The Elephant In The Room

[Renew Deal]

As I was watching the Super Tuesday results come in, I was hoping that Tennessee’s Republicans would not go for the extremist candidates. (It’s a pride thing. I wanted to feel that my home state is not a member of the “association of right wing nuts in the South”). Although Tennessee is a red state, it has a history of electing moderate Republicans. Tennessee’s current governor, Bill Haslam, a moderate wealthy Republican, introduced President Obama at a No Child Left Behind event in 2011 and worked with the president on reforms to the NCLB law. Prior to Haslam, Tennessee’s last governor was a Democrat, a rare thing in the South.
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Historically, Tennessee has often shown a moderate and independent streak. It was the last of the Southern states to declare secession from the Union. On a personal note, my great grandfather was one of three brothers from Tennessee who all walked to Kentucky to join the Union army (a matter of pride for me). Two died during the war, and my ancestor survived. Even though I am a Liberal Democrat, I was at minimum glad that the state I am from was not as rigidly Conservative as most other Southern states. Last night changed that. When I saw the margin with which Rich Santorum won in Tennessee, I realized it is hopeless in America today regarding members of the Grand Old Party. Too many people have bought into the ridiculous ramblings that issue from candidates such as Santorum, and it hit close to home on Super Tuesday.
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http://www.captivatingnews.com/2012/03/07/the-elephant-in-the-room

[southerncrone]

1. I would like to think we are the least backward of the Southern States, but

as time goes by, seems we are just getting redder & more backward.
However, I suspect quite a few of the Santorum votes came from Dems who used our open voting to "swing" the Repub candidate, i.e. vote for the candidate we think Obama could most easily beat, since Obama did not face any real opposition for the Dem nomination.

That said, even w/o Dems influence, TN Repubs could easily have gone for Santorum---we are after all the "Buckle of the Bible Belt" and he espoused their fanatical agenda more than any of the rest. It is HIS issue & he has chosen to align himself w/that faction. Sadly the Repubs have hi-jacked these people's religion & they don't even realize how they are being manipulated. What better way to win over a group than to hi-jack their belief system. Despicable. Should they one day wake up to this fact, expect serious backlash.

Though I was born here & lived my entire life here, I have seriously considered leaving the state because I see it as being so stagnant & bordering on regressive.

[Neoma]

2. It's sad.

My parent's district only has one Democrat running for Rep.

It cuts down on choices...