Cohen Defeats Tinker, America Wins
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Nikki Tinker tried to use a version of the southern strategy in the Tennessee Democratic primary. It’s the altar of hate politics that folks like Nixon, Pat Buchanan, Lee Atwater, and Karl Rove worship on. Appeal to people’s base instincts, play to their fears and prejudices. Time and again it has worked far too well, whether that’s scaring people about rioting black hordes or about how limp wristed liberals will give Al Qaeda the keys to the White House.
Tinker went right to the playbook of racial and religious bigotry. She tried to set herself up as the authentic sister against the white Jewish interloper. She was easily able to convince increasingly clueless national organizations like Emily’s List to support her simply because of her gender. But something happened. She got her butt kicked.
Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.) overwhelmingly defeated attorney Nikki Tinker in a racially-charged Democratic primary in Memphis that received national attention.
With 89 percent of precincts reporting, Cohen leads Tinker by a 60-point margin – 79 to 19 percent. The AP has called the race for Cohen.
The people of Tennessee’s 9th congressional district looked at the candidates and decided that they would elect one of their own. Their own, in this case, was Rep. Cohen.
Yet again, the people who seek to divide us are, as Stephen Colbert would say, on notice.
Beware.
(ADDENDUM: This is, as usual, clearly good news for John McCain.)
17 Responses to “Cohen Defeats Tinker, America Wins”
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© 2000-2011 Oliver Willis
Awesome.
I concur with Vanessa’s “Awesome.” Impressive margin of victory for Cohen, too.
Thanks for keeping tabs on this Oliver, and for repudiating Tinker when she earned it.
Makes me proud, yet again, to be a Democrat.
I think that’s terrific, but I am of course saddened to hear this will help McCain. Damnit, it seems like everything helps that guy.
First off, let me wholeheartedly endorse the title and facts of this case. Tinker sounds like utter scum, and we’re all better off with her being so soundly rejected.
But Oliver’s commentary reminds me of the whole Michelle Obama – “whitey” tape situation. In both cases, the actual circumstances were purely a Blue-On-Blue situation, with a Democrat pulling a reprehensible attack on another Democrat, and in both cases it is being spun as somehow tied in to Republicans — who had nothing to do with the whole situation.
In case you’ve forgotten, the main pusher of the apparently non-existent “whitey” tape was longtime Democratic activist Bob Beckel.
Why is it so hard for you folks to admit that, occasionally, Democrats can do something utterly reprehensible WITHOUT it somehow being Republican’s fault?
J.
Jay Tea, Aug 8th, 2008 at 7:06 am
Why is it so hard for you folks to admit that, occasionally, Democrats can do something utterly reprehensible WITHOUT it somehow being Republican’s fault?
You mean, the way that this post admits that, occasionally, Democrats can do something utterly reprehensible WITHOUT it somehow being Republican’s fault? Oh, and please inform the studio audience exactly where OW is saying that this is somehow tied in to Republican’ts? He’s saying that this is a an example of a Democrat engaging in a standard strategy of the Republican’ts, yes – but I don’t see where he ties the attacks to Republican’ts.
Why is it so hard for you folks to admit that Democrats constantly call each other out when they engage in gutter politics like this? Why is it so hard for you folks to admit that this type of attack is not okay under any circumstances (and not just Blue-on-Blue)? Why is it so hard for you folks to admit that you engage in this stuff all the time? And, why is it so hard for you folks to show the same level of concern for the level of discourse when, for example, people start handing out purple band-aids and/or tire pressure gauges?
Hey, Tom, I’m a little busy right now — why don’t you take the matter up with Representative William Clinton? Or Mayer Kwame Kilpatrick?
This dispute was purely between a Democrat and a Democrat. So, naturally, Oliver has to find a way to deflect some of the blame away from the Democrats by saying that this one Democrat decided to attack that Democrat by using Republican tactics, because lord knows that Democrats can’t come up with any of their own dirty tricks and slimes and smears.
It’s really not that hard. You just have to take off your blinders and put down the kool-aid just for a minute. You can put them back on afterwards — I promise I won’t move them or steal them or smash them.
