Reply #11: So sad for my fellow Tennesseans. [View All]

[Clark2008]

I had such high hopes that our people had finally overcome the conservative media Juggernaut that we have in this state.

In fact, reports on early voting say that the Democrats have out-voted the Republicans by 18 percent:

Using the Kerry figures above, Democrats have an early voting turnout advantage over Republicans of around 18%. Averaging all the methods together, we can estimate that early voting turnout among Democrats was up around 15% higher than Republican levels. Certainly, that is not good news for the GOP GOTV machine - as it begins to ramp up its infamous 72-hour program. The GOP will need to get people to the polls on election day in order to make up turnout ground - a harder proposition than reminding voters they could vote anytime during the 14-day early voting period.

Clearly, Ford and the Democrats won the battle of getting their folks to the polls early. An 18% advantage is pretty impressive and bodes very well for the Congressman and his campaign.

(And this is from Republican blogger, Adam Groves): http://www.tnpoliticsblog.com/2006/11/analysis_early_voting_who_bene.php

I know it's not over until Candy Crowley sings, but the national polls show gloom and doom for Tennesseans - even those who are voting for Bob KKKorker don't seem to understand that they're hurting themselves (if they make less than $200,000 a year) and the entire state. KKKorker will be either stymied in a Democratic Congress OR will do nothing but rubber-stamp Bush's agenda, which will, in turn be a disaster for this state. Tennessee wages are already low compared with national averages and our educational system is a joke (excluding individual school systems in the larger cities, which do well - thankfully my son attends school in a larger city). KKKorker isn't going to change any of that - he'll continue to cut taxes on the wealthy, leaving Tennessee's poor and middle class left to either pay more in state in local taxes per income and/or leaving us to pay more in unfunded mandates.

It looks like this state, after suffering through the financial stagnation of a Republican governor for eight years before finally voting in a good Democrat in Phil Bredesen, who has changed things completely around (yes, to the behest of some working poor because he had to cut TennCare - but, sadly, he HAD to do it because Sundquist ruined our budget for eight years), hasn't learned its lesson about which party is, in actuality, the more fiscally prudent: the Democratic Party.

I would implore anyone on this board with any connection to AAR or any other liberal programming to PLEASE, PLEASE come into Tennessee outside of Memphis. Nashville is ripe, and even the CITY of Knoxville votes blue (it doesn't look so on the maps because the county of Knox votes red, and overshadows us urban dwellers, but I promise Knoxville voted for Bredesen and Kerry and will go Ford). We NEED some alternative media in this state or we're NEVER going to fully understand how much the Republican Party HURTS our state.

Sorry for the rant: it just hurts to watch the rest of the country waking up and my state, looking for all the world, like a state still stuck sleeping in a Republican nightmare.