how did Bredesen get elected

[wipfel]

i moved into TN a year ago March, and I can't figure out how Bresden got elected. he seems so against the politics/beliefs of most Tennesseeans.

can somebody explain why enough folks voted for him last time?

[Rightwinger]

You know those stupid people that speed way to fast, cut across 5 lanes on the interstate so they can be in the fast lane till 1/4 mile from their exit and of course the ones you see spilled all over the road when they start their exit to late.....they vote. Nuff said.

[eapking]

There's plenty of idiots in this state too.

[gregintenn]

You must not have been here to witness the a$$hole the Republicn party foisted onto us the eight years prior to Bredesen. Compared to Sundquist, I LOVE Bredesen!!!!

[mikegideon]

You must not have been here to witness the a$$hole the Republicn party foisted onto us the eight years prior to Bredesen. Compared to Sundquist, I LOVE Bredesen!!!!

What he said. We have idiots. We also have more folks that just don't care enough to pay attention. Then, there's money and media. Tough problem, with no good solution.

[Garufa]

A whole lot of Republicans help put Bredesen in office. He is not a flaming liberal but quite moderate. Other than his vetoing guns in restaurants and some questionable relations with THP I think he's done a decent job.

[wipfel]

so what did this Sundquist do that was so bad that would cause a solidly red state to elect a democrat?

[Guest 6.8 AR]

so what did this Sundquist do that was so bad that would cause a solidly red state to elect a democrat?

Tried to get a state income tax, for starters. Dumb Republican.

Actually Tennessee is not a solidly Red state. It can be quite blue,

at times, and local politics is rather purple all over the state. There

are still a lot of southern democrats around, and local politics is

usually where they reside.

Edited October 23, 2010 by 6.8 AR

[Guest HvyMtl]

Well, how Bredesen got elected started way before he became governor. Were you aware he ran as Republican? The first campaign he ran for mayor of Nashville, he was GOP. He ran against Mayor Boner, who became a laughing stock. He then switched parties to Democrat for the next election. Why? He wanted to be Mayor of Nashville. There has not been a Republican Mayor of Nashville, since... Well, probably since the "Civil" War era... So, to get Mayor in Nashville, it is a forgone conclusion you have to be a Democrat. He runs and wins, as there was no major competition for him (seems this is an issue here, as soon as you win the Dem Primary, you automatically get Mayor...) He runs the town into debt by building a main Library, an Arena (where a NHL team was granted. Bredesen is a Yankee) and the Stadium for the Titans. And he allows Gaylord to kill off the #1 tourist attraction, Opryland (killed a huge tourism industry by allowing this to occur. Tourism dollars finally reached the same amounts (but not dollar value) last year as to the amounts brought in during Opryland... 15 years later...) But, due to the "makeover" of Nashville, and the sack poor GOP candidates (plus the Sunquist stupidity) Bredesen wins Governorship.

And, once you are in, and do not sleep with too many hookers, and are not caught selling dope, you are pretty much guaranteed a 2nd term. Even if you float the idea of an income tax...

[Superposed]

Sundquist may have been a Republican but he was one of the biggest idoits ever elected governor in Tennessee. Sided with Jimmy Naifeh (Democrat; the biggest jerk in Tennessee state government) to try and force a state income tax on Tennessee. Only stopped by a lot of good citizens coming out in force to pressure their representatives to not do it. Sundquist could never do anything to slow the growth/rip-off of TennCare. It was in the news all the time. Bredesen sure is the not the perfect governor but at least TennCare isn't in the news all the time. Sundquist closed many state parks. I want to puke every time I see the sign to the Don Sundquist WMA and the Martha Sundquist State Natural Area. Our current junior Senator from Tennessee was one of Sundquist's commissioners.

Superposed

[leroy]

Tried to get a state income tax, for starters. Dumb Republican.

Actually Tennessee is not a solidly Red state. It can be quite blue,

at times, and local politics is rather purple all over the state. There

are still a lot of southern democrats around, and local politics is

usually where they reside.

This is a great truth. East tennessee is solidly red, and has been since the civil war. Middle tennessee and west tennessee tend to be various shades of blue.

RE: Beredesen. I agree with others that Sunquist single handedly made lots of folks who were going to republican democrats. It's important to remember that neither Sunquist not Bredesen are native Tennesseeans. Sunquist was from Missouri (...i think...) and Bredesen is an northeast yankee. They are both "carpetbaggers" who have come to tennessee to save us ignorant natives. They are both a disgrace. Bredesen just hid his disgraceful tendencies longer than most.

Leroy

[mikegideon]

Tried to get a state income tax, for starters. Dumb Republican.

