Monday, March 31, 2008
Politics All Tuke All The Time
Posted by Matt Pulle on Mon, Mar 31, 2008 at 4:51 PM
There's a lot of evidence that Bob Tuke isn't running a real campaign against Sen. Lamar Alexander. Exhibit A, of course, is his reticence to weigh in on Alexander's support for Gus Puryear, the embattled federal judicial nominee. This is Alexander's most vulnerable area right now—as the senior senator in Tennessee, Alexander has shepherded Puryear's nomination, which is now stalled after a heap of controversy over Puryear's representation of CCA and his membership at the eternally discriminatory Belle Meade Country Club. But displaying the political instincts of a gnat, Tuke won't take on his opponent on the Puryear issue, and I think it's because he knows the nominee and likes him. I've tried to find that out for sure but, as I think I've mentioned here before, he has refused to call me back.
But there's another reason Tuke is not ready for prime time. He used evite, a free email-based party invitation service, to spread the word about his $1,000 a plate fundraiser. As a result, he outed the people who weren't able to attend and put them in the awkward spot of explaining their absences, which were many.
“Thanks for the invite, but the cost is prohibitive to me,” wrote Abby Rubenfeld. “Good luck, though.”
Yeah, he'll need some of that.
Politics / Woods A Campaign Scam
Posted by Jeff Woods on Mon, Mar 31, 2008 at 11:05 AM
I've never been a big fan of Lamar Alexander, and I'm all for competitive elections. But it's hard to resist the temptation to see Bob Tuke's campaign as a scam. Here's a guy with absolutely zero chance to win who's going to trick and shame and guilt-trip Democrats into giving him $1 million or more. And to what end? So Tuke's handlers—who include Fletcher, Rowley and the fundraiser Cathy Thomas—can earn a little cash.
If Tuke or anyone else wanted to make a serious run against Alexander, they needed to start doing it much, much earlier. At this point, his campaign is a joke, except as a small moneymaker for political operatives. In the latest email shakedown from Tuke, campaign manager Ben Chao says:
I'd also like to take this opportunity to talk about some of the chatter I hear around the state. A lot of people were skeptical when Bob jumped in the race, wondering how he was going to beat Lamar Alexander. My answer is simple. Senator Alexander is a Washington politician and a pretty fair piano player. Bob Tuke is a seasoned and experienced leader, a Marine who will bring hope and change to the US Senate, work to end the Iraq War with honor, help improve our economy and reform health care in America. Simply put, I like our chances.And if you believe that ... Update: Sean Braisted weighs in.
Politics / Woods Al Gore on 60 Minutes
Posted by Jeff Woods on Mon, Mar 31, 2008 at 10:39 AM
Al Gore is turning 60 by making yet another media splash for his war against global warming. He's investing some of his burgeoning personal fortune in a $300 million ad campaign from the agency that gave us the talking Geico lizard.
Gore also tells 60 Minutes' Leslie Stahl that not believing in man-made global warming is like not believing in the moon landing.
"Well, there's pretty impressive people like the vice president," Stahl pointed out. "He said, 'We don't know what causes it.' " "You’re talking about Dick Cheney," Gore replied. "Yeah, but others. And they say: We don’t know what causes it and why spend all this money till we really know," Stahl said. "I think that those people are in such a tiny, tiny minority now with their point of view. They’re almost like the ones who still believe that the moon landing was staged in a movie lot in Arizona and those who believe the earth is flat. That demeans them a little bit, but it’s not that far off," Gore said.
40 Jealous Whores Putting the Dupe in Duplex
Posted by Liz Garrigan on Mon, Mar 31, 2008 at 7:44 AM
Check out Christine Kreyling's online piece this week on when a duplex is not a duplex. A bill on final reading in the Metro Council tomorrow would alter the city's already mangled definition—but not necessarily for the better.
Friday, March 28, 2008
Politics Hello, It's Me.
Posted by Matt Pulle on Fri, Mar 28, 2008 at 3:36 PM
Tonight, U.S. Senate candidate Bob Tuke is having a $1,000-a-plate fundraiser at the Green Hills home of Diane and Irwin Kuhn. If any member of Pith Nation plans to attend the costly gala, ask Bob to give me a call. He'll know what it's regarding.
Politics An Inconvenient Truth: Gore Has Jumped the Shark
Posted by Liz Garrigan on Fri, Mar 28, 2008 at 2:44 PM
Oh, but Joe Klein doesn't think so:
Pish-tosh, you say, and you're probably right. But let's play a little. Let's say the elders of the Democratic Party decide, when the primaries end, that neither Obama nor Clinton is viable. Let's also assume—and this may be a real stretch—that such elders are strong and smart enough to act. All they'd have to do would be to convince a significant fraction of their superdelegate friends, maybe fewer than 100, to announce that they were taking a pass on the first ballot at the Denver convention, which would deny the 2,025 votes necessary to Obama or Clinton. What if they then approached Gore and asked him to be the nominee, for the good of the party—and suggested that he take Obama as his running mate? Of course, Obama would have to be a party to the deal and bring his 1,900 or so delegates along.
