To give some background from my original diary -
First, let me lay some ground work and go back to the 2006 election that got Mr. Cohen to Washington.
Remember, that in 2006 then-Rep. Harold Ford Jr. decided to run for the Senate. He was going to try and win the seat that the good old Bill "I really am a Doctor" Frist was leaving. As we all remember, out of all of the Democrats that ran to win Republican Senate seats, Harold Jr. was the only one NOT to win.
Harold Ford Jr. took over the TN-09 seat in 1996 from his father - Harold Ford Sr. who held the seat since 1974 (originally the TN-08 seat). So the seat was held for 32 years by a Ford and an African-American.
When Harold Jr. announced that he would vacate the seat to run for the Senate, Steve Cohen put his name in for the Democratic Primary. He won the primary in a crowded field. However, during the Primary battle, many felt that the voters should elect a "Black" candidate because the district was majority African-American. When the white, JEWISH, Steve Cohen won there were many crying "FOUL".
In the general election, Cohen would face Republican Mark White and Independent candidate Ford. FORD?!?! Jake Ford, Harold Jr.'s younger brother.
Quickly lines were drawn. Memphis Mayor Willie Herenton and Shelby County Mayor A.C. Wharton, both African-American and Democrats, endorsed Cohen. However, the Black Ministers Association endorsed Jake Ford. What sold them on Jake Ford. Was it his college education? No because he was in fact a high school drop out. How about his great civic duties? Like his arrests ranging from DUI to assaulting his father.
No, it is very sad to say, but the reason that the Black Ministers Association endorsed Jake Ford over Steve Cohen or Mark White was simply because he was the only "Black" candidate in the race.
When the results came in, it appeared that many in the TN-09 were also able to look pass race as an issue. Cohen won 60% of the vote, Ford 22%, and White 18% of the vote. Cohen collected 60% of the African-American vote.
Now, Nikki Tinker is getting ready to fight Rep. Cohen for the seat again in 2008. She is already getting the support of these so called "men of God" and even Rep. Cohen felt that this meeting was just a set up by them to kick start her campaign.
"I was not treated the way a congressman or an elected official or an invited guest should have been treated," Cohen said afterward. "It was supposed to be my time to come and address this issue. I never expected anything like this."
Cohen later suggested the meeting had been a setup, as a way for Nikki Tinker supporters to gain momentum.
The group stated that they would issue an apology, but their blatant racism is unexcusable and unforgetable.
I feel sorry for Rep. Cohen. Here is a man, born and raised in Memphis, with a voting record in both Congress and the State Houses that shows time and time again supporting minorities and progressive causes. In his first year, he has taken on the Bush Administration as much as a freshman congressman can. Even with all of this, a group of "ministers" want to support a candidate that is not even from Memphis and has never been in politics, simply because she has dark skin.
I am sorry, but there is something seriously wrong in Memphis and I hope that in 2008, the voters see this for the crap that it is.
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