Actually Tennessee is not a solidly Red state. It can be quite blue,

at times, and local politics is rather purple all over the state. There

are still a lot of southern democrats around, and local politics is

usually where they reside.

Davidson county is probably blue. It was in the last election.

[Guest 6.8 AR]

Davidson County is usually blue. I have a feeling it will go red in the 2012

presidential election, however. I doubt the SEIU has any clout down here.

[mikegideon]

Davidson County is usually blue. I have a feeling it will go red in the 2012

presidential election, however. I doubt the SEIU has any clout down here.

2012 is a long way off. Don't tell me you believe that anything will actually get done in Washington if there's a major power shift. If you get the power, you also get the blame. Who knows how it's gonna look two years down the road.

[Guest 6.8 AR]

Republicans won't get the power unless they get both House and Senate. All they will

be able to do is block or defund socialism for a couple years. That type of political

strategy is risky. If they do it right, they when both House and Senate, and maybe

the White House. If wrong we have serious problems. Too many welfare voters out

there that can be called up to vote for the Bolsheviks.

One thing is certain. Obama has exposed the Democrats and their ideology. It's up to the

Republicans to not screw it up. That means get rid of the appropriators and replace

with constitutional conservatives. There is still a lot at risk.

[mikegideon]

Republicans won't get the power unless they get both House and Senate. All they will

be able to do is block or defund socialism for a couple years. That type of political

strategy is risky. If they do it right, they when both House and Senate, and maybe

the White House. If wrong we have serious problems. Too many welfare voters out

there that can be called up to vote for the Bolsheviks.

One thing is certain. Obama has exposed the Democrats and their ideology. It's up to the

Republicans to not screw it up. That means get rid of the appropriators and replace

with constitutional conservatives. There is still a lot at risk.

Socialsm... capitalism. We're stuck in the middle, and will receive little or no benefit from either. It does make for some good conversation tho

[Guest 270win]

Could overhaul undermine employer health coverage? - Yahoo! News

The link is above but i'll give a cut out of how Bredesen is encouraging big companies to dump employee health insurance coverage for the 'government plans'. Good guy. I hope he NEVER gets elected to ANYTHING in this state again after encouraging companies to do this crap to people:

But last week a leading manufacturer told workers their costs will jump partly because of the law. Also, a Democratic governor laid out a scheme for employers to get out of health care by shifting workers into taxpayer-subsidized insurance markets that open in 2014.

"The economics of dropping existing coverage is about to become very attractive to many employers, both public and private," said Gov. Phil Bredesen, D-Tenn.

Tennessee Gov. Bredesen said last week that employers could save big money by dropping their health plans and sending workers to buy coverage in the exchange. They'd face a fine of $2,000 per worker, but that's still way less than the cost of providing health insurance. Employers could even afford to give workers a raise and still come out ahead, Bredesen wrote in a Wall Street Journal opinion piece.

[Guest 6.8 AR]

Socialsm... capitalism. We're stuck in the middle, and will receive little or no benefit from either. It does make for some good conversation tho

Capitalism is the reason you and I have jobs, Mike.

Don't go throwing the baby out with the bath water..

Freedom is required for capitalism to exist. Freedom

and socialism can't coexist by definition. Socialism

is a blurry excuse for the same tenets of what Marx

wrote about.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[mikegideon]

Capitalism is the reason you and I have jobs, Mike.

Don't go throwing the baby out with the bath water..

Freedom is required for capitalism to exist. Freedom

and socialism can't coexist by definition. Socialism

is a blurry excuse for the same tenets of what Marx

wrote about.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Not throwing anything out, certainly not capitalism. Just saying that we get stuck with the bill, no matter who pisses the money away. We're getting all the lip service, but we know how that turns out in the end. The democrats have fumbled the ball in a huge way, but that's how they got it to begin with.

Pesonally, I would like to believe Eric Cantor's statement. He said, "We got fired, and we learned our lesson". Guess we'll see.

[Guest 6.8 AR]

Not throwing anything out, certainly not capitalism. Just saying that we get stuck with the bill, no matter who pisses the money away. We're getting all the lip service, but we know how that turns out in the end. The democrats have fumbled the ball in a huge way, but that's how they got it to begin with.

Pesonally, I would like to believe Eric Cantor's statement. He said, "We got fired, and we learned our lesson". Guess we'll see.

Yeh. That's what I meant when I said it was a risky strategy. We will have to wait and see if the new batch

shows what they ran on. The more Rockefeller Republicans are gone, the better chance we have.

[leroy]

...Yeh. That's what I meant when I said it was a risky strategy. We will have to wait and see if the new batch

shows what they ran on. The more Rockefeller Republicans are gone, the better chance we have. ....

Amen brother! You nailed it.

Keep up the good work.

Leroy