Who knew, Democratic voters don't want to send a bigoted, union-busting lawyer to Congress. Nikki Tinker was trounced today in the Democratic primary in TN-09. With 89% of precincts reporting, incumbent Steve Cohen leads Tinker 79% to 19%.

It's a humiliation not just for the vile Tinker but also for those who endorsed her, especially EMILY's List and the DLC's Harold Ford, Jr. Her scurrilous, racist, anti-semitic attacks on the widely admired Cohen were so repulsive that in the last days before the primary EMILY's List felt obliged to renounce them. And so did her former employer, Harold Ford, though only a few hours before the polls closed. The humiliation for Tinker and her backers was not just the repudiation of her and her tactics that Tennessee voters delivered today. The deeper humiliation was the kind of campaign she ran, and the willingness of her backers to look the other way for so long. They've all lost face from this campaign.

Steve Cohen, on the other hand, deserves plaudits for rising above the muck and triumphing.

Apologies for the short diary, but this seemed worthwhile, though I don't have much to say about it.  The Nashville Post and Memphis Flyer both report that former Congressman Harold Ford, Jr. has finally issued a statement concerning Nikki Tinker's ludicrous attack ads against her primary opponent, Steve Cohen.

"Whenever race, religion or gender is invoked in a political contest, it generally means the candidate has run out of legitimate arguments for why he/she should be elected. Communities and nations are always made weaker when political figures try to divide us for political advantage. It is my strong hope that lessons will be learned."

Up to today, Ford was officially neutral in the primary race, though his wife has given money to Tinker, which some viewed as a tacit endorsement by Ford.  Big praise to Ford this time for doing what's right here.  (Also, the Nashville Post article gives a nice outline of the Tinker-Ford-Cohen mess.)

"Call me, Harold"

Ring a bell?  That what the tag line to the ad run by Harold Ford Jr.'s (successful) opponent in the 2006 Senate contest in Tennessee.  That ad had nothing to do with Tennessee voters being concerned about whether Ford may have attended a party.  It was all about showing Ford going out with a white woman.  

Subtext:  HE'S BLACK.  And he's not one of us.

As Chris Matthews has pointed out, if you want to know what the real theme of an ad is, watch it with the sound off.  The visuals tell the story.

What do the visuals say about John McCain's recent attack ad on Obama?  My opinion below.

Since Harold Ford challenged me to bring my ideas to Memphis and I accepted straight to his face when he hurriedly scooted out of the Convention Center in Austin last Friday only to see Ford chicken out after I accepted his offer, I have decided that I want to expand on the points that Mr. Ford raised about ideology and demonstrate how Ford is an extremist and we are the mainstream.  I will do so in six sections.  This was originally going to be a week's worth of diaries (and still is) but I'm shortening the text for brevity and clarity by the following areas.

1.  Harold Ford's Right Wing Views

2.  Steve Cohen, progressive representative of Memphis' 9th Congressional District

3.  Governor Bredesen - He's No Harold Ford Dino

4.  The DLC v. DFQ Mentalities.

5.  The Progressive Mainstream Netroots v. Extremist Harold Ford.

6.  Memphis and New York City Values

Hey everyone,
So, we at Headzup are extremely excited about Netroots Nation next week.  We'll be moderating a panel called "Progressives Go Viral: Creating and Distributing Video For Internet, iPod and Mobile Audiences".  And here is the second video we made promoting the conference and a certain Keynote Discussion between Markos & Harold Ford, Jr.  (Transcript below).  The first can be found here.

I read something just a few minutes ago that really pissed me off.  They decided to jump into another Democratic primary.  There is only one problem.  They are hurting Progressives by doing so.  Join me over the jump to find out more.

Warning: this is an uncharitable, venting rant.  I am angry, and to give you an idea, we are headed to Rude Punditville.  Stop right now if you don't want to read it.  Awhile back, I wrongly made a premature case for how Hillary Clinton needed to be talked about in order to give her supporters an easy transition into the fold.  I was wrong.  Some things trump.  So if you don't like harsh language or are a tenderheart, click away now.  I don't even particularly want this to be rec'd, just on the record.

What follows is a totally incomplete list of people who must speak up immediately and clearly, or it's on them too.  Silence + standing endorsement equals ratification.

In no particular order:

Paul Krugman.  Krugman, you weaselly motherfucker, you better ask for some forgiveness without the slightest goddamn snide remark.  

Tina Fey.  Tina, you exhorted voters to elect this goddamn horrorshow.  You have terrible judgment and you need to apologize for what you tried to bring about through your advocacy.

In which a few of the talking heads we can't get out of our heads, or off our televisions, are reviewed

Hillary Clinton is not going to win the Democratic nomination. Not in 2008. Not in 2012.  Not ever.  

