Tennessee Jew-Baiter Loses Primary In Landslide
Nikki Tinker, the Democratic attorney who based her primary challenge to first-term Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN) almost entirely on appeals to race and religion, has gone down to an ignominious defeat.
With 67% of precincts reporting, Cohen leads with 38,491 votes, or 79%, to Tinker's 9,327 votes, 19%.
Cohen won a divided primary for this safe seat in 2006, becoming the only white Congressman to represent a majority-minority district in the South. Tinker, who also ran in that primary, based her challenge this time around on direct arguments that the state's African-Americans should have a seat in Congress, and also aired a particularly nasty ad attacking the Jewish incumbent Cohen for visiting "our churches."
But Tinker's attacks on Cohen don't appear to have even remotely caught on with the voters.
Late Update: With 87% of precincts reporting, Cohen's 79%-19% margin has held steady.
Late Late Update: With 98% of precincts reporting, Cohen's lead has still held at 79%-19%.
Thanks for this news. I logged on just to check this.
Maybe things aren't as crazy as they have been.
August 7, 2008 10:17 PM | Reply | Permalink
Tinker goes down!~ Good -- and I hope Emily's List does too.
August 7, 2008 10:20 PM | Reply | Permalink
Guys, I think you should check out TNC on this one. He doesn't se it as jew-baiting, but, again, simple race-baiting. His logic is quite convincing.
ta-nehisicoates.theatlantic.com/
August 7, 2008 10:20 PM | Reply | Permalink
I'm not a Jew, but Josh Marshall and MJR are and they took it as Jew-baiting -- so?
August 7, 2008 10:26 PM | Reply | Permalink
No real issues. Jew/Race-baiting, both disgusting, dirty tactics. Equally so, and essentially, the same thing.
Hey, I'm a lawyer. I like the facts to be precise, that's all.
August 7, 2008 10:38 PM | Reply | Permalink
You got it correct as is Coates!
Tinker is just dumb with a great smile! Attention to this matter is more than merited. I do suspect that the voters of that district are more aware than the headline herein may suggest.
August 7, 2008 10:47 PM | Reply | Permalink
I hope a number of people got the message about her demise.
Don't use Jew-baiting and Race-baiting to divide the Democratic party.
August 7, 2008 10:54 PM | Reply | Permalink
I think it's clearly both. Or rather, in this case the two overlap. But two things weigh in the favor of a strong religious component. One was the reference to 'our churches' and the imagery of the ad. the other is that as eric kleefeld explained in his piece today, separate from the ad she said repeatedly at fundraisers and other such events that she was going to make an issue of 'his not accepting jesus christ', etc.
August 7, 2008 11:08 PM | Reply | Permalink
We are in danger here of trying to distinguish a misogynist from a misanthrope.
Whatever the specifics of the attack, What Tinker was up to was trying to exploit fear of people not like ourselves. It wasn't just race, it wasn't just religion, it was a two-fer.
The mistake she made was that she picked an unacceptable bigotry and she did it in a particularly crass manner. If she had been subtler (like team McCain) or picked on a more acceptable target (Rudy 'IRA fundraiser' Giuliani) the liberal blogosphere would still have howled but the establishment would have turned a deaf ear.
August 8, 2008 12:07 AM | Reply | Permalink
That all points to trying to get people in a lather over his whiteness and non-Christian-ness; I don't see the JEW-BAITING in it. if he were muslim or buddhist (or catholic, probably) she'd be running the same ads and saying the same words to the same effect, no?
maybe it's just a case of, like David Gergen said the other day, there being code words that mean specific things to the intended audience, and I'm just missing it.
August 8, 2008 12:22 AM | Reply | Permalink
Yeah, but in this particular case he was a Jew -- Hello? So I think Jew Baiting is applicable?
August 8, 2008 12:50 AM | Reply | Permalink
not really, no. "jew-baiting" and "anti-semite" are pretty charged phrases, and expressing the sentiment that "all non-Baptists suck" doesn't, to me, rise to that level.
