(Cross-Posted from Silence Isn't Golden)

Although this Vandy fan loves to trash-talk the Volunteers, I've always held an immense amount of respect for UT men's basketball coach Bruce Pearl. I picked up the Washington Post during my layover in DC en route back to Ithaca back today, and I was amazed to see this article in the sports section.

I alluded to this a few weeks ago, but I've set up a "TN Liberal Bloggers" bracket group on Yahoo for the NCAA Tournament, and you're all invited to join!

Here is the link to the group. Shoot me an email (goldni386 at gmail) or a message on here for the password (I picked one you'll ALL remember). UPDATE: If that link doesn't work, try this one.

(Cross-posted from Silence Isn't Golden)

The official announcement will be later in the week, but Bob Tuke announced today at the 5th Congressional District Democratic Convention that he will enter the race for U.S. Senate against Lamar! Alexander.

He noted that Lamar! has been a disappointment as he's become so tied to the Washington Republicans, and even more so now that he's in the leadership there. Tuke stated that the people of Tennessee deserve a choice, and it will be between a Washington Republican and a Democratic Marine.

I don't know about y'all, but I'm fired up and ready to go...for Bob Tuke!

(Cross-Posted from Silence Isn't Golden)

Interesting presser from the TNDP, regarding who's funding the push against the meeting hall being built at the Governor's residence and how many legislators he has in his pocket:

Millionaire car dealer Lee Beaman, who in late November financed a smear campaign to attack the Tennessee Residence restoration and renovation project, around the same time gave $18,000 to partisan politicians and organizations that now are attacking the project.

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In November, Beaman gave $10,000 to MUMPAC, a political action committee controlled by House Minority Leader Jason Mumpower, of Bristol, who now is leading attacks against the First Lady and the Residence. Then in December, Beaman gave $6,000 to the Tennessee Legislative Campaign Committee, an account controlled by the Tennessee Republican Party, which also is attacking the First Lady and the project.

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In addition to gifts to Mumpower and the state GOP, Beaman in December gave $1,000 to State Sen. Jack Johnson, a Williamson County Republican who suddenly has voiced opposition to the Residence project. In August, Beaman gave $1,000 to State Rep. Beth Harwell, who also now opposes the project despite voting for budgets that included funding for it.

So if this is all true, then it seems like the opposition to the project is nothing more than the work of a guy with a NIMBY problem and a whole lot of money.

TNGOP Communications Director Bill Hobbs' response on Volunteer Voters:

We [The TNGOP] can think of a dozen better uses for $8 million than a party hall that will be used only by Tennessee’s political and business elites.

That got me thinking...what would the better uses for $8 million be for the TNGOP? I can think of a few:

In this heated election season, it's important not to lose sight of what's really important--college basketball.

This season is shaping up to be a huge one for our state. There could be as many as FIVE Tennessee teams in the conference. Memphis is playing for a #1 seed, and UTK and Vanderbilt should be locks at this point (barring a complete and utter collapse, which is never outside the realm of possibility for either team). In addition, Belmont and Austin Peay are both winning their respective conferences.

So, I would like to propose a Tennessee bloggers' bracket tournament. I just wanted to post this to a) gauge interest and b) see if yall think we should just keep this among ourselves or throw it open to our Elephant friends as well.

Finally, my first-round shocker pick--#13 Cornell over whoever the #4 seed is. I'm not biased, I swear...

For anyone who is a Democratic voter in Davidson County:

Davidson County Democratic Convention
Saturday, February 9
IBEW Hall, 2001 Elm Hill Pike
Registration begins at 11 a.m., Convention starts (and doors close) at noon.

I am, of course, reminding you about this because I am running to be a delegate, pledged to Barack Obama. We now know that Obama will receive three delegates from TN-05, two male and one female. Seeing those kind of odds, I need all the support I can get, and I would be honored if you'd come.

When you register at the convention, you'll have to sign a pledge stating that you are a Democrat and that you will support the Democratic nominee in November. You will also have to indicate your candidate preference--if you want to vote for me, you should obviously indicate Obama (note: it DOES NOT matter who you voted for in the primary, just as long as you didn't vote in the Republican primary).

Thank you!

(Cross-Posted at Silence Isn't Golden)

It sure took the Tennessee papers long enough! The Knoxville News-Sentinel has given Barack Obama a rousing endorsement:

Obama, 46, was challenged early in the campaign for his lack of experience in Washington, but he has deftly turned that criticism into an asset, pointing out that those who got us into war in Iraq and built the deficit had a wealth of political experience.

He also said that his critics would prefer that he "season and stew a little bit more … boil all the hope out of him, so he sounds just like us."

He also has said the central question is not who is ready on day one of the new presidency but who is right - who can build majorities in both Houses.

So now two major Tennessee papers have released their endorsements, the first being the Memphis Commercial Appeal's endorsement of Hillary Clinton. Hey, Tennessean, we're all waiting on you! I'm assuming that endorsement will come tomorrow morning. Has the Chattanooga Times Free Press endorsed anyone yet, are they going to?

The irony with these two endorsements is that if you believe the polls, Memphis is Obama's strongest base of support, while East Tennessee is better for Hillary. Interesting, then, that the endorsements went opposite ways. Anyone have an idea of why that might be?

UPDATE: The Tennessean will not be endorsing anyone. LAME.

