Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Politics / Woods 'It's Not Like Your Dog Getting Run Over But It's a Disappointment'
Posted by Jeff Woods on Wed, Oct 14, 2009 at 1:58 PM
His spin? Democrats did everything they could--spent enough money, knocked on enough doors, planted enough yard signs, phoned enough homes, etc. But because so few people voted--only 9,000--this was like a high school popularity contest and, damn it all, it turns out that people liked Pat Marsh better than Ty Cobb. Don't you just hate it when that happens?
"We had a popular guy, but they ended up having the most popular guy. Pat Marsh was a pretty good candidate. We tried to knock him off the position he was in and tried to talk about things that maybe some people didn't know about some of his business practices and things like that. It didn't take. He was well respected."
More from Turner:
* Despite a poll two weeks ago showing Cobb five points ahead, Turner went into election day thinking the Democrat could lose. He admitted, however, he was surprised by the size of the defeat.
"We had a pretty good campaign put together. But one of the consultants said, 'This is one we can do everything right and still lose.' We looked at it and we thought we had closed the gap. We were slightly up. Evidently that was not a really good poll."
* He denied a blog rumor that Marsh originally asked Turner if he could run as a Democrat in the race.
"There's a rumor out there that Pat Marsh called me and asked to run as a Democrat. Absolutely a lie. The day Curt [Cobb] told me was he going to step down was the last day of session. ... When he told me he was stepping down, I asked him who he was going to get to take his place, and he said, 'I've got a man who's more popular than I am.' And I said, 'Who?' And he said, 'My brother.' I said, 'Sounds good to me.' And we kind of went from there. At no time did we have anybody else approach me about running. It just never happened. And anybody who says that is a liar."* He called for a unified Democratic front, refused to cast any blame for the loss and renewed his pledge to take back the House in 2010.
"Our goal is still to take back the House in 2010. I think there's 12 opportunities, now there's 13 opportunities out there possibility, to unseat Republicans. We're going to try to get the best candidates for those races. This is not a fatal wound. It's merely a setback. We'll overcome it and go forward.See Sean Braisted"I don't think you'll see a lot of finger pointing in this thing. But if there are any fingers to point, it's not Obama's fault, it's not Chip Forrester's fault. It would be my fault if there's blame to go around because that's the job I'm in. But do not sell the caucus short, do not sell us short because we are going to go forward and we're going win this and take it back in 2010 and I'm determined to do that."
Comments (8)
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Rep. Turner should take the advice of the Kitchen Cabinet types, the progressives in Nashville and Memphis, and run 12-13 pro-gay candidates who offer a clear difference between themselves and the Republican in terms of their support for gay marriage, gay adoption and all other gay equality matters. Heck, don't stop at 12-13 "contested" seats, every Democrat should adopt the Kitchen Cabinet model and offer real alternatives on the issue of gay rights.
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Gee, davidscott, way to misrepresent my position, with homophobia thrown in for good measure.
Had you read my post, you would have known that I, and several others in the left-blogosphere, have called for re-focusing on economic issues and avoid getting sucked in on social issues.
That's the only thing that will save the Democrats: define the issues, and define your opponets, not vice versa. Until we quit playing by GOP rules on GOP turf, we're in the toilet.
Hey cracker you genius how many of your loser candidates ran on social issues in 2008. they all talked about jobs and schools. Everybody is for jobs and schools.
LWC, what post of yours are you referring to. I am referring to the progressives in memphis and nashville who want to treat the voters of the state as stupid, telling them to ignore the fact that these progressives want to hoist their social views on the voters in exchange for the always popular "good schools" and "good jobs". Nothing wrong with a good entree ("good jobs" and "good schools", but why force people to eat crap (gay rights) for appetizers?
I am referring to the progressives in memphis and nashville who want to treat the voters of the state as stupid
So telling them that the Republican candidate was going to clone babies was treating the electorate as adults? Right. Got it. Check.
The blame lies squarely at the feet of the Democratic leadership. That's Mike Turner and Chip Forrester.
They recruited a bad candidate.
They wasted hundreds of thousands of dollars on the worst messaging in my memory.
They did a lousy job of targeting voters and getting them to the polls.
Turner and Forrester led the most poorly run campaign in memory.
Remember, these so called leaders promised Democrats change. So far, they have given only more of the same.
"It's not like your dog ...." - What an IDIOT!
This was not some insignificant race where we could set back and let the Republicans seize yet another seat in their bid to destroy Tennessee and the rights of the people like they have done with workers compensation benefits and their version of big government.
The southern Democrat party, Dixiecrats when I was growing up, needs to refocus and realign with true southern, conservative values and leaders. Things like God, family, state, apple pie and country (in that order). I think we are about to get out pink slips handed to us with Obama and Pelosi and the other liberal whacos serving as the poster children for Democrats in Tennessee and my Republican friends are feeling it even before this disaster in the Cobb race.
Ty could have won because he is NOT Obama or Pelosi. But he was handled by idiots. He was advised by idiots. Same idiots who got behind Al Gore and turned him into a lying California style democrat.
I wish we had Democrats like John Kennedy again but sadly we do not.
Mike Turner stood up at the TNDP Summit and stated that the only way Democrats could win in the rural counties is to run conservatives. To me, this was saying that he thinks we rural people are all a bunch of redneck knuckle-dragging throwbacks. In point of fact, the Democrats I know in the rural areas are progressive, and are extremely disheartened by this dismissive attitude. Turner's strategy is the worst of both worlds. It isn't going to turn out the Democrats, and it isn't going to attract the right wing vote. How about recognizing that there is intelligent life outside of the 840 loop, and supporting candidates who are educated, involved, progressive, articulate, and ... well ..... actually Democratic!
