This morning the Nashville City Paper did a story on how Congressman Lincoln Davis has not endorsed Barack Obama yet. Bolgia7 posted a diary on this and highlighted a quote from Fred Hobbs, a state party officer, who said that Obama "may be terrorist connected". For those of you from Tennessee, you'll know that this kind of idiotic comment is not surprising from our state party officials. It's the reason why Tennessee Democrats can't seem to make any gains while the rest of the country does.
But the more important quote in this article comes from Beecher Frasier, Congressman Davis' Chief of Staff:
His (Davis') chief of staff, Beecher Frasier, said he doesn’t know for sure if Obama is "terrorist connected" but he assumes he’s not.
One thing to know about Beecher Frasier. In 2005, he conducted a smear campaign against the Democracy for America organization in Tennessee, saying that they and Howard Dean were a threat to the Democratic Party. Frasier tried, unsuccessfully, to accuse DFA members from going on local radio shows in East Tennessee to talk down his boss, Congressman Davis. When Frasier brought his accusations to the state party Chairman, Bob Tuke (now running for U.S. Senate), Tuke investigated Frasier's claims and found them to be complete lies. It should be noted, too, that Beecher Frasier was a key figure in Harold Ford Jr.'s campaign for Senate in 2006. Insiders say that Frasier repeatedly advised Ford to run to the right and throw the liberal wing of the Party under the bus. You'll remember that Ford lost very narrowly - possibly because of this strategy - making Tennessee the only Democratic Senate seat that the Party lost in '06.
Remember. Lincoln Davis is planning on running for Governor of Tennessee in 2010. Beecher Frasier will almost certainly be his campaign manager and if Davis wins, he'll be a key advisor - if not the Chief of Staff or Deputy Governor - in a Davis administration. Do we want a know-nothing loser who uses Republican talking points to attack the presidential nominee to have such a strong influence on Tennessee's possible future Governor?
Call Davis' D.C. office now at 202-225-6831 and let Beecher Frasier know about who Senator Barack Obama is - he clearly thinks that "terrorist connections" are part of Obama's resume.