Friday, May 8, 2009
Politics / Woods Can Mike McWherter Win as the Son-of-Ned Candidate?
Posted by Jeff Woods on Fri, May 8, 2009 at 9:40 AM
Sean Braisted asks, "Is it just me? Or does the logo on Mike McWherter's website make it seem like he just scribbled over his father's campaign material?" Here's another question: How many people will vote for McWherter just because his father is Ned? We're guessing not too many. Democratic insiders of a certain age love McWherter--Ned, that is. He represents that golden age when Tennessee Democrats reigned supreme. But to ordinary voters and just about anyone under the age of 50, Ned McWherter is a vague memory at best. At worst, he's the guy who tried to pass an income tax and did give us TennCare, which has been discredited, fairly or unfairly, as a wasteful fraud. Mike McWherter would have made a great, better-than-nobody candidate against Lamar Alexander. In the crowded race for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination, he's a little lacking in qualifications. In addition, he can't pronounce President Obama's name: Via the Tennessee Firearms Association auxiliary website.
Comments (9)
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Being the son of a popular politician didn't do much for Bob Clement or Oscar Brock. Jim Cooper has done well, but I don't think he has ever run as Prentice Cooper's son. In fact, I don't think most voters know his father was governor. I can't think of any other politicians' children that have won election to a big office in Tennessee.
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I'm 32 and voting for Ward Cammack.......I've voted Jim Cooper and had no idea Prentice Cooper was his father or who Prentice Cooper was.
I'm not a big fan of political nepotisim, Politics shouldn't be an inherited family business, that school of thought is too closely related to the British Royalty for me.
Agreed. No chance McWherter wins the primary. You can't ride coattails that are two decades old.
Didn't do much for Bob Clement? He was elected to the Public Service Commission,a statewide post, at a very early political age. He was congressman, senate nominee, and second place mayoral candidate. I'm trying to figure out what quality or characteristic would get Bob Clement that far and his father;'s name giving him a start is the only thing that comes to mind.
If you are 32 and have voted for Cooper, I assume you've voted for him in the 5th in this decade rather than his previous House gig in a much more rural and broad district. Now he's smart and ambitious, and his father died when he was pretty young, right? Then again a name can still be a pretty strong thing, even decades out, in such a geographically broad district as Cooper's first (was it the 4th district?) And he often has his Mom in tow, bet the former first lady of Tenn knows some families...
And I was responding to the Clement and Cooper comments, not arguing McWherter has a shot.
Could be, JohnnyC. I see your argument. I was thinking statewide elections. Clement did win PSC, but lost for governor and U.S. Senate. Cooper lost his only statewide run in 1994, for U.S. Senate.
Somebody else wrote that about voting for Cammack. At age 32, they wouldn't have been able to vote for Cooper in the 4th.
