We use them all the time - our firefighters, police officers and emergency medical service personnel.  Hardly a day goes by that we don't come into contact either directly or indirectly with these hard working public servants.  When we have traffic accidents or emergencies at home or at work these public servants are the first on the scene in our communities.  Often risking their own safety in order to serve the public good, these employees of our cities, states and municipalities deserve to have collective bargaining rights.

Lamar Alexander, TN-SEN, has painted himself as a moderate Senator who takes a stand on the environment. Early on he did vote once or twice against the Bush administration but not in a big long while and that claim is just pure bull-hockey!  He's in the pocket of Big Oil just like Bush, Cheney, Condoleeza and company.  

Follow below to see a few brief cites.  But before you do, put in the back of your mind, this great hope for Tennessee:  Bob Tuke.  Tuke's former head of the Tennessee Democratic Party, led the charge for Vets for Kerry statewide, and headed up Obama's Tennessee effort.  He's a Vietnam vet and has a slim but growing chance.  He needs donations and support.  

The following is an open letter Bob Tuke, a Democratic Candidate running for Tennessee's U.S. Senate against Lamar Alexander, submitted to Huffington Post asking a few pointed questions of his opponent, incumbent Lamar Alexander.  As some of you might know, Bob's a Vietnam War vet, and has been a strong friend of mine as I've seen my two sons serve not one, not two, but three tours in Iraq and have one going back as part of Dick Cheney's IRR Stop Loss program a month shy of the end of his term in the military.

This is a longshot race, and while Lamar paints himself as independent minded and moderate, his voting record shows he is attached to the hip of one George W. Bush and is your classic Roadblock Republican.  

Read Bob's Letter below, and if you're so inclined, donate here at his site, or here at my ActBlue Page.  Lamar is ranked as 12th wealthiest Senator and Tennessee / America has nothing to show for it. He's voted against Veterans, Children, and for the kind of Corporate Welfare that is eliminating the middle class.

Dear Senator Alexander,

I read your "Flat Tax" announcement and I have a few questions.  But before I get to that, I want to look at a few key statistics about the state of our country since you went to Washington:

• Almost 6 years in office
• More than 4,034 Americans killed in Iraq and 29,628 wounded
• $9 Trillion in debt loaded onto our children and grandchildren
• Mortgages being foreclosed upon across America
• Gas prices stuck at more than $3 a gallon - Almost 6 years of blind support for the failed policies of George Bush
• Almost 6 years of silence and benign neglect on health care, education, the economy and energy prices

What a record! And now, in an election year, you propose a sweeping overhaul of the entire tax code via a press release as most Americans file their tax returns.

Talk about your calculating politician... Let me introduce you to Senator Lamar Alexander, the Senior Senator from Tennessee.  

Lamar's a classic "Roadblock Republican," towing the party line and polishing his brown-nose so nicely he was named Party Whip this year.  

He goes along quietly, towing the party line and earlier this year, all the while trying to rebrand himself a moderate, an outsider, and an independent-minded legislator.  

Well, that's just bunko.  Earlier this year, he twice voted against tax incentives for alternative energy production – policies that are critical to energy independence, job creation, and our environment.  Both of these bills failed, unfortunately.

In a classic Bush-lite move, Lamar's introduced the exact same alternative energy legislation – but instead of eliminating corporate giveaways and welfare dollars for Big Oil, he proposes to pass the tab on to our kids. A look at his biggest donors will tell you just whose interests he's protecting.  

    Former Tennessee Democratic Party Chairman Robert Tuke has entered into the 2008 Senate Race against incumbent Lamar Alexander. Currently, Senator Alexander holds a significant fundraising advantage being an elder statesman in the TN Republican Party. Mr. Tuke entered the race officially at the end of February at the behest of national Democratic Party leaders who needed a candidate with the strength and conviction to challenge a well entrenched incumbent.
    Mr. Tuke is a Vietnam veteran and a former Marine officer. Today, he is a successful Nashville attorney and the TN Chairman of Obama for America. He is a man with a significant amount of experience in the fields of healthcare law, national security,and education. Mr. Tuke has every characteristic needed to win, but must have our support.

Current Known Campaign Staff:
Joe Trippi-Political Consultant
Ben Chao-Campaign Manager

Chris Lugo is a peace activist who has been involved in the movement for peace and global justice for twenty years.   As a candidate for US Senate Chris hopes to advocate for the social justice issues that he feels are being ignored by the mainstream media, Republicans, and political insiders including the crisis of poverty in Tennessee, the lack of adequate health care for hundreds of thousands of Tennesseans and the need to end the war in Iraq.  These are just some of the progressive social justice issues which Chris feels have long been ignored by the wealthy and powerful administrators of Congress and the White House.  