It’d be nice and refreshing if once — once — Oliver could go after a Democrat without tossing in a cheap shot at Republicans, especially in cases like this where there wasn’t a Republican in sight.
To try to blame Republicans for Tinker’s sleazy tactics is to excuse her for the responsibility of being a complete and utter scumbag on her own. I suspect she didn’t need any help being scummy; I doubt she was brainwashed by Karl Rove and his evil cabal into running the ads she chose to run against Cohen.
I blame scumbags for being scumbags. I don’t cut them any slack and help them find someone else to blame for their own actions.
J.
This result is only a surprise to folks who think that black people are a monolith, who don’t use reason in the voting booth.
I blamed Tinker for her own activities. It’s not my fault that the party most associated with divisiveness is the GOP. Democrats in the past were bad (as I’ve noted) but we did not invent the Southern Strategy. We did not invent the Rove strategy. I’ve repeatedly written about William Jefferson, and not in a positive way.
I don’t cut them any slack and help them find someone else to blame for their own actions.
Admirable, Jay. I imagine nearly all (if not all) posters on this forum would concur. However a Ponzi scheme is still named after Ponzi. You’re still a criminal, but so was he, no? Is there a more clear-cut case of race politics for the modern parties, prior to the Southern Strategy?
If not, then it’s perfectly true to say that Tinker acted like a Republican. Obviously that doesn’t indict all the non-racist Republicans, just the slugs that sought political gain from people’s fears.
Jay Tea, Aug 8th, 2008 at 8:20 am
Hey, Tom, I’m a little busy right now — why don’t you take the matter up with Representative William Clinton? Or Mayer Kwame Kilpatrick?
I think it would proably be better to discuss this with Senator Intertubes, Dandy Diaper Vitter, or Wide stance Larry Craig. They seem to have much mor experience with this sort of thing…
It’d be nice and refreshing if once — once — Oliver could go after a Democrat without tossing in a cheap shot at Republicans, especially in cases like this where there wasn’t a Republican in sight.
Almost as refreshing as it would be to see you – once – not refer to Democrats without the cheap shots, either.
Funny how you seem to be selectively outraged in one of those situations, but surprisingly silent in the other. What’s that word again? Hyp-, hypo-, Republican’t! Yeah, that’s it…
JayTea,
Give me a break. This IS a Republican strategy and you know it. Open your eyes and stop drinking the “kool aid.”
Great post– just discovered your site through Carpetbagger Report’s link, and I really like it. Forgive any obtuseness– it’s been a long day, and maybe I’m just missing the obvious joke– but how does this help McCain? I know the media spin all kinds of things McCain’s way, but was there a specific pundit idiot who said it would help him, or something?
Speaking of Colbert, Cohen was on the Report on March 1st last year. Could this be the Bump again?
I know the media spin all kinds of things McCain’s way, but was there a specific pundit idiot who said it would help him, or something?
That’s the joke, brian. Everything is good for McNovocain.
Almost as refreshing as it would be to see you – once – not refer to Democrats without the cheap shots, either.
Well we know it’s physically impossible for you to type the word “Republican” instead of the cheap shot “Republican’t”, so that makes you quite the hypocrite to be lecturing Jay Tea doesn’t it?
God it makes me so mad that Tinker is such a sleaze cuz she is so hot. I mean DAMN. I coudl watch her give a speech all day long.
Dave in SoCal, Aug 9th, 2008 at 5:03 pm
Well we know it’s physically impossible for you to type the word “Republican” instead of the cheap shot “Republican’t”, so that makes you quite the hypocrite to be lecturing Jay Tea doesn’t it?
And you’re one of the ones who have constantly misused the term Democrat, here and elsewhere, for years now. Who thinks he has the right and the moral clarity to call me a hypocrite when I respond to over twenty years’ worth of the terms Democrat and Democratic by the Republican’ts. Funny how it’s hypocrisy when I do it, but it’s perfectly okay for you and yours when you do the same thing…
Republican’ts – can’t even be bothered with noticing their own hypocrisy while crying crocodile tears over someone doing the same thing to them that they’ve been doing to everyone else for years.