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TN-09: Cohen Creaming Primary Opponents in New Poll

by: James L.

Fri May 16, 2008 at 2:13 PM EDT


Lake Research Partners for Steve Cohen (4/21-24, likely voters):

Steve Cohen (D-inc): 63
Nikki Tinker (D): 11
Joe Towns (D): 5
(MoE: ±4.9%)

Damn, is that lead ever huge.  Also of interest: Cohen enjoys a massive 87% favorability rating among both white and black primary voters.

It looks like Memphis area Democrats will be returning this solid progressive to the House once again.

Primary: August 7th
James L. :: TN-09: Cohen Creaming Primary Opponents in New Poll
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TN-09: Cohen Creaming Primary Opponents in New Poll | 27 comments
glenn close
I don't know if Cohen is a progressive but I do know he is incrdibly sexist. Using such gendered language is totally inappropriate.
Oh, please.
It was a gaffe, to be sure, but he was referring to the Close character's uncanny ability to come back after what seemed like the ultimate defeat.  It was unfortunate that he chose to use an allegory to a mentally unstable female character, but I think it was just that-- a gaffe, not an intentionally sexist statement.

And before you jump all over me, I remind you that I am a woman!

[ Parent ]
Re
You sound like Clinton supporters trying to explain away Geraldine Ferraro.

Can't we just leave our partisan affiliations aside and admit that Clinton has suffered from a lot of sexism through the campaign (the claws, handle her in the room, Glenn Close...). AND that Obama has suffered through lots of racially insensitive remarks. The two aren't mutually exclusive.

The point isn't that Cohen is an awful sexist, but that lots of people aren't careful about subscribing to gendered and sexist imagery. And he is apparently one of them, and he did it in the worst of ways. I'm sure we can admit that and move on to something else, mostly because we're progressives who want to fight all discriminations.

[ Parent ]
Okay . . .
. . . it's just that you said "[Cohen] is incredibly sexist," rather than saying, "Cohen made a sexist remark."

And, yes, I applaud both of the Democratic presidential candidates for getting this far even with the respective barriers of racism and sexism in their way.  I agree-- let's unify, and tear the GOP a new one in the fall!

[ Parent ]
Fine
My first post was too strong. But I do think that sexism against Clinton is unacknowledged and underreported, and men like Cohen should be more careful about what they say instead of revealing how much hold sexism still has.
[ Parent ]
Do you care to square
the fact that you call Cohen "incredibly sexist" with your later assertion that your point was not that he is an "awful sexist"?

I am sorry but your original comment was directed at Cohen and called him sexist to try now to say that you meant (in a thread about a TN congressional primary) to draw attention to the general observation that Clinton has been subjected to sexist attacks just as Obama has been subjected to racist attacks is simply and flatly dishonest.

It is not what you said and if it really was what you meant choosing to assess one person's character on the basis of a single remark and then label him "incredibly sexist" as a way of making a general observation about the presidental primaries it was a wildly inappropriate way to make that point.

[ Parent ]
He's incredibly progressive
One of the most liberal Congressmen in the House since getting elected.  His opponents have used all sorts of ugly smears against him, some extremely anti-semitic.  Glad to see they aren't working.
[ Parent ]
As opposed to his predecessor Harold Ford
who was far to conservative to have deserved a district like this one.
[ Parent ]
Yes, that statement was over-the-top
But you have to realize that he is one of very few (maybe the only) white congressmen representing a heavily AA district.  Strongly backing Obama is a MUST for him.
[ Parent ]
Bob Brady
in PA-01 is the other one I can think of. And he's an uncommitted superdelegate so far.
[ Parent ]
Only progressive in TN
It's great to elect a progressive from TN-9 after Harold Ford.  No, we don't need one of the Ford machines corporate conservatives like Nikki Tinker or Harold's brother Jake (again running as an "independent" in the fall).  Harold and his father represented the district since LBJ's time and his relatives are in the state legislature (or were last cycle when some were being investigated).

Thanks Memphis and "south Memphis" (MS-1 per Cheney). You are doing great.