Furthermore, she's not going to win the presidency.  Not in 2008. Not in 2012. Not ever.

So why do I think that she should stay in the race?

In 2004, Barack Obama gave an absolutely stunning keynote speech at the Democratic Convention, one that many people believed would carry him into greater success in the future, in other words, the presidency. However, as a history major, I tend to try and look back and see how the past has worked, because as we all know, history has that darn trend of repeating itself.

After looking back recently into all of the keynote speakers from the 1900 Democratic National Convention to Barack Obama, I noticed a few things. The most important of which is the completely failure of keynote speakers when it comes to winning the presidency. Before I go on, let me mention under full disclosure that I am an Edwards supporter, who plans on voting for Obama now, but with recent events, I am back into the undecided field. However, as I am about to prove, the past seems to want Clinton to win.

So below, let us review the curse, and then lets see how exactly Barack Obama fits into this.

Also, a note to Edwards supports who want him to get the Attorney General Spot, and then become President later. NO Attorney General has ever gone onto the presidency.

We've watched Barack Obama go from Illinois Legislator to Democratic Convention Keynote Speaker to US Senator to viable challenger for President in 2008.  For anyone who watched it, the importance of Senator Obama's Keynote address at the 2004 Democratic Convention is difficult to overstate.

Ask yourself this: Would Obama even be running for President this election cycle had he not delivered that address?

In this diary I want to give some of the highlights of Keynote addresses over the years and demonstrate that this important speech is not the stepping stone to the Presidency that some might believe.

First the list...

Kimberley Strassel ♥'s Harold Ford Jr.

[Click here for larger image]

I could not help but snark about Kimberley Strassel's silly attack piece on Markos Moulitsas and all of us at the Daily Kos. The editorial comment appeared in the Wall Street Journal on Friday, August 17. (I assume it was in the printed paper. I read it online.)

There have been two high impact postings on Daily Kos about this issue...

Having heard so much lately about the Democratic Party swinging so far to the left, I wondered, what, exactly, is the "middle?"

Are you "middle?"  Am I middle?  I can't answer for you, but I can answer for myself and my family.  But first, I think we need to define "middle."

Middle is what?  The middle is where many Americans tend to fall, maybe they are against raising taxes, but they support gay marriage.  Maybe those in the middle will vote for both democrats and republicans, maybe, just maybe, those in the middle are somewhat up on issues and fall left on some, right on others.  And, as far as I can tell, the "middle" is usually those of us in the increasingly shrinking "middle class."

More.....

There have been lots of good diaries about the "debate" on Meet the Press Sunday between Harold Ford and our founder.  I'll spare you the personal bona fides, but debate is my profession and I've been active in it since 1971.  So here is a debater's perspective on this exchange.

If you did not watch the exchange it's here on youtube.

http://www.youtube.com/...  part 1  

and

http://www.youtube.com/...  part 2

Victory in this sort of exchange is subjective.  Debates are not won or lost like most games where there is a clear score at the end.  

I purposely did not embed this as a YouTube link. That's because I just want you to focus on this picture.

What is remarkable about it? Is it the words that were said on this program? Follow me below the fold...

Cross Posted from Florida Kossacks

Watching the debate between Markos and Harold Ford yesterday was a bit like watching a rerun of Rocky IV, wherein Sylvester Stallone's Rocky Balboa goes to the Soviet Union to fight Dolph Lungren's Ivan Drago.  Not because Markos took the fight into the hostile territory of Meet the Press, or because Markos endured Ford's blather patiently before emerging victorious, or because the entire spectacle was brimming with the expectant propaganda of two competing ideologies.

FUCK YOUR ASS AND YOUR SISTER'S. SHE CAN LICK MINE, NOT KICK MINE.

YOU ARE A FUCKING JEWISH IDIOT, FUCKING YOUR JEWISH SISTER AND YOUR JEWISH MOTHER WITH A SHINY BASEBALL BAT.

YOU HAVE AN IQ OF AN ANT, YOU FUCKING ASS-LICKING BALL-LESS HERMAPHRODITE.

WHO CARES IF SOMEONE GETS BANNED YOU STUPID IDIOT. ANYONE CAN CREATE A NEW ID AND COME BACK AGAIN. BUT OF COURSE WITH YOUR IQ YOU  CANNOT UNDERSTAND IT. GO ASK YOUR SLUT MOTHER TO EXPLAIN IT TO YOU.

FUCKING FILTHY ASS-LICKING JEW!

Charming, no?

Write to "Meet The Press" (and DLC) and let them know there are lots of us who believe the future of politics is dailykos not the old school democrats (DLC).  It was a stark contrast watching the two men this morning, Ford sounded like a used car salesman, Kos ran circles around him.  The DLC... stick a fork in them.