August 8, 2008 4:12 AM | Reply | Permalink
I think that there are a lot of people - generally liberal or progressive - who do, in fact, consider the term "Jew Baiting" or the practice of clear antisemitism to be so inflamitory they they resist acknowledging it when it is right in front of them.
My kid and I have gotten into this argument of who is racist, for example. She wants to reserve the term for only the most extreme cases. But I'm a white southerner who graduated from an all-white segregated high school, and I know damned well that every white Southerner is racist to some extent. It's part of the culture. It's like being an alcoholic. It is with you ever day, and you don't stop being either a racist or alcoholic just because you don't obviously practice it.
I think the mistake is to think that by publicly labeling someone antisemitic or racist you can somehow "cure" them of their illness. You can't. The label is not a tool for correction. It is just a label, and it either fits the criteria or it does not. All you can do to correct the problem is attack the behavior or shun that person. The label does not correct the behavior.
Generally that's probably a good practice not to use the label often, especially in political cases, because the slippery slope of politics makes such accusations easier to make over time and the label is so easy to misuse for political gain. It also is more likely to increase conflict than dampen it down. But it this case, the term "Jew-baiting" clearly applies. It describes Tinker's behavior quite clearly.
August 8, 2008 7:08 AM | Reply | Permalink
I think that there are a lot of people - generally liberal or progressive - who do, in fact, consider the term "Jew Baiting" or the practice of clear antisemitism to be so inflamitory they they resist acknowledging it when it is right in front of them. ... But it this case, the term "Jew-baiting" clearly applies. It describes Tinker's behavior quite clearly. My republican friend is right.. liberals *can* be kind of condescending. ;)
August 8, 2008 10:17 AM | Reply | Permalink
Well, we can see she's not an anti-dentite!
August 8, 2008 6:40 PM | Reply | Permalink
No reason it couldn't be both. Some people might take it as being more race-based, and other people might take it as more religion based. Still more might take it as both.
August 8, 2008 2:48 PM | Reply | Permalink
I am not a jew but I thought it was clear that it was indeed Jew-baiting racist attack.
August 7, 2008 10:47 PM | Reply | Permalink
It wasn't for some...
August 7, 2008 10:55 PM | Reply | Permalink
Yet, whatever. It was offensive and wrong. Just what we should expect from a Ford prodigy. I'm actually kinda glad Corker beat him, then I remember the ad used against Ford....
Is there such a thing as lesser of two evils? I'm not so sure anymore.
August 7, 2008 11:20 PM | Reply | Permalink
It was bad -- the whole ugly episode laid out for ALL to see was really bad.
It was totally wrong.
However, why was Clinton's prominent surrogate Stephanie Tubbs Jones and Emily's List who knew what this was woman like ... [as it's documented her attitude on Cohen was 'out-there' long before this ad came out]-- continue to endorse this candidate? - AND actively work against an incumbent Democratic candidate [NB. Emily's List gives 99% of their money to democrats -- why piss off this democrat?]. Plus, the guy is pro-choice. I know that NARAL, for example, [the bigwigs] are pretty close to the candidates they endorse -- being the first in line with the campaign gossip and strategy - they can't afford not too -- it's campaign endorsement 101.
What's especially strange == is when ANY and I mean there is ANY perceived slight on a Jewish candidates or on Israel it is thoroughly squashed by the Democratic establishment and elite... letters and threats go flying round -- on this they have been silent...?
WEIRD NO?
August 7, 2008 11:47 PM | Reply | Permalink
Oh and how can forget prominent Clinton backer Harold Ford, Jr...
Tired I guess.
August 8, 2008 12:46 AM | Reply | Permalink
It's preposterous trying to charecterize hate- it's almost funny. Unless, anyone wants to go into the semantics- Jew baiting, race baiting, gay baiting, "whatever the hell" baiting all are one and the same and electorate who take the bait are absolute dumbfucks or hate-lovers.
