While the GOP establishment in Nashville loves Kelsey, the rank and file aren’t that smitten with him here. In short, he is not even close to being a lock for election on December 1.

Part of the reason for that is Democratic nominee Adrienne Pakis-Gillon, who has been walking all over the district for the past month, with an ever-growing team of supporters. This is a winnable race, which begs a serious question:

Considering that A) EVERY Senate and House seat is critical in preventing a complete GOP takeover of the General Assembly, which will lead to Democrats losing up to three seats in Congress from Tennessee and B) we have a chance to end Brian Kelsey’s political career before he damages anything else, why the hell has the TNDP essentially told Adrienne that they aren’t going to help her?

UPDATE: Betsy Phillips has a few thoughts as well.

Haslam - 95 votes

Gibbons - 60 votes

Ramsey - 38 votes

Wamp - 3 votes

Kirkpatrick - 2 votes

Hopefully, the movement for equality is still moving in the sense that we are coming to the realization that we have to meet discrimination with targeted resources wherever we find it in particular contexts (by political district, by religion, by race and ethnicity, etc.). Going into a fight bedeviled by what we imagine one group will do just sets us up for more losses and more blame gaming.

Serving in Congress is often a balancing act: When your district slightly favors one course of action but you strongly favor the opposite, you do what you believe and try to explain to your constituents why you bucked their wishes. That is being a delegate. But when you are ambivalent about an issue, even slightly against a course of action but only slightly, and your constituents STRONGLY favor the course of action, then your responsibility is to accurately reflect — to REPRESENT — the will of your constituents and vote in favor.

As Cao is no expert on things economic, and believes that something has to be done for the uninsured, and is neither convinced that the Pelosi bill is the right approach but ALSO not convinced that it is wrong, he then felt an obligation to act as a representative. There is no shame in that.

Meanwhile, note that Cao did not hold out for just some ridiculous pork project favored by big-money lobbyists; he instead asked for help with local issues caused by THE GREATEST NATURAL CATASTROPHE THAT EVER HIT THIS NATION. These are not roads to nowhere; they are health issues for a still-recovering population. Agree or disagree with his request, it is not outlandish.

SEE ALSO: Rightwingers go racist on Cao

Fincher said he entered the congressional race after having a discussion with a friend about how President Obama and Democrats in Congress were leading the country in the wrong direction. He then met with former state Rep. Jimmy Wallace, and former Tennessee Republican Chairman Tommy Hopper, to talk about running for office. After the meeting, Fincher said he prayed on the matter and was finally convinced after his wife and father told him he should enter into the race.

Fincher said Hopper told him it would take $2 million to defeat Tanner. He told Hopper he could raise $1 million dollars and in 10 weeks he has already raised $400,000.

“The reason John Tanner needs to come home is because he has left us a long time ago,” said Fincher.

He said Tanner voted for the largest tax increase in U.S. history and both bailouts. He also said Tanner votes 84 percent of the time for the Service Employees International Union, which he said is the right arm of ACORN.

“He votes with Nancy Pelosi and Barney Frank, 94 percent of the time,” said Fincher. “He does not represent the values of this district anymore.”

Fincher said he was pro-life and a conservative first and a Republican second.

Someone decided to go ahead and send copies of e mail exchanges to the media. Why would someone who supposedly didn’t like the idea or tone of the letter release it to the media when the idea was going away? Simple. To try and climb a micro smidgen higher for themselves, to divide our caucus between those who might have wanted to send the letter and those who might not, to try to make our caucus leadership and some of our members look bad to TRL members and make themselves look good.

Mission accomplished.

According to a report published on the Tenth Amendment Center’s web site, “Introduced in the Ohio House on October 16, 2009, the ‘Firearms Freedom Act’ (HB-315) seeks ‘To enact section 2923.26 of the Revised Code to provide that ammunition, firearms, and firearm accessories that are manufactured and remain in Ohio are not subject to federal laws and regulations derived under Congress’ authority to regulate interstate commerce and to require the words “Made in Ohio” be stamped on a central metallic part of any firearm manufactured and sold in Ohio.’”

More on the Tennessee Firearms Freedom Act here.

It is starting to come out now that Haslam skipped the Tennessee Conservative Union dinner to be at a fundraiser hosted by long time Democrat fundraiser David “Ace” Harrington whose next fundraiser is for Democrat Joann Graves. Not what the hard Republican party people or TCU regulars want to hear.

And, while denouncing them, he and other Democrats seem to recognize the best hope for Democrats in Tennessee is a strengthening of the hard-right wing of the GOP, turning off independent voters and even moderate Republicans.

In Virginia, media reports indicate that the Democratic nominee for governor tried to paint Republican Robert McDonnell as an extremist, but McDonnell took pains to downplay social issues, and the tactic didn’t work.

Independents still decide general elections in Tennessee. In GOP primaries, the battle between moderates and conservatives seems to be tightening.

In 2006, conservatives Ed Bryant and Van Hilleary had more votes combined than moderate Bob Corker, who went on to win the general in a close contest with Harold Ford Jr. The outcome might have been different with a GOP nominee cast as a nut job.

A short obituary from the family:

Don Spain, 71, died early Sunday morning, November 8, of natural causes after collapsing at home in Nashville. Spain, a native of Old Hickory, was the owner of Capitol Media Service and the senior member of the Capitol Hill Press Corps. He produced “Legislative Report,” a weekly recap of activities in the Tennessee General Assembly which was broadcast statewide on the public television stations.

Spain was a well-known videographer who had taped many weddings in the Nashville and surrounding areas over the years. He was the former public information officer for the Tennessee Highway Patrol and assistant television news director at WSMV Channel 4. He is survived by his loving wife, Doris (DG), son Jason Spain, and sister Sandy Poteete, all of Nashville, sister-in-law Judy (Anthony) Rose and nephew Jeremy (Amber) Rose of Pulaski, TN and many friends and extended family.

The Spain family appreciates the outpouring of support. “During dad’s long career in journalism, he respected the people he covered and they respected him for his commitment to informing the public in a truly objective way,” said Jason Spain. “Tennessee has lost a talented journalist. Our family has lost a wonderful husband and father.”

See video from past Legislative Reports here.
SEE ALSO:
Mark Brown
Tom Humphrey
The Senate Democratic Caucus

At one point the crowd chanted “kill that bill” when the debate on health-care reform in Washington, D.C., was mentioned from the stage.

Signs in the crowd included:

• “Stop the spending or you’re fired!!!”

• “No to the healthcare bill.”

• “Congress you work for us.”

• “Born free — taxed to death.”

“Pink Slip Warnings” were available at the rally for participants to fill out. Organizers said they plan to send those signed pink slips to members of Congress.

Bedford County Clerk and Master Curt Cobb is one of 16 local government leaders who successfully completed the 17th annual Local Government Leadership Program last month at the Jimmy Naifeh Center for Effective Leadership, part of the University of Tennessee Institute for Public Service.

“I enjoyed it,” said Cobb on Friday. “I thought it was a good opportunity to look at the local government perspective, and I got to network with a lot of people.”

He began cashing in unused vacation days. He tapped money from a slush fund controlled by a City Hall aide. He lined up another controversial pay day by involving himself in a city redevelopment plan.

In all, the arrangements steered an extra $240,000 into Herenton’s pockets between 2004 and his July retirement this year, according to an examination by The Commercial Appeal.

Tennessee’s assistance program for people with HIV and AIDS has a waiting list for the first time since it started in the early 1990s.