I was expecting Steve Cohen to win the 9th District Congressional primary against Willie Herenton, but I thought the vote would be something like 65-35 in Cohen’s favor. Instead, Cohen won 79-21.
I think the reason for the lopsided margin is the current occupant of the mayor’s office: A.C. Wharton. Herenton pointed to his record as mayor as reason why he should be elected to Congress, but Wharton has made him look really bad the past year, accomplishing things “King Willie” could never be bothered to get done.
When we had freezing cold weather last winter, Wharton took steps to make sure that no one would get their power cut off in the middle of a bone-chilling cold snap. He also took steps to ensure that the homeless had a better place to sleep than under a bridge. He’s made government more transparent, so that citizens can now look up government contracts online. He’s fixing the mess that the city animal shelter had become. He’s challenged neighborhood associations to think outside the box in terms of neighborhood beautification and improvements. He’s given Downtowners what we’ve needed for years – a police detail that will patrol on bike and foot to control the scammers, aggressive panhandlers, and drunk and disorderly street people who give our neighborhood an undeserved bad reputation. All of these were things that seemed to be beneath the great Willie when he was mayor.
I will say this, however: Herenton’s concession speech was dignified and classy. Herenton has an opportunity now to move into an elder statesman role. Think about Jimmy Carter – he was very unpopular when he left the White House, but he earned a lot of respect with the way he served his country in the years that followed – without holding public office. Herenton could do the same, I believe, on a local level.
One other thing: Although I recommended Bill Haslam over the two idiots running against him in the Republican primary, that does NOT mean I’m endorsing him for governor in the general election. I need to study both his and Mike McWherter’s positions on the issues before I make up my mind there.
I did, however, vote for a Republican in a general election this time around, rather unusual for me: I voted for Mark Luttrell for county mayor. Joe Ford’s inability to manage his own finances led me to question whether he could manage the county’s. Also, I know people who know Luttrell personally, and they respect him greatly. With me it’s not all about liberal vs. conservative as some people would believe – it’s about who has the tools and the temperament to do the best job. In this case I believed it to be Luttrell.
Don’t think we’re done with political ads though – we still have the November midterm elections. Maybe I’ll just unplug my TV for the next three months.