Thursday, January 29, 2009
Politics / Woods Lincoln Davis Says He Won't Run for Governor
Posted by Jeff Woods on Thu, Jan 29, 2009 at 7:27 PM
The timing of the announcement, if not Davis' decision, comes as a surprise. Most observers thought he wouldn't make up his mind until early this summer after gauging the political climate at that time. It means the congressman, who is 65, is likely giving up his ambitions to hold statewide office.
This news will please many Democratic insiders. Davis isn't known as the sharpest knife. His nickname among reporters is Foghorn Leghorn because, like the Looney Tunes character, he talks a mile a minute and never says a thing. He's also too conservative for many in his party.
But barring the unlikely entrance of Harold Ford Jr. into the contest, Democrats are left without a big name to run for governor. Who else is on the list of possible candidates? Kim McMillan, Roy Herron, Andy Berke, Doug Horne, Matt Kisber, Mike McWherter--all are basically unknown lightweights. The pressure on Ford to run just went up exponentially.
Update: Kleinheider cites "the handover of his own party to a radical band of Obama activists in stark rebuke of his wishes" as one possible factor in Davis' decision. Can Democrats blame (or thank) Chip Forrester for this?
Comments (12)
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So, the Democrats need someone who's well-known, huh? Maybe one with a knockout babe wife as well?
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Give us a break. Tennessee wants to fashion itself after Illinois. Who has the hair?
Republicans are taking over! Thanks to Jimmy Carter's implementation of sub-prime mortgage lending, Clinton's upholding that sub-prime trash, and Bush's neglecting to shut down the lending, we are in a bind.
Go Haslam.
Yes, Forrester pushed Davis out of the governor's race. Good. We need a real Democrat for governor. One that believes in progressive taxation.
Kim McMillan voted for an income tax. Chip Forrester voted for an income tax. So the Democrats will have an income tax supporting gubernatorial candidate running with an income tax supporting party chair.
Bill Haslam should go ahead and pick his deputy governor.
That Forrester bowtie must be made of Kryptonite. Otherwise super candidates are melting left and right due to the toxic nature of Chip's apparel. Not to mention his extraordinary disconnect with 99.9% of Tennesseans.
Bredesen and his ilk have left the TN DP high and dry. What other highly popular, highly successful 2-term governor would fail to have groomed a successor? What other would have lost the statehouse for failure to campaign for his party? What other would have spurned a presidential candidate who now enjoys a 70%+ approval rating.
Tennessee just get backwarder and backwarder, and I lay it at the feet of Bredesen and others in the so-called leadership. I hope Chip can turn it around.
Davis holds a democratic congressional seat in name only. He is hardly the progressive, thinking democrat that we need, but he may be unbeatable in the primaries.
If you want to grouse about the financial mess, look at Davis' record. He sat on the key committees, but he wasted his time wrapping himself in pseudo-patriotic "gestures" instead of getting focused on content.
I was hoping he'd run for Gov, lose in the gubernatorial primaries, and end up relinquishing his seat in congress to an actual democrat.
Binky, you ignorant slut. Obama just peaked at 70 in the post inaugural honeymoon glow that every new president enjoys. That shine will wear off quickly as unemployment climbs to 10% and the economic recovery proves much slower than everyone's expecting. I like Obama. But when it comes to Tennessee, I listen to Bredesen. Won Tennessee in '02 despite heavy pressure from Bush at a time when his popularity was also in the 70s? Check. First governor to win all 95 counties? Check. Enjoys the highest second-term approval of any governor in history? Check. By all means, keep exposing your ignorance.
Binky has the mindset of a Chipper supporter, a mindset that qualifies them for the Special Olympics. You throw around Obama's national approval rating. What is it in Tennessee? Didn't he just get his ass spanked in an election here? Didn't even bother to campaign here? And don't give me that crybaby crap about Bredesen and Davis running him off. If he had wanted to campaign here, he would have. By the way, a liberal Democrat couldn't win Lincoln Davis' district. Why don't you people get a dose of reality? You live in a conservative state.
