On this, the first official working day of the Karl Dean mayoral administration, it’s worth recollecting how a liberal, Yankee lawyer ended up winning the Mayor’s race in Nashville, Tennessee.  Now, to be fair, Karl Dean always had a chance at winning the race due to his endless supply of campaign cash.  Dean’s wife is an heiress millionaire and even Dean’s campaign staff and supporters know that his low profile would never had been raised without tons of cold hard cash.  And the voters will be glad that he had it – clearly Dean was the best of the two candidates in the race to actually be able to serve effectively as the mayor.

But the bigger story in the 2007 mayoral race is not that Dean came out of nowhere, but that – simultaneously – Bob Clement, the presumed front-runner, blew an incredible early lead despite huge name recognition.  Clement served 15 years as Nashville’s congressman, as the president of Cumberland University, and as chairman of the old Tennessee Public Service Commission.  Clement also had statewide name recognition from his run for an open U.S. Senate seat in 2002, he served as John Edwards’ campaign chairman in 2003, and he is, of course, the son of one of Tennessee’s most popular Democratic governors.

Over the last few months, you've heard a lot from me about our mayoral election in Nashville.  After the general election in August, we were left with two candidates for the runoff.  

One of them, former Public Defender and Metro Law Director Karl Dean, was an upstart progressive, someone who ran because he truly believed he could move Nashville forward, not because he was a career politician.  The other candidate was former Congressman Bob Clement, a DINO good ol' boy from the Tennessee political establishment.  He bragged about voting for DOMA and the Bush tax cuts while in Congress, and attacked Dean because he had the AUDACITY to do his job as public defender, showing clear contempt for the U.S. Constitution.  Dean was committed to running a positive campaign, while Clement resorted to smears and pandering.

Want to turn Tennessee blue?  It starts right now in Nashville!

We face a classic battle between an old-school DLC candidate (Bob Clement) and a new-blood progressive (Karl Dean) in the runoff for mayor next month.

Don’t care who runs the Nashville Metropolitan government?  Here’s why you should:

Tennessee, like Virginia, is a red state that just needs the right leadership to turn blue.  Our two Senate seats and 11 electoral college votes are not out of reach, if we choose the right candidates and elect the best leaders!  

Mark Warner, Tim Kaine, and Jim Webb have transformed their state into a national battleground for Democrats.  We need that kind of bullpen here in Tennessee!  And electing Karl Dean mayor is a great start.

Democracy for Tennessee held it's bi-annual convention last Saturday, with panel discussions on a wide array of issues, combined with speakers Ned Lamont and Jim Dean, the event turned out great.  Ned Lamont discussed his campaign, as well as the need for more non-politicians to run for office.  He also spoke of his recent trips to El Salvador and how Iraqis can learn a lesson from them.

Tennessee is teetering on the edge of becoming a swing state again.  It’s a very exciting time for our state.  How do we push Tennessee from Red to Purple?

Option #1:  With strong leaders, smart ideas, and persuasive debate.

Option #2:  Dirty, dirty campaigning.  Against fellow Democrats.

If you like Option #2, you’ll love Bob Clement.

I was thrilled to see the enthusiasm for a New York State Senate race on Daily Kos last week, because the importance of state and local races is often undervalued on national blogs.  As we all know, the Netroots played a vital role in assuring a Democratic victory.  And this victory will help shape the future of New York politics for a generation or more.

We have the same opportunity coming up this year in Tennessee.