A few weeks ago, I wrote about a City Council race here in DC in which an openly gay challenger- Clark Ray- is running as the "gay" candidate (but trying hard not to) against the most effective pro-LGBT ally on the Council, and straight ally, Phil Mendelson.
I read a piece in the NYTimes yesterday that had echoes for me of the same rationale on which Ray is running. In TN-9, progressive Rep. Steve Cohen, elected in 2006, is facing a primary challenge from former Memphis mayor Willie Herenton. The difference between this race and the race I discussed is that Herenton is running completely unabashedly as the "African-American" candidate. Examples:
"To know Steve Cohen is to know that he really does not think very much of African-Americans," Mr. Herenton said in a recent radio interview on KWAM. "He's played the black community well."
"This Congressional race, you know what it's going to be about?" Mr. Herenton said in a radio interview. "It's going to be about race, representation and power."
"This seat was set aside for people who look like me," said Mr. Herenton's campaign manager, Sidney Chism, a black county commissioner. "It wasn't set aside for a Jew or a Christian. It was set aside so that blacks could have representation."
DLCer Harold Ford, Jr. held this seat until running for Senate in 2006. The district is 60% African-American. Cohen ran against a field of six African-American primary candidates in 2006 and won with 30.95%, 5% more than Nikki Tinker, a former Ford aide. He then won the general against Jake Ford (I), Harold's own brother and son of another former Congressman from that district, Harold Ford Sr., along with a Republican, with 60% of the vote. Heck, then-Mayor Herenton even endorsed him in that race, even saying something that certainly stands in contrast to his current rationale for running:
Why then had he made such a point of endorsing Cohen versus independent contender Jake Ford in 2006, the year the current incumbent won his seat?
"I supported a principle of fairness and nondiscrimination," Herenton said. "I resented the way a group of African-American clergy had treated Cohen because of race and religion. That's why I stood with him. I am a product of the civil rights revolution. I stood with him in principle and not in person."
In 2008, he was again targeted in the primary by Tinker and won with 79.34% of the vote. Clearly, he's done at least something to win over the African-American community in three successive elections.
One question this raises for me is the intent of the Voting Rights Act in the first place. The Voting Rights Act requires that some districts be drawn to ensure a majority-minority demographic if the minority group constitute 50% plus one of the voting age population. It doesn't mandate the representative be a individual of that demographic. The question is whether the latter was part of the intent, and whether it is important to ensure an individual belonging to a minority represents a minority district.
Should Herenton run to ensure a 60% African-American district has an African-American member of Congress? Is it fair for Herenton to resent ministers who treat Cohen different because he's white, then a few years later, give race as the primary reason he's running against Cohen?
That's hard for me to say, but I'm generally disinclined to believe race or sexual orientation or other similar demographic should be the primary consideration in electing someone to represent you. Clark Ray wants to run because Mendelson screwed up on housing issues? Okay by me. Herenton wants to run because of a particularly bad issue position by Cohen? Run, Willie, run. But running on the basis of race or sexual orientation make little sense, particularly when the opponent is like Cohen, who considered joining the CBC, wrote a national apology for slavery and Jim Crow, endorsed Obama, and received an A rating from the NAACP. He also says:
"I vote like a black woman," he said in an interview. "I don't know the black experience, but I know about being a minority and being discriminated against because of religion."
He's clearly making an effort to ensure his African-American constituents are well-represented, so for Herenton to give race as the primary race is befuddling. Like Cohen, I do not know the black experience, so it is hard for me to understand why that's not enough, along with his overwhelming victories against African-American candidates. Like Cohen, I am Jewish. Unlike Cohen, I am gay. I have experienced discrimination. But I don't see a need for a gay representative like Clark Ray because he's gay. I would not insist on a Jewish councilmember if I lived in a 60% Jewish district. If the "black experience" is different and warrants particular representation, I'm interested to hear why.
Annette Taddeo and Hilda Solis campaign against the bailout in South Florida. Taddeo is a Better Democrat.
Aside from angry anonymous lawmaker (emails one and two are worth reading), Hillary Clinton and Nancy Pelosi, I have a few statements from candidates running for Congress. It's not the easiest thing in the world to craft a message with a fast-moving situation on the fly, but the basic gist should be 'hell no'. And please don't talk about bipartisanship.
