee All In One Place

Gary Odom challenger Tim Lee is throwing a little shindig at Buffalo Wild Wings and what used to be Weck, and wants you to come out. Contributions aren't necessary to attend, but will probably be necessary if he has any shot in Hades of picking off the Democratic Leader of the House.

Luckily for Lee though, his fundraising challenge isn't as great as it might have seemed back in April of this year, as Gary Odom has blown through about $55K between April and July 1st.

According to TREF reports, Odom has one of the most well fed campaign teams in the business, spending over $2K on various campaign committee/planning/fundraising/worker meetings. He's also managed to keep his campaign staff walking the district in style, what with the $540 spent at Tiffany and Co. for campaign worker gifts.

Not that I'm hating here...by all means, campaign staff keep politicos in office, and they deserve all the spoils they might get. Odom has also managed to spread the wealth around to various charitable groups to the tune of about $27,500. Or roughly 50% of his overall expenditures.

Even with all that spending, Tim Lee still has quite a bit of a deficit to make up, as he ended the last quarter with less than $200 in his account compared to over $8K for Leader Odom.

Update:

Pre-primary numbers are in and Gary Odom has apparently gone to a policy of dutch treat, and he's raised about $6.5K and spent $1.75K largely on the Democratic party. Tim Lee's got enough money in his account to host a party at CeCe's Pizza for his supporters...about $30.

A Shot and a Shot

Hey, what do you now, Tennesseans love the hell out of some guns, but not at their local Applebees....

Seven in 10 voters said they oppose the law passed earlier this year that lets holders of handgun-carry permits take their weapons into any establishment that sells alcohol. Supporters of the gun law say it will make the state safer, but voters said in interviews that the prospect of guns mixing with alcohol is too dangerous.

Rep. Curry Todd complains that the poll isn't fair because it doesn't make clear the fact that restaurants can opt out of their patrons packing heat...but that doesn't really matter because the initial reaction of voters is what makes the difference. If you poll the individual elements of the health care reform package, people generally are favorable...ask them about Obamacare or just the Health Care reform act, and you get different numbers.

Frankly, I'm a bit surprised by these numbers. I don't really have that much of a problem with the bill. After all, its still illegal to drink and carry your weapon, and those who do drink and carry their gun were probably already going into bars and restaurants before the law. What it allows is for those paranoid white people who have visions of shit popping off at the most random times the comfort and security of knowing that if a terrorist decides to take O'Charley's hostage...they'll be prepared to stop 'em.

Having said that, if this bill, out of all the right-wingery emanating from the legislature the past two years, is the one that can shave off a few votes here and there to put the Democrats in charge of the House...so be it.

(h/t JR)

Henry's Got The "Fastest Mind In The Senate"

Betty Nixon loves her some Sen. Douglas Henry and thinks he's got the fastest mind in the Senate:



We've even got a great example of him thinking on his feet...

Republicans Close Gap in Early Voting

With the first day in from the start of expanded early voting polling sites, it looks as if Republicans have all but eliminated the early voting lead held by Democrats in the first week of early voting.

Over 4,000 people voted yesterday alone, bringing the total from 2,529 to 6,625. Of those, 3,305 chose a Democratic ballot compared to 3,279 getting voting in the Republican primary. If those trends continue, it is likely that more people will have voted in a GOP primary in early voting than they have in the Democratic primary.

Here is the breakdown of where people voted yesterday. It would appear to be highest in the areas encompassing the 21st Senate district and 60th House District. I don't have a breakdown by primary though.

METRO OFFICE		237
Belle Meade UMC		557
Bellevue Com Center		496
Bordeaux Library		303
Edmondson Pike Library		578
Green Hills Library		698
Hermitage Library		635
Living Word Church		136
Madison Library		456

48% of Tennesseans Think Poorly of Obama

The Tennessean has released more of that Mason Dixon poll and we find, shockingly, that President Obama is less than popular with Tennesseans. About 48% of the people of our fine state think he's done a poor job, and only 34% think he's done a good or excellent job.

As per usual, old white folk hate the hell out of some Obama, while the younger crowd is generally more favorable:

Two-thirds of respondents 65 and older, such as Keeton, gave Obama a poor grade. Support for Obama was highest among respondents ages 18 to 34, nearly half of whom viewed the president favorably.

In the Department of Phil, Republicans actually like the Democratic governor more than Democrats do. With an overall good/excellent rating of 74% and "poor" markings from only 7% of the class.

Hartline Poll Puts Cooper 15 Points Ahead of Generic Republican

The Hartline campaign released results from a poll conducted by the Republican firm Wilson Research Strategies which shows that Cooper garners 48% of the vote against a no-name Republican, with 33% going GOP and the rest presumably undecided or other.

The poll also suggests that if given a slew of negatively charged descriptions of Rep. Cooper's votes, his support drops down to 38%.

According to the campaign there are no head-to-head numbers to be given. Kind of curious why a campaign would commission a poll like this without polling the GOP primary as well...

Update:

Stupid, stupid, stupid...I keep forgetting to take a microscope to everything coming from the Republicans.

From a helpful commenter over at Post Politics we find that the poll in question was conducted way back in March 22-23, 2010. Right around the peak of all the furor over health care. It was also paid for by former GOP candidate Finucane and given to the Hartline campaign as an in-kind gift.

Unwholesome Places

Harold Ford Jr. is about to start promoting his new book, "More Davids Than Goliaths," and the Memphis Daily News has a preview of the book. According to Ford, he almost went to a bad place in the 2006 election because of the "Call Me" ads:

As a plan B, Ford considered an attack ad that would charge Corker had hired illegal immigrant construction workers.

“Your mind goes to unwholesome places when your opponent abandons all morality,” Ford wrote.

He didn’t do the attack ad, but the allegation found its way into the campaign. Corker denied any wrongdoing.

Its a good thing Ford didn't do that, it would've been wrong of him to stoop to that level. But, lets assume he had...what do you think that ad would've looked like? Oh, that's right, we don't have to guess:



Granted, he didn't do that in response to the RNC "Call Me" ad, he did it long before.