August 7, 2008 11:39 PM | Reply | Permalink
Yes, I agree, and just to be clear I think that the democratic establishment should come out and squash all hate speech attacks -- whether it's "Jew baiting, race baiting, gay baiting" as it goes against our Democratic Party platform.
August 7, 2008 11:59 PM | Reply | Permalink
So...you're anti-semantic?
August 8, 2008 4:14 AM | Reply | Permalink
Angry vet, if someone says someone else shouldn't and won't win because they haven't taken Jesus Christ as their savior, and that someone else is also Jewish, that is, precisely, Jew-baiting. (Obviously there was also race-baiting, no need to be reductive.)
August 8, 2008 1:28 AM | Reply | Permalink
I'd hesitate to call that "precisely" -- whatever "jew-baiting" is, it probably in its most "precise" form includes an actual reference to Judaism.
if you want to see "precisely" what jew-baiting is, the washington post had an example in february:
Circulated by an African-American minister from Murfreesboro Tenn., which isn't even in Cohen's district, the literature encourages other black leaders in Memphis to "see to it that one and ONLY one black Christian faces this opponent of Christ and Christianity in the 2008 election."
August 8, 2008 5:30 AM | Reply | Permalink
SkippyFlipjack,
What about Jews who are not religious, but self-identify as Jews nevertheless? How, for example, does my being secular make me less of a Jew to you? And what gives you the authority to say so?
August 8, 2008 10:19 AM | Reply | Permalink
bar kafka:
ok, replace "Judaism" with another noun meaning 'the essence of being a Jew'. I couldn't think of the right word for that sentence and didn't feel like rewriting from the beginning.August 9, 2008 3:35 AM | Reply | Permalink
Yes. I'm glad to hear this news. I feel like there's some justice in this world.
August 7, 2008 10:20 PM | Reply | Permalink
Way to go, Memphis!
August 7, 2008 10:25 PM | Reply | Permalink
I think it was two-fer, Jew-baiting and race-baiting. The anti-semitism on the "our" churches front, the bright line on race on the Forrest statue. And who knows what else.
August 7, 2008 10:32 PM | Reply | Permalink
What a relief! I'm so glad she lost BIG!!
August 7, 2008 10:42 PM | Reply | Permalink
On this, you and I can agree...!
August 8, 2008 9:46 AM | Reply | Permalink
I'd love to see a country band called the Tennessee Jew-Baiters. Someone call Kinky Friedman!
August 7, 2008 10:42 PM | Reply | Permalink
Nashville Katz
August 7, 2008 11:28 PM | Reply | Permalink
The Cohen of Silence?
August 8, 2008 6:48 PM | Reply | Permalink
I fully anticipated this result but I'm am even more happy about the size of the defeat. It is a unqualified repudiation of both her and the racism she embraced.
August 7, 2008 10:47 PM | Reply | Permalink
I love it when those kinds of tactics aren't rewarded. ...Now all we need is for the National scene to set the same kind of example. =P
August 7, 2008 10:48 PM | Reply | Permalink
Buttslammed!
August 7, 2008 10:53 PM | Reply | Permalink
Tinker is a first class b*tch. She owes all of us an apology.
August 7, 2008 11:08 PM | Reply | Permalink
Let's not compound one bad deed with another. The use of the b-word is uncalled for.
August 7, 2008 11:25 PM | Reply | Permalink
That's a malicious, spiteful woman IIRC. And she is. No issues here.
August 7, 2008 11:42 PM | Reply | Permalink
You're joking, right?
The B-WORD?
This person deserves the C-WORD.
August 8, 2008 3:35 AM | Reply | Permalink
Sometimes civility is precisely what is not called for if we're going to keep a civil culture.
August 8, 2008 4:17 AM | Reply | Permalink
Because sometimes the civil is the enemy of the decent ...
August 8, 2008 8:34 AM | Reply | Permalink
It does restore one's faith that maybe, just maybe, the voting American public is willing to rise above the sewage.
August 7, 2008 11:09 PM | Reply | Permalink
My sentiments exactly.