Glad.
I remember the primary attacks on him were very racially and religiously charged.  I'm glad to see he's pulling through some of the ridiculousness just fine.  
This race
This race annoyed me to no end in 2006 for all the clearly race motivated campaigning. This is one of the reasons that I strongly dislike minority majority districts. It feels like they MUST be represented by a member of that ethnic minority group. I understand the reasoning behind it, to increase minority repersentation in Congress, but strikes to me of reverse discriminatin. In many cases it eliminates qualified candidates that may be in this case a white Jewish man simply because he is not black. It is my hope that should Obama win the Presidency, perhaps at the end of his eight years, we can review this policy. Not to mention that it is estimated that for every minority majority seat that is created, Republicans gain two seats. That might help with our efforts in the South if say Jefferson's district in LA is thinned out a little. As I recall its around +30 Democratic. I guess I just do not like to see racism a used against anyone, white, black or inbetween.
Hear, Hear!
I'm with you 100% on that one!
[ Parent ]
LA-02 is D+28
And yeah, I don't like gerrymandering.

party: Democratic, ideology: moderate, district: CT-01
[ Parent ]
bah
I meant PVI +30 Democratic... lol.. So give me some credit for at least being only 2 pts off... Its sad enough that I know the PVI of a district 1500 miles from my own as it is!
[ Parent ]
Right on
Republicans used minority majority re-districting in the south as an important part of the "Gingrich Revolution."  And too many Democrats in high places felt that objecting to these schemes seemed "racist."  TN-9 isn't bad but Bobby Scott's VA-3, for example, is aa clear example of using this technique to pack a few Democratic districts to win the neighbors in R+3 to R+6 districts.

It is encouraging to see that the people of TN are looking past race to the voting record and other indications.  And by these indications, Steve Cohen is a good congressman for this solidly Democratic district.

[ Parent ]
majority-minority districts
serve an important basis until white districts start voting for minorities on a regular enough basis to see a representative congress. and i don't think it's straight-up race-baiting to point out that a white candidate facing five black candidates in a primary has a built-in advantage. it is fortunate that steve cohen is by all accounts a terrific representative of his district. but too often party establishments have practiced pitting candidates of similar ethnicities against each other in order to destroy progressive candidates and get the white yes man in office. if he can pull off a primary victory against a single black candidate it should clear away any doubts that he exploited the situation - but i think given the history it's an important caveat.

It is difficult to get the news from poems, but men die miserably every day for lack of what is found there. --William Carlos Williams
[ Parent ]
African American's have different voting patterns than
Caucasians.  Majority-Minority districts help give minorities (In this case African Americans) equal representation relative to their population, a benefit whites have had for hundreds of years.  

If we didn't have majority-minority districts, minorities would only have voting that equated to equal representation if they all grouped up into large communities together.  (Which they do, in some cases)

[ Parent ]
That may have been true in the past . . .
. . . but, things are changing, largely on the strength of our generation.  Seeing as young voters in majority-white states are enthusiastic about a black presidential candidate, I have a feeling that quite a few racially-balanced congressional districts could go to minority candidates.  We're not there yet, but this year's election so far is indicating real progress in terms of the racial attitudes of the younger generations in this country.
[ Parent ]
I just don't like it
I understand what was being done in their creation, but shouldn't Congress be represented by THE BEST person in that district. I could not ever hope to win in my Congressional district in California because I have the wrong last name. That is why Grace Napalitano puts "Grace Flores Napalitano" on all of her signs around the district. Same thing with TN-9. A white Jew managed to win the primary, in a 'black district' and the groups in the district think that it is unfair.  
[ Parent ]
That's the problem.
If they want a quota system, that's unconstitutional.  That's why the point of majority-minority districts are to help African Americans get representation relative to their population, not to elect more African Americans to congress.  Again, that'd be unconstitutional.  
[ Parent ]
You nailed it
It really shouldn't matter what race the elected official is.  As long as the representative of the minority-majority district represents the interests of the voters it shouldn't matter.

Steve Cohen is a perfect example.  He consistently votes for the interest of the African-Americans who make up a majority of his district.  Heck, Cohen even tried to join the Congressional Black Causus in order to better serve his district.

That's a stark contrast to Blue-Dog Harold Ford who consistently voted AGAINST the views of the TN-09 district in order to further his own statewide political ambitions.

[ Parent ]
Yes, views are changing for the better
But I think the key phrase here to consider is "voters in majority-shite states are enthusiastic about a clack candidate."  It's obvious that racial progress is only occuring at a fast rate in states with few if any blacks such as the midwest and pacific northwest.  Of course attitudes are impriving in those regions since they have little history of negative race relations.  Unfortunately the southeast is still the southeast.  Heck, just take a look at Presidential polls in ultra-liberal Massachusetts and it's obvious that old racial wounds havn't healed.
[ Parent ]
I agree, you can say things are changing for the better,
but they aren't done yet.  
[ Parent ]
excellent news
by the way - the primary is 8/7, so there's still time for them to run an ugly campaign and hurt him.  my guess is that he has a ton more cash-on-hand than his challengers.
plus dccc
add to his cash dccc money IF they feel his numbers are weakening(cohen will win; the question remains, by how much?)
[ Parent ]
TN-09: Cohen Creaming Primary Opponents in New Poll | 27 comments

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