The Cohen Vulnerability

Did you hear that Steve Cohen was going to be the underdog in his re-election bid? Yeah, that's right, the people of Tennessee's 9th congressional district are a bunch of racist rubes who will vote for anyone other than Rep. Cohen so long as they have dark skin.

Now, you may be confused to hear this because Rep. Cohen has already had African-American challengers, both as Independent candidates and a primary challenger last year, and yet, somehow, the people of the 9th Congressional district managed to forget that Cohen is a White Jew on election day, and send him back to Congress. In fact, according to the only objective data we've seen on this race, the people of the 9th district have apparently forgotten that their Mayor, Willie Herenton, is black, because they currently are still supporting incumbent Steve Cohen by rather large margins:

In a race between Congressman Steve Cohen and Mayor Willie Herenton, who would you vote for for Congress?

1. Steve Cohen - 65%
2. Herenton - 14%
3. Undecided - 20%

How would you rate Congressman Steve Cohen's job performance?

84% said excellent or good.

So, despite the fact that they think he's doing a great job. Despite the fact that he managed to pass through Congress an official apology for slavery, something no other Congressman (black or white) had been able to do. Despite the fact that he serves his district ably in getting money for local projects. Despite these facts, we are to believe that the people of Memphis are all of a sudden going to give in to craven racist appeals?

How about this. How about this tactic has failed in the past, and will fail again. How about the people of the 9th district just watched a Black man (whose race represents about 15% of America) get elected President by a melting pot of supporters, the plurality of which were white people. How about the fact that many of the African-Americans in Memphis would be insulted by appeals to the lowest common denominator of race as a reason to vote out a Congressman they think is doing a great job at representing them. How about the people of Memphis have had decades to see Rep. Cohen at work through his job in the State Senate and Congress, and feel that while his pigment and place of worship may not be in line with theirs, at the end of the day, he truly cares about his constituents and is dedicating his life to making their lives better. Hows about the media and those over-hyped "political scientists" wait for a shred of objective evidence indicating Rep. Cohen is in trouble before succumbing to the view that all of the black people in Memphis are mindless racists..lets try it and see if it works.