August 7, 2008 11:31 PM | Reply | Permalink
I'm more cynical. I agree, it's admirable to see Black-majority electorate electing a White-Jewish-man over a Black-Christian-Woman by a landslide in one district.
But we've seen primary results from TN, KY, WV, and even parts of PA and OH- apparently there are quite a few white people in this country who will not vote for a black man- no matter if he were running against a dead White corpse.
August 8, 2008 12:10 AM | Reply | Permalink
The "just maybe" is a nod to your sentiments. At 5:07 pm I think that the American voting public will overall look past race, religious affilation, etc, and then 5:09 pm I'm convinced that America can't get past Obama's skin color.
August 8, 2008 12:16 AM | Reply | Permalink
Democratic voters in TN-09 showed some real class this evening.
* clap clap clap *
August 7, 2008 11:14 PM | Reply | Permalink
I am Jewish and agree with Josh Marshall that her use of the phrase "our churches" plus Tinker's earlier comments regarding Rep. Cohen's Judaism made this ad anti-Semitic. We are very glad and relieved that she went down to such a huge defeat. Of course the real loser here, besides Tinker, is Emily's List. Great way to end the night.
August 7, 2008 11:16 PM | Reply | Permalink
African American Protestant churches are reaping the fruits of having opened their pulpits to politicians and political campaigns. They have abdicated the right to protest the use of their Christianity-lite churches being used for political purposes.
August 8, 2008 3:34 AM | Reply | Permalink
Congrats to Cohen--Good news. Proof that African Americans do not vote for a candidate based on their race or color. I think we should be very proud of these voters. Lets give them a hand.
August 7, 2008 11:16 PM | Reply | Permalink
What do you mean give them a hand? Just how stupid is stupid,please?
August 7, 2008 11:21 PM | Reply | Permalink
The people who really owe us all an apology are the, um, ladies at Enmily's List. They knew before they endorsed her how Tinker was running her race. Shame on them all.
August 7, 2008 11:22 PM | Reply | Permalink
Emily's List, I am sure had no idea that Tinker was such a nut case. Tinker's political expectations are over--she will not be able to run for dog catcher in that district or any district. I hope she gets an ear full of these comments.
August 7, 2008 11:22 PM | Reply | Permalink
Emily's List, I am sure had no idea that Tinker was such a nut case.
And that's supposed to be reassuring how? It's a tough call which is worse: that they didn't know or they did.
Backing a candidate with money when you don't know what they stand for is just plain irresponsible and asking for trouble. Besides, how could they *not* know about Tinker's latest statements or the fact that she advertised from the start that she was campaigning on Cohen not being a Christian. No, it'll take more than your assurance that Emily's list did know about Tinker.
August 8, 2008 12:30 AM | Reply | Permalink
i hope this election prove Hispanics and whites can vote for obama and blacks can vote for whites and jews..... this year election has been fill with stereotypes about races voting patterns, hopefully we can look at a candidate now without a racial bias ........ hmmmm maybe that statement was too liberal..........
August 7, 2008 11:26 PM | Reply | Permalink
Great news for more reasons than one.
First and foremost- democratic party can do without the scum like Tinker. I'm pleasently surprised TN voters aren't as primitive as I thought. Finally, for all those trolls claiming Blacks only votes for Blacks meme on yesterday's blog- STFU.
Good news for Dems.
August 7, 2008 11:27 PM | Reply | Permalink
Exactly. The meme that black voters were racists was pushed during the primaries. Now they have shown it to be very wrong and by very large margin.
So, ADLEED CAN GO AND FUCK HIMSELF.
August 7, 2008 11:47 PM | Reply | Permalink
I don't know if there anything more, but from what I read here- Adleed seems equally glad Tinker lost and Cohen won. He was arguing about the semantics so I ain't sure if he deserves your middle finger.
Anyway, on another not Sean Hannity would've to retape his show and act as if the Cohen/Tinker race never existed. The scum bag was pitching for Cohen to loose to make a claim Blacks are Jew haters and vote for Blacks over Whites.
August 7, 2008 11:57 PM | Reply | Permalink
Feel better?
