Note: I wanted to call this diary "Pay Attention to My State's Fucking Primary, Kos" but I wasn't sure how well that would go over.
So, today was Primary Day here in the great state of Tennessee. We had shiny new electronic voting machines (great for hacking!) and a super fun 12-page ballot, and a good time was had by all. I was the youngest person at my polling place by about 40 years, and I was the only one who didn't need to ask the volunteers ABOUT 50 FRIGGIN TIMES "Now, which button do you push again?"
But the real fun took place tonight, when my mom and I went downtown to LP Field (aka The Colisseum, aka That Place Where the Titans Play) for the Harold Ford, Jr. rally, where he got an endorsement from the man I still consider to be my President, Bill Clinton! More below...
Before I go any further, I should point out that we don't yet know for sure who Ford's challenger is going to be. It's looking like it'll be former Chattanooga mayor Bob Corker, and the Nashville newspaper The Tennessean
is already calling it for Corker. But our ABC affiliate,
WKRN, isn't calling it yet, and they pointed out that with the votes from Memphis not in yet, and with only 50,000 votes between Corker and Ed Bryant, this may not be over just yet. But it doesn't matter, they're both wingnuts.
Anyway, this rally was AMAZING. It was a smaller turnout than I thought it would be, but you would really have to be party faithful to come to something like this. I mean, who wouldn't want to pay $150 (or in my case, student rate of $25) to stand in the 95+ degree heat for three and a half hours and only get to hear the good stuff in the last hour? But my mom managed to get us a spot right in front of the stage. If I had known we were going to be that close, I would have worn a cuter outfit and made a sign for Bill: "Experienced Intern For Hire" (For more on my intern credentials, click here).
But when Bill Clinton came out, you would've thought God Himself had come to visit. I definitely shoved a few people out of the way to shake his hand. Clinton made a great remark about the difference between Republicans and Democrats--they have an ideology, which means they attack you if you question them, and we have a philosophy, which means we accept different evidence and ideas. He repeatedly hammered the Administration, and people kept screaming out "We miss you Bill!" All that in supposedly "red" Tennessee.
And as I've noted before, when Harold Ford talks, he sounds like a very charismatic preacher who can really get the crowd going. I know he's gotten some flak on dKos, particularly over the gay marriage issue. I can't justify that and I won't try. But hearing him tonight, I feel very strongly that he's someone we should all get behind, if for no other reason than to prevent an extremist Rethug from taking this seat. If the Rethug primary was any indicator, this will be a hard fight and will probably get ugly at some point (when it does though, it'll be Corker who starts it, he already created one of the most vicious primaries in recent memory).
So, all jokes aside...please y'all, when the CT primary is over, pay attention to our Senate race down here. Ford's going to need all the help he can get.