I guess an aspiring congressman is supposed to have a more politically correct vocabulary, but this is absolute bullshit!
It is bullshit that once again the taxpayer is going to get stiffed, while multimillionaire CEO's strap on their golden parachutes.
It is bullshit that guys like Adam Putnam can stand in front of news cameras, spout a bunch of lies, and have the news anchor "thank you for joining us, Congressman."
It is bullshit that we have troops in the field, and our elected representatives are tripping over themselves to figure out how to keep bankers from losing their banks.
Ouch. Steve Cohen took 79% of the vote, Nikki Tinker took 19% of the vote. That's a 60 point margin. Here are her endorsers.
During her 2006 campaign, Tinker received multiple endorsements, including the Afro American Police Association, Airline Pilots Association, EMILYs List, Future PAC, Women Under 40 PAC, and the United Steelworkers of America.
That's really embarrassing for EMILY's List, and for Harold Ford. This makes two races in a row where the Ford machine got blown out.
"These incendiary and personal attacks have no place in our politics, and will do nothing to help the good people of Tennessee. It's time to turn the page on a politics driven by negativity and division so that we can come together to lift up our communities and our country."
A little weak from the nominee, but at least he is on record on Tinker's ploy. I think she's going to be handily defeated...
Based on early votes and absentee ballots results, Cohen leads with 80.56 percent of the votes. His main challengers, attorney Nikki Tinker and state Rep. Joe Towns Jr., trail with 17.22 percent and 1.44 percent, respectively.
Ugh, this is disgusting. Tomorrow, on August 7, Tennessee will hold its primaries, and in Tennessee's 9th Congressional district, where Memphis is located, it's gotten ugly. This is the seat that used to belong to Harold Ford, Jr. (D), until he gave it up for a Senate run where the GOP ran that ad with the white woman going, "Harold, call me!" (Harold is black.) Well, when he gave up that seat, it went to fellow Democrat Steve Cohen, who is a white Jew.
What would you say of a politician running for Congress who failed denounce something like this attacking her opponent:
Typical Republican, right? Well, almost. Typical Harold Ford protege, actually. A corporate lawyer after his own heart.
The minister who put it out--who lives well outside the district--works with a group that's in league with the Traditional Values Coalition. And Emily's List is supporting her, more on the basis of her ovaries than her anything else--given her non-existent pro-choice credentials.
In 2006, local blogger David Holt reported: "When asked about abortion, she said the she doesn't support abortion but that the government should stay out of it."
That's an Emily's List candidate nowadays???
In sharp contrast, her incumbent opponent, Rep. Steven Cohen ranks in the TOP 25 according to Progressive Punch.
The attacks are motivated by Cohen's race, his religion, and the fact that he supports hate crime protections for lesbians and gays. His enemies clearly have no place in the Democratic Party. But Emily's List is in bed with them! And Black Agenda Report--in the person of no-nonsense Executive Editor Glen Ford--is all over this, as you'll see on the flip.
And EMILY's List endorses Nikki Tinker, the primary challenger and former Harold Ford campaign manager, who is running against progressive Democrat Steve Cohen. It's a black district, and the Ford machine is quite strong; Tinker is running with the backing of that machine. EMILY's List is supposed to be a progressive organization, but it's moves like this that are quite confusing. The mandate of the group is to support only pro-choice women, and it has a history of backing people like Mary Landrieu, that then throw choice under the bus. So what does Nikki Tinker think about choice?
When asked about abortion, she said the she doesn't support abortion but that the government should stay out of it.
That's some rousing support for the complicated and difficult situation that lots of women find themselves in - they are promiscuous, but hey, the government shouldn't stop them from getting an abortion if they really want one. And marriage equality?
She also had an honest line with gay marriage. She basically apologized for her position. She said she's struggled with the issue, that the way she was raised she can't support gay marriage but she's not saying she's right about that and that she wouldn't support the amendment.
That's more rousing leadership. And EMILY's List highlights Tinker's work on 'civil rights' cases in its press release announcing the endorsement. Steve Cohen is a good progressive representative. I like primary challenges in general, and he'll probably always face one considering the dynamics of the district. The question is where progressive organizations put their resources, and this is a cold decision by EMILY's List to push out a progressive with a 100% pro-choice record in favor of a questionable corporate backed politician that learned from Harold Ford Jr, hardly a strong supporter of choice.
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