August 8, 2008 12:09 AM | Reply | Permalink
Primitive?
(Ouch!) Must you insult anyone not living next door to you?
August 8, 2008 8:23 AM | Reply | Permalink
Adleed, the voters who are majority, Black chose the white guy--how else do you think he was able to win?
August 7, 2008 11:27 PM | Reply | Permalink
You missed the point, what made you believe that Tinker and her ilk ever had a chance. It appears that Cohen was well known and liked by the voters in his district; it had nothing to do with him being Jewish or white. I had to do with who Steve Cohen is to the members of his district, PERIOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
August 7, 2008 11:34 PM | Reply | Permalink
I guess this lopsided thrashing shouldn't have been a surprise.
http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/12/05/5619/
August 7, 2008 11:28 PM | Reply | Permalink
Wow, rough campaign season for Emily's List. That org can't do anything right. Who makes all these crap judgment calls over there?
August 7, 2008 11:36 PM | Reply | Permalink
Adleed you might need to go back and read the story before you make a comment or maybe you are the only one who thinks Tinker should have won. Again cudos for the voters that refused to vote for Tinker and voted for the best person to represent their district, regardless of race, color or religion.
August 7, 2008 11:36 PM | Reply | Permalink
A cheap shot, what makes you assume I wanted Tinker to win?
August 7, 2008 11:39 PM | Reply | Permalink
He's still gotta beat Jake Ford who is running as an independent in the general. All the money that was behind Tinker is going to move to Ford.
Effectively he's got to go up against the Ford machine twice.
August 7, 2008 11:37 PM | Reply | Permalink
But if he's winning 80% of the Dem vote, I guess he has real chance.
August 7, 2008 11:41 PM | Reply | Permalink
Jack who? Come on do you really think anyone, whether it's Jack or Barr or Nadar has a REALISTIC chance of winning the election.
Are you willing to vote for a multi-party system regardless of the fsct that USA is a two party system de facto.
August 8, 2008 12:27 AM | Reply | Permalink
Huh? We're not talking about the presidential election. Independent candidates sometimes do win at the district level or even state wide. Think Jesse Ventura and Bernie Sanders.
August 8, 2008 9:46 AM | Reply | Permalink
and, sadly, Joe Lieberman...
August 8, 2008 7:23 PM | Reply | Permalink
Too bad Kwame Kilpatrick's thuggish congresswoman mom won her primary in MI Tuesday because opposition was split two ways.
August 7, 2008 11:39 PM | Reply | Permalink
Adleed, I think we might be saying the same thing. Your reference to stupid is what through me off.
August 7, 2008 11:43 PM | Reply | Permalink
Thank You! Ain't personal, it is the too often near automatic casual associations about others based on group. The term stupid simply meant "think" in the context of you actual remarks, and was aimed at the reader not you.
In a broader context as best I can tell, Tinker's
best asset are her teeth; if she in fact did and say the thing she is alleged to have said with or without the video, she was finished before she got started. It never ceases to amaze me how such persons receive attention that they never were able to attain by their constructive and well recognized actions.
Given the election results Steve Cohen was justly rewarded by his district's voters.
ENUFF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
August 8, 2008 12:05 AM | Reply | Permalink
I'll say it.
Not only is this a great result full stop, it also helps Obama with Jewish voters who might hear the story. A two-fer.
I'm guessing Tinker must have had seen some really bad poll numbers and decided to throw a Hail mary. Unfortunately for her, she was down by 6 touchdowns & she isn't Brett Favre.
I'm loving the voters of Memphis tonight.
August 7, 2008 11:44 PM | Reply | Permalink
Adleed, Sorry
August 7, 2008 11:44 PM | Reply | Permalink
Go Cohen! Go Obama! Boo for the bigot and Emily's List for supporting her and her tactics just because she owns a vagina!
August 7, 2008 11:46 PM | Reply | Permalink
"owns a vagina"? Does anyone ever really "own" a vagina? Or are you really just renting?
