DOMESTIC
SPRING 2014
Feeling the blues
Tennessee Democrats face an uphill battle in 2014
by WILL STEWART ‘16
S
urprising as it may be, 2006 began
like a fairytale for Tennessee Democrats. Normally considered a part of
the “Solid South,” Tennessee state elections
in 2006 strayed from their traditional conservative dominance. Incumbent Governor
and Democrat Phil Bredesen beat Republican challenger Jim Bryson by a whopping
700,000 votes, Democrat Harold Ford Jr.
lost a close Senate race to Republican Bob
Corker by only 50,000 votes, and all five
incumbent Democratic congressmen handily won reelection. The Democrats’ relative
triumph was brief, however, and the party
saw a quick reversal of fortunes in the next
few years. In 2010, three Democratic congressmen announced their retirement and
all three seats were lost to Republicans. The
state House of Representatives was also lost,
and with the 2010 redistricting Republicans
were able to increase their hold on the state.
The Democratic party was unable to
bounce back, and 2012 brought the nadir of the Tennessee Democratic Party.
Republicans gained a supermajority in
both the state Senate and state House of
Representatives, but that indignity pales
in comparison to what happened with
the national Senate race and the nowfamous Democratic nominee Mark Clayton. Clayton, who lost the democratic
primary in 2008, won it four years later.
The party reaction was lukewarm, and
many attributed his win to his name being
at the top of the ticket. Clayton was subsequently disavowed by the Democratic
Party for a multitude of reasons, including being the Vice-President of a known
anti-gay hate group, claiming that FEMA
runs prison camps, and frequently warning against a “godless New World Order.”
With this bleak history in the background, Democrats are currently scrambling to find strong candidates to run
in the 2014 elections. In the House, it is
unlikely that Democrats will pick up any
new seats. The 2010 redistric ѥ