Sorry for the multiple postings, but in light of the recent discussion over the Sunshine Law in Tennessee, this story out of Murfreesboro seemed particularly important.

(Cross-Posted at Silence Isn't Golden)

Someone (in this case, WSMV in Nashville) finally decided it was time to do a Presidential poll in Tennessee. It's about damn time! Of course, if they could have waited maybe three days later to do it, the results probably would have been far more accurate.

(Cross-Posted at Silence Isn't Golden)

The Tennessean reported today on the grassroots efforts on the behalf of the different candidates happening in Tennessee. Sean Braisted noted the differences between the two campaigns that have by far the largest presence, Barack Obama and Ron Paul.

I, on the other hand, would like to take a look at the similarities. I don't think it's a coincidence that it's those two campaigns in particular that have attracted the largest grassroots support here.

(Cross-Posted at Silence Isn't Golden)

There was an interesting little nugget in this week's issue of the Munday Message:

BLACKBURN'S JUNKET

U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn (D-Brentwood) arrived stateside last week after a government-funded "ethanol fact-finding mission" which included military jet travel to Brazil, touring in the colonial-era city of Salvador, and an evening in the Airau Amazon Towers hotel.

The Congressman has proposed 5% across the board cuts to "non-defense, non-homeland security discretionary spending for fiscal year 2007."

The federally-funded travel excursion included a number of lavish details including a "spouse program coordinator" for all of the spouses of the House International Relations subcommittee on Latin America. Rep. Blackburn's trip at taxpayer's expense on a military jet for her and her husband to beautiful Brazil certainly taught her more about ethanol than a trip to Iowa could provide. On second thought, we don't want her going to Iowa; she might think she has a shot at the presidency.

(Cross-Posted at Silence Isn't Golden)

Even though I spend most of the year in New York, I am registered to vote in Tennessee. I didn't want to change my registration because of my political involvement back home, and because I knew a Democratic vote would go further in Tennessee. But had I wanted to register in New York, there would not have been anything wrong with it. As a full-time student, I could claim residency in New York and vote there, it simply would have voided my registration in Tennessee.

This is also the case in most states. My little brother goes to school in Florida, and I encouraged him to register to vote there rather than in Tennessee, since his vote would be even more crucial in the largest swing state. When I worked on the Ford campaign, we made sure to inform college students here that they could register to vote in Tennessee, and that they didn't need a Tennessee driver's license to do so. We hoped that they would not only vote for Ford, but that they would maintain their registration here and vote for future TN Democratic candidates.

There's nothing wrong with it. There's nothing unethical about it. If someone can claim residency in two different places, they should be allowed to decide where they want to vote, so long as they're not attempting to vote in both locations.

In Iowa, thousands of college students are planning on cutting short their winter breaks to come back and vote in the caucuses. Some of the candidates, like Barack Obama, are actively encouraging such youth participation. But the campaigns that don't stand to gain as much are bitter about it. So naturally, they're starting to complain about "those meddling kids!"

Congressman Jim Cooper, a co-sponsor of the Clean Water Protection Act, today sent out a "Dear Colleague" letter along with two other Southern Congressmen urging support for the legislation:

I hope you will join us as proud co-sponsors of this legislation.

Mountaintop removal coal mining in the Appalachian region produces a tremendous amount of toxic waste that is often recklessly shoved into our headwater streams. In recent years, these "valley fills" have buried hundreds of miles of our waterways, jeopardizing the health of the environment and the people in Appalachia.

...

To date, at least one million acres of Appalachia's mountains have been destroyed by mountaintop removal mining, and more than 1200 miles of streams are buried and destroyed by waste. The EPA expects that mountaintop removal will double in the next decade.

If Congress does not intervene, we will lose even more of Appalachia's precious communities and culture, long term economic potential, natural beauty, and abundant ecological resources and services.

This mountaintop removal is doing more than just damaging the scenery in Appalachia. It's literally poisoning the water and putting all of the residents there in jeopardy.

Glad to see that Congressman Cooper is doing something about it. It's just too bad that Congressmen Davis, Duncan, and Wamp--you know, the Congressmen whose districts actually ARE in Appalachia--will most likely vote to protect the President's cronies in the mining industry rather than to protect their own constituents.

Via Daily Kos, we now have word that all 50 states have had a poll in which Bush's approval rating is under 50%. In other words, we have a completely Blue map!

Check it out...

I've been quite amused by the conservative bloggers falling all over themselves to claim that because 100 Jews showed up to hear Ari Fleischer speak in Nashville last week, it's obvious that there is an "Exodus" of Jews from the Democratic to the Republican Party underway.

First of all, do the math. 100 Jews showed up to that event (and frankly, we don't even know that they were all Jews. Webutante obviously isn't, but still felt the need to wax poetic about said "Exodus"). By my mother's estimate, there are at least 5,000 Jews in Nashville. And that's just the ones who are affiliated with some sort of synagogue--when you take into account everyone who's not, that number goes up to as much as 8,000. So at best, this event attracted a grand total of 2% of Nashville's Jewish population, and at worst, 1.25%. I'd say this is less of an Exodus and more of a trickle that can easily be stopped.

But why, my mother then wanted to know, do they support the Republicans?
More on the flip.

In case anyone's interested, I've started the first official "Mike McWherter for U.S. Senate 2008" Facebook group. It's probably way too soon to be doing it, but I figured someone needed to do SOMETHING to encourage him to make the campaign official.

Link...