Sincerely,
Andrew "Dice" Clay
August 8, 2008 1:56 PM | Reply | Permalink
What is Nikki doing taking pages out of the Republican playbook?
August 7, 2008 11:55 PM | Reply | Permalink
I thought the Jew-baiting interpretation of her ad was a bit of a stretch. It all rested on the phrase "our churches" (with stress on the "our"). Well, maybe.
August 8, 2008 12:04 AM | Reply | Permalink
I'm glad Cohen kicked her sorry ass.
But more importantly, I must hand it to you all on the headline for this news item.
Bravo! Superb!
August 8, 2008 12:09 AM | Reply | Permalink
I'll add my voice to those who see the ad much more in racist than anti-semitic terms. I'm sure she's got a larger body of work than just this ad, but based solely on one ad I can't see screaming "JEW-BAITER" like in the title of this post. I'm not Jewish yet if I were running against Tinker I wouldn't find this "anti-semitic" attack odd at all -- it would be quite clear that she was appealing to voters' racist side when asking why a white guy like me would be in "their" church. to see her as a "JEW-BAITER" means seeing the reference to "our church" to mean all christians, and that's a rather odd formulation in that case.
August 8, 2008 12:14 AM | Reply | Permalink
Goddamn it, I love it when the good guys win!!!!!!
Yay!
Hey, SkippyFlipjack - dude - it's over. Give it up.
August 8, 2008 12:20 AM | Reply | Permalink
Your thing about swearing all the time in your posts? It's sort of endearing, sometimes.
August 8, 2008 12:30 AM | Reply | Permalink
Great news. Now lets hear more about with the HECK is going on with Emily's List.
August 8, 2008 12:28 AM | Reply | Permalink
Truth, justice and the American way prevailed over diviseness, hatred and deceit.
Emily's List should have publicly disavowed her.
Shame on them.
August 8, 2008 1:02 AM | Reply | Permalink
Ha ha the majority black district didn't vote for the black candidate. Who says black people are racist?
August 8, 2008 2:33 AM | Reply | Permalink
I found the ad to be a clarion call for religious bigotry. In my view, it portrayed anyone who hasn't accepted Jesus Christ as their personal lord savior as an infidel.
August 8, 2008 2:34 AM | Reply | Permalink
That's Cohen with a K right?
Come on... the Underpants? anyone?
God... go get some kulture.
August 8, 2008 2:50 AM | Reply | Permalink
You're joking, right?
The B-WORD?
This person deserves the C-WORD.
August 8, 2008 3:30 AM | Reply | Permalink
This is great news for Obama!
Frees Tinker up to be his running mate!
August 8, 2008 5:57 AM | Reply | Permalink
You do realise that Obama strongly condemned Tinker, a very rare step for a presidential candidate to take, and all but endorsed Cohen?
Looks like you misspelled your username by accident, by the way.
It should be YHBT.
August 8, 2008 6:18 AM | Reply | Permalink
Hey, in this week of record breaking flip flops for the Lawn Jockey in Chief, making Tinker his running mate is to be expected!
Besides, Hussein is going to have trouble finding someone as sleazy as himself for a VP wannabe.
After all Tinker fits right in with Hussein's Wrightian world view, Jew baiting and all.
August 8, 2008 7:31 AM | Reply | Permalink
Let me guess, you're thinking you can get cool stuff from the McCain campaign (like golf gear) by posting here? Sorry, you should be at Little Green Footballs, McCain doesn't hand out his golf gear for posting on TPM.
August 8, 2008 10:17 AM | Reply | Permalink
Wow! What an even-handed, well thought-out response! Although, I feel that "Lawn Jockey-In-Chief" feels a bit racially charged. Is that what you were going for? I just feel like I wasn't getting your message clearly enough.
August 9, 2008 3:54 AM | Reply | Permalink
Hello All:
As an AA woman living in Atlanta and a Tennessee native - I watched this race closely. I happened to catch Cohen on C-Span a couple of times and found him unapologetically literate, bright (kind of like a certain guy running for the presidency), and on the right side (ahem: my side) of the issues.