Media Without a Trace...and Other Notable News
Posted by Matt Pulle on Fri, Mar 28, 2008 at 11:30 AM
There's an old saw in journalism. Anytime a lousy country singer gets booted from an even lousier reality show, give that news flash an above-the-fold Page One headline. Unreal. Only if Trace Adkins goes on a three-state shooting spree should I have to read about him on the front page. (Note to Silverman: If you're trying to win over younger readers, up-to-the-minute reporting on The Apprentice is not the way to go. Now if Adkins appears on The Hills, that's another story.)
In other news, Stephen Colbert's favorite terrorist threat looms outside of Nashville.
Good story today in the Nashville City Paper, which suggests Gov. Phil Bredesen is changing how he views his own superdelegate vote. In February, a haughty Bredesen rejected the notion that he should consider the will of the people before selecting Obama or Clinton. Now he appears to be backtracking just a little.
Meanwhile, The Tennessean, already late in reporting on Bredesen's proposal for a superdelegate convention, decided to provide a big-picture overview. All it did was recap the governor's recent rounds on the cable news rubber-chicken circuit, quoting the usual tired cast of talking heads. No mention of the more important development that Bredesen was reevaluating his superdelegate role.
Finally, the Scene is saddened to announce the departure of senior writer Jeff Woods, who next Tuesday will take a job as senior advisor to veteran political consultant Bill Fletcher. Ironically, his first duty that day will be to help strategize longtime Fletcher client Bob Clement's rumored run for Davidson County court clerk, the post currently held by Vic Lineweaver. Woods will be missed.
Hicks From the Sticks This Is One Way to Dilute Christian Influence Over Public Art
Posted by Liz Garrigan on Fri, Mar 28, 2008 at 10:37 AM
Crossville is home to the Flying Spaghetti Monster, a political statement against, as Aunt B. puts it, the "Jesus-y goodness" that typically decorates the courthouse lawn.
True or false: It's tough to be Jewish in Crossville, Tenn.?
Politics / Woods Howard Dean Responds to Bredesen on Superdelegates
Posted by Matt Pulle on Fri, Mar 28, 2008 at 10:24 AM
Woods reports from the road:
Responding to growing criticism, including from our governor, Howard Dean went on TV this morning to set a July deadline for the superdelegates to make up their minds between Clinton and Obama. Bredesen and other party leaders have been calling for Dean, the Democratic National Committee chairman, to do more to settle the nomination fight and prevent squabbling at the Denver convention. The governor has floated his own idea: a June superdelegate convention to pick the winner.
Dean says he's working behind the scenes to encourage the superdelegates to make decisions as soon as the primaries are finished. He notes that 450 superdelegates have already pledged and says the rest should do so before July 1. Bredesen is one of those undecided superdelegates.
In a fairly obvious jab at Bredesen, who made the rounds of the TV gab fests this week, an aide to Dean adds this in Politico: "Dean is personally engaged in this process, he's had numerous conversations with over 60 leaders inside and outside of the Democratic Party, to hear their thoughts, get their input and encourage them to help reinforce the importance of keeping the party united behind our nominee in November.... He does not want to discuss those conversations publicly because in Washington, you can work behind the scenes and not worry about getting credit and actually get something done —or you can talk about it in the press and not get anything done. But...he wants to see this resolved before the convention and will encourage the superdelegates to make their choice known once the voters in the remaining states have had their say."
Thursday, March 27, 2008
By the Way / Media We'll Do What It Takes to Make You Read About Our Blog Developments
Posted by Liz Garrigan on Thu, Mar 27, 2008 at 4:12 PM
Pith Nation,
You may have noticed that we've been a bit more prolific here lately. (Matt, in fact, has been so busy posting he's still in his pajamas, while Woods is off somewhere drinking as usual. I'm in an undisclosed location cussing html code.)
What the hell is going on? We're retooling Pith in the Wind as we speak, refocusing our efforts on what this blog's primary contributors know best—politics, media and news—and in fact narrowing Pith's authors to the lineup of Matt Pulle, Jeff Woods, Bruce Barry and yours truly. On infrequent occasions, other bylines will appear here—special guest Roger Abramson, for example—but Pulligan Woodbarry is what you can generally expect.
Bear with us as we update, revise, change our minds, delete, change our minds again, add, start over and add some more to our links and blogroll along the right-hand rail. We're also working on some design elements that will be joining the mix soon. They involve a really ugly bitch, a dude who looks like an ex-con, a guy with a huge nose, and a balding academic with a baby face.
If you've been removed from the blogroll and want to make your case for why the new Pith should keep you, email me. Flattery will get you everywhere.
Love and links,
Liz and the rest of the Pith crew