Donate Online Via Click and Pledge

Campaign Website for Chris Lugo for US Senate

Let's go to Tennessee, October 5, 2006. When Harold Ford was running for Senate, the TN Republican Party put out this mailer:

This was noteworthy because the Republicans darkened Ford up considerably. The first image below is the source image (from Ford's then-congressional website), the next one is a straight up conversion to black and white. The last is the photo that ran in the mailer.

At the time, state Democratic Party chair Bob Tuke's outrage was noted in the Knoxville News Sentinel:

They have darkened Harold Ford’s image to make a racist statement.

Now people can quibble whether Ford was darkened to make a racist statement, or whether he was darkened to be made "more sinister" (a difference without much distinction in my book), but clearly, the state Democratic Party chief had an appropriate reaction.

It says something ill of us as a society when darkening a person's features makes them look more sinister. And doing that to an African American (or Latino, or Arab, or other darker-skin people) is particularly egregious.

Some may want to explain it away as "business as usual". But in this case, that's not "business as usual" I'm willing to tolerate.

Race tracker wiki: TN-Sen

I'm Bob Tuke and I'm running for Senate in the state of Tennessee. I'm a Marine veteran, lawyer, former Chairman of the Tennessee Democratic Party, and Tennessee Political Director for Obama for America. I'm running to unseat Senator Lamar Alexander and bring change to Washington.

Tennessee deserves a leader who will deliver universal and affordable healthcare; a leader who will invest in alternative energy; a leader who will provide our armed services members with the equipment and services they deserve.

But I'm going to need your help to get there.

This election cycle is about change – and we can sweep new leadership into Washington, even in places where the punditry doesn't think it is possible. While this campaign will be a challenge, I'm in it to win.

As a national chair person with Veterans and Military Families for Progress, mother of two Iraq War vets, and a member of the DNC’s Veterans and Military Families Council, I dearly love my country and believe candidates with strong, sound stances across the gamut of issues deserve our support and will help restore America and the Constitution.

The following military veterans are competing in races where your dollars can make the difference. If you have the resources,please make a contribution to one or all of these worthy candidates.

Disclaimer: My opinions and support in this posting and on this page are completely my own and do not necessarily reflect those of VMFP or the DNC’s VMFC, or even my two fine sons for that matter.

I'm relatively inexperienced at diary-posting so bear with me and follow below to see who I'm shilling for:

Well, at least it's not Harold Ford Jr.

Bob Tuke, a Nashville lawyer and Obama campaign organizer in Tennessee, has apparently changed his mind after announcing late last year he would not run against Lamar Alexander.

While Tuke would be a fine senator, it looks like his chances may be pretty slim. He's not that well known, while Alexander has always been fairly popular across the state.

Just got an email here, and boy is it about time. I have been raising hell for almost a year now that we didn’t have a candidate in the pipeline to go up agaist the Great Nothingness, Lamar Alexander.

We do now. Fella named Kenneth Eaton. I'm far enough away from Nashville that the name didn't ring a bell but evidently he's been politically active--to the extent of running for mayor anyway--for awhile now. It won’t be quite as satisfying as putting a "D" on the seat formerly occupied by Bill "KatKillah!" Frist, (grrr, Harold Ford) but I’ll take Lamar!’s as a consolation prize. Here's what he had to say:

According to the Nashville Post, Democrat Mike McWherter, son of popular former Tennessee governor Ned, won't challenge Lamar Alexander in 2008.  According to the story, he made the decision over the Thanksgiving holiday.  This is bad news for those of us who were hoping Lamar! might be sent packing.  I'm betting this decision has something to do with Lott's decision to leave the Senate and Lamar!'s decision to run for Lott's leadership position.  McWherter might figure that a Senate minority whip would be hard to beat.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I believe that we may have another vulnerable GOP seat in the Senate. Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN) will be an interesting case to watch.

Buried in Newsweek's very recent interview with Idaho Governor Otter is this statement:

We've now got five Republicans [retiring or resigning], and I guess there's a few more that may make a statement, from what [Senate Minority Leader] Mitch McConnell's told me.

Full analysis at Campaign Diaries.

September was a great month for Senate Democrats. Is started with news that John Warner was retiring, featured the endless saga of Larry Craig's guilty plea to lewd behavior, saw another crucial GOP seat open up in Nebraska and was marked with recruitment coups with the candidacies of Mark Warner in VA and Jeanne Shaheen in NH. In fact, the only bad news Democrats are fearing now is that Bob Kerrey might end up taking a pass in Nebraska -- but even there, the fat lady hasn't yet sung.

For the full rankings, go here, to CampaignDiaries.com.