I wanted to share my own celebration of the results of a Georgia primary earlier in this week when Vernon Jones went down in flames to Jim Martin. I think with increased AA turn-out/GOTV efforts among all demographics Martin may be able to give Chambliss a run for his money, especially if voters are reminded of the dirty way Chambliss won his seat.
Jones ran his own kind of religion-expliciit/race-subtext campaign; i.e., (1) vote for me as a fellow Christian (phone messages: "pray for me,"/"what God has in store for me") and (2) vote for me as a Black man (who, by the way, has had charges of sexual harassment leveled against me by AA women. But never mind that. "We" can make history by sending me to the Senate).
Wonderful! Congrats to Cohen AND Memphis and Martin and Atlanta. Enlightened voting!!! Hope the pattern keeps up through November...
August 8, 2008 6:59 AM | Reply | Permalink
The bigger picture here is that Tinker is the protégé and former employee of guess who, HAROLD FORD, JR. He endorsed her early on as did Emily's List. This has to be very embarrassing for both of them.
EL is now 0-2. they were huge supporters of Hillary and then turn around and support a woman who used "race baiting" tactics, wont look so good on the current leadership resume.
And then there is the joker, Harold Ford Jr. Do we need anymore evidence to point to the fact that this guy is an empty suit? When BO becomes POTUS, i hope he cleans house at the DNC.
One more point. People need to remember that the AA community and the Jewish community historically has very, very strong ties. The relationship may not be what it once was, but those ties do run deep.
August 8, 2008 8:38 AM | Reply | Permalink
Loves it!
August 8, 2008 8:44 AM | Reply | Permalink
The Ford family machine has their fingerprints all over Tinker's dirty campaign.
HAROLD FORD, JR and his family are as dishonest and self-serving as anyone in the Bush family. The difference is the Ford dynasty is local & the Bush dynasty is international.
August 8, 2008 9:27 AM | Reply | Permalink
this really is fantastic news. and to see her rejected so resoundingly.
August 8, 2008 9:28 AM | Reply | Permalink
What's been lost in all the jew-baiting hubbub is what a truly reactionary position Tinker staked out with this ad. I figured the progressive vote in Memphis (such that it is) would be more inclined to vote for her opponent, but I wonder how many votes she either lost or merely galvanized by placing opposition to school prayer on the same moral/political plan as support for slavery apologies/reparations.
I hope (but won't hold my breath) that EMILY's List will be more considered in their endorsements moving forward.
August 8, 2008 9:54 AM | Reply | Permalink
Say hallam how did you determine that there was hatred of women or hatred of humankind?
August 8, 2008 9:58 AM | Reply | Permalink
Being a white southern male, southern code can be a very subtle thing. Not only are the words important, but how you say them. There is a certain pacing to what you say. This is how you get your point accross without actually saying what you imply.
Anyone who has ever received a left-handed compliment from a Mississippi debutant knows exactly what I mean.
Take it from one who knows, this was race-baiting and Jew-baiting, and it wasn't all that subtle.
August 8, 2008 10:20 AM | Reply | Permalink
Wow, she's pretty good looking. Too bad she's such an awful person.
August 8, 2008 11:17 AM | Reply | Permalink
mphillips,
"AA"? Puh-leeze..."passing" for black again?
August 8, 2008 12:17 PM | Reply | Permalink
I was there! Witnessed the whole thumping! Steve beat Nikki like a run away slave!!!
August 8, 2008 12:33 PM | Reply | Permalink
He beat her like she stole something from Wal Mart and tried to sell it to Macys!
August 8, 2008 12:35 PM | Reply | Permalink
I wouldn't hold my breath. She doesn't think she did anything wrong...
August 8, 2008 12:40 PM | Reply | Permalink
Hate to break it to you, but the "Ford Machine" is just about out of gas!
August 8, 2008 12:44 PM | Reply | Permalink
Not quite Mark Twain or Will Rogers material here.
August 8, 2008 12:55 PM | Reply | Permalink