From the list below, who would you choose? Or would you name someone else? Let me know. We're really trying to pin down our alternatives here in Tennessee. For instance, should we pull a carpet-bagger, who should it be?
Either way, my questions about Harold Ford as the candidate continue to mount. This diary lists some of the potential candidates and their record where relevant. The list will include:
- Al Gore
- Tipper Gore
- Karena Gore-Schiff
- Gov. Phil Bredesen
- U.S. Rep. Jim Cooper
- State Senator Stephen Cohen
- State Rep. Jimmy Naifeh
- Memphis Mayor Dr. Willie Herenton
- U.S. Rep. Harold Ford
Expanded bios with each potential candidate:
[I won't mention their qualifications for obvious reasons.]
- Al Gore
- Tipper Gore
- Karena Gore-Schiff
- Gov. Phil Bredesen, grew up in upstate New York; BS in physics from Harvard Univ; he and his wife, Andrea Conte, moved to Nashville in 1975, and between research trips to the public library, he drafted a business plan in the couple's small apartment that led to the creation of HealthAmerica Corporation; the healthcare management company grew to more than 6,000 employees and traded on the New York Stock Exchange, selling the company in 1986; a founding member of Nashville's Table, a nonprofit group that collects overstocked and discarded food from local restaurants for the city's homeless population; he founded the Land Trust for Tennessee, a non-profit organization that works to preserve open space and traditional family farms. He ended years of secrecy when he opened the doors to the state's budget hearings, allowing the public to see for the first time how their money is spent.
- Congressman Jim Cooper (5th District)- Rhodes Scholar, JD from Harvard Law School, accomplished deal-maker as U.S. Representative of 4th District from 1982 - 1994, taught healthcare policy to MBA students at Owen School of Management (Vanderbilt U), founder of Brentwood Capital Advisors, voted NO on making it a crime to harm a fetus during another crime, NO on constitutional amendment prohibiting flag desecration, NO on speeding up approval of forest thinning projects, NO on limiting malpractice suits to $250K, NO on limited prescription drug benefit for Medicare patients, YES on allowing reimportation of prescription drugs, NO on reporting illegal aliens who receive hospital treatment, NO on permanently eliminating marriage-tax penalty, Yes on approving removal of Saddam and valiant service of U.S. troops.
- State Senator Stephen Cohen, JD University of Memphis School of Law; established legal practice in 1978 after serving as a legal advisor for the Memphis Police Department; quoted in Time, Newsweek and Molly Ivin's column, and in 1996, had one of the four government quotes of the year, according to Newsweek, and quote of the Day in the New York Times; appeared on the Today Show and other national news and news talk programs regarding First Amendment Issues; senate member of the 93rd through 104th General Assemblies; chair, senate State and Local Government Committee from 1991 to the present; member, Senate Judiciary Committee; member, Senate Transportation Committee; member, Fiscal Review Committee; chair of Lottery Information and Recommendation Committee; Council of State Governments Executive Committee, 2002; National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) Executive Committee member 1998 to present; Shelby County Democratic Party "William W. (Bill) Farris Political Leadership Award", Business Tennessee Magazine "Power 100", University of Memphis Society, "Walter Barret Distinguished Service Award", University of Memphis "Eye of the Tiger Award"; National College Board "Excellence in Education" award, presented at NCSL Convention; Boys and Girls clubs of Tennessee "Legislator of the Year Award"; Knoxville News-Sentinel columnist's "Legislator of the Year"; Tennessee Human Rights Campaign "Public Leadership Award"; TN Pediatrics Society Friend of Children Award; Memphis Arts Council/"Memphis Theatre Award"; Common Cause of Tennessee "Bird Dog Award" for ethics; Unitarian Fellowship Dr. Peter Cooper Award; Tennesseans for the Arts Advocate Award; Community Mental Retardation Agencies of Tennessee Legislator of the Year Award.
- State Representative/House Speaker Jimmy Naifeh, member of St. Matthews Episcopal Church, grad of UTK, businessman, veteran of armed forces, speaker of the house for seven assemblies, majority leader for three, member of board at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, member of board with TN Wholesale Grocers Association, lives in Convington.
- Memphis Mayor Dr. Willie W. Herenton, a Baptist, earned doctorate from Southern Illinois Univ, former superintendent of schools, first mayor in Memphis history to be elected to a fourth consecutive term; made history in 1991 when he became the first African-American to be elected mayor of Memphis; American City & County Magazine, a national publication, recognized Dr. Herenton's outstanding leadership as Memphis's chief executive officer by naming him the 2002 Municipal Leader of the Year; completed the FedExForum, a $250 million, state-of-the-art sports arena; spending $160 million on schools, where every student now learns in an air-conditioned classroom; presides over record economic development with thousands of new jobs and $1.3 billion in downtown redevelopment, over City's first-ever master parks plan, which maps out a $300 million investment in city parks over the next 20 years, over minority economic boom that includes an increase of more than 70 percent in minority business ownership and nearly a 40 percent increase in minority business revenue, and over a fiscally sound City government that has established a surplus and operates within budget annually, resulting in only two property tax increases in 12 years.
- Congressman Harold Ford, a Baptist, JD from Univ of Michigan School of Law, eldest son of former Congressman Harold E. Ford, rejected Florida's electors during 2000 election, member of New Democrat Coalition, Congressional Black Caucus, Blue Dog Coalition (conservative democrats), voted NO on making it a crime to harm a fetus during another crime, YES on banning human cloning, YES on partial-birth abortions, YES on constitutional amendment prohibiting flag descecration, NO on banning gay adoptions in DC, NO on prohibiting needle exchange & medical marijuana in DC, YES on school prayer, NO on Bush's energy policy, YES on speeding up forest-thinning projects, YES on prohibiting suing gunmakers, NO on medical malpractice suits capped at $250K, NO on prescription drug coverage under Medicare, YES on deploying SDI, YES on removing Saddam and military invasion of Iraq, NO on treating religious organizations equally for tax breaks.