I try not to use "breaking" in blog posts, but this is important.  Conventional wisdom says that there's no way we can defeat Lamar! Alexander and win his Senate seat next year, but there's absolutely no reason to let him win re-election without a fight.  Conventional wisdom also said that George Allen and Conrad Burns were shoo-ins for re-election last year!  People in Tennessee as in the rest of the country are fed up with what's happening in Washington, and you will definitely see that reflected next November.

I am pleased to announce that Mike McWherter, son of popular former Governor Ned McWherter, has formed an exploratory committee and seems all but set to run as the Democratic candidate against Lamar! next year!

Curious as to what the Senate field will look like for this cycle? Well, September promises to reveal much. On top for this coming month:

Alaska

This wasn't supposed to be on the radar, but with the FBI swarming around Sen. Tubes Stevens' house and offices, it's now become a top Democratic pickup opportunity. The DSCC is really hoping that the state's Democratic wunderkind, Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich, will pick up the mantle. The DCCC was also trying to recruit Begich for a race against the equally tainted Rep. Don Young, but they'll probably have to "settle" for someone like House Minority Leader Ethan Berkowitz (which wouldn't be too shabby).

Begich is still mulling the bid, and a decision is expected "in the Fall", though everyone is hoping for a September decision.

Kentucky

It looks likely that Democratic Attorney General Greg Stumbo is our nominee, but Ben Chandler has stoked the flames a bit by saying he hasn't ruled out a run. The CW is that Chandler is waiting for 2010, when he faces either a senile jim Bunning or (more likely) an open seat. But with the GOP's position crashing and burning nationally and in Kentucky, Chandler could deliver a killing blow to the man who has bedeviled Kentucky Democrats for decades.

Nebraska

All eyes are on Republican incumbent Chuck Hagel, who is set to announce whether he runs for reelection, runs for president, runs for both, or retires from politics altogether. If he runs for reelection in the Senate, this race is off the board. No one seems to have the appetite to challenge him. And while he's terrible on just about every issue, he'd be a plus vote on our efforts to end the war. So all wouldn't be bad.

But if he does retire, look for former Sen. Bob Kerrey to make a bid. And if he does, Lieberman will have another ally in the Senate. Is that good or bad for us? The jury would definitely be out. We could also have a contested Democratic primary with Omaha Mayor Mike Fahey in the mix. He'd likely be infinitely better.

New Hampshire

Former Democratic Gov. Jeanne Shaheen will decide whether she's getting in. If she does, she likely clears the field and goes on to defeat incumbent Republican John Sununu by 20 points. It wouldn't even be close.

If she doesn't run (only a 30 percent chance, per the rumors), Portsmouth Mayor Steve Marchand, Lieberdem Katrina Swett, and professor Jay Buckey would fight it out for a chance at taking out Sununu. Any of them would have an even chance to win (but god forbid another Lieberman ally in the Senate), while Shaheen makes it as close as a "done deal" as is ever possible in politics.

New Mexico

So far, the only "serious" Democratic challenger to corrupt Pajamas Pete Domenici appears to be Don Wiviott, an environmentally friendly housing developer. Seems like a nice enough guy, but with no name recognition or electoral experience. He could be a solid candidate (you never know from where the best candidates will emerge), but all eyes will still be on the state to see if anyone higher profile and with more electoral experience enters the mix.

North Carolina

Liddy Dole isn't an electoral tour de force, yet all's been quiet in this state this year. That's expected to change in September as we finally get the candidate who will make Dole fight for her life.

Tennessee

Has Sen. Lamar! Alexander even announced he's running for reelection? There's a persistent rumor in Tennessee that alum Alexander is eyeing the open Chancellor slot at Vanderbilt University. He has done little to distinguish himself as a senator, and the good life as head of an elite Southern educational institution likely suits him better.

If he retires, expect former Rep. and DLC Chair Harold Ford to join the fray. Or maybe not. Ford has his heart set on the Governor's mansion after current Democratic Gov. Phil Bredesen vacates in 2010. The name often bandied about right now as a challenger to Alexander is Mike McWherter, the son of a former popular governor. A McWherter candidacy would kick this race up to the second-tier, with strong potential for top-tier status.

Virginia

It's all about the Warners. If John (R) announces his retirement in September, as expected, then Mark (D) becomes the favorite in what would be a tough but definitely winnable race against Republican Rep. Tom Davis (who is raising money like there's no tomorrow). The wrinkle is that Mark (D) seems more interested in running for governor again, a gig he loved, than in being one of 100 across the river in DC.

Race tracker wiki: AK-Sen KY-Sen NE-Sen NH-Sen NM-Sen NC-Sen TN-Sen VA-Sen