Monday, December 03, 2007
There [Larry Daughtrey] goes again
Regular Creeder Readers will recall that I've taken issue with Tennessean columnist Larry Daughtrey's left-wing hackery many, many times. After reading Mr. Daughtrey's latest piece about Sen. Lamar Alexander, which appeared in yesterday's paper, all I can say is: There he goes again (apologies to the Gipper).
Daughtrey says Sen. Alexander is "lucky" because Jackson businessman Mike McWherter bowed out of next year's race for U.S. Senate. Now, did anyone - except for those on the payroll of the Tennessee Democratic Party - really think that McWherter could defeat Alexander? Anyone who did was suffering from political delusions of the first degree. No neophyte politician, regardless of his or her surname, is going to beat Lamar Alexander, perhaps the most disciplined (not to mention one of the best-financed) politicians in the country.
That said, Daughtrey tells us that Sen. Lamar Alexander's campaigns for U.S. President in 1996 and 2000 were "ill-advised." I'm willing to concede that Alexander should've stayed out of the 2000 GOP primary; however, if political winds had shifted only slightly during the '96 primaries, Alexander very well could have been the Republican presidential nominee (and I'm not just saying such because I was an Alexander supporter in that campaign).
Bill Clinton admitted that Alexander was the Republican candidate he most feared in 1996. And why not? Alexander was a former two-term governor from a Southern state who'd made quite a name for himself as a champion of education reform. Furthermore, Alexander had nary a skeleton in his personal or political closet (which Clinton had to envy). Alexander was climbing fast in New Hampshire in Feb. '96 - even showing up in first place in some polls - until he ran into a blitzkrieg of negative television and radio ads, courtesy of Bob Dole's campaign.
Patrick Buchanan surprised everyone by winning the '96 New Hampshire primary, and Alexander finished less than four percentage points behind Dole for third place. Had Alexander responded to Dole's ads earlier and more effectively, he may have sent Bob Dole into an even earlier political retirement.
Finally, Daughtrey says Alexander faced "two shopworn former congressmen in the GOP primary" in 2002. In that primary, Alexander faced only one former congressman: Ed Bryant. It was Bob Corker in the 2006 campaign who faced off against two former congressmen, Bryant and Van Hilleary.
Daughtrey says Sen. Alexander is "lucky" because Jackson businessman Mike McWherter bowed out of next year's race for U.S. Senate. Now, did anyone - except for those on the payroll of the Tennessee Democratic Party - really think that McWherter could defeat Alexander? Anyone who did was suffering from political delusions of the first degree. No neophyte politician, regardless of his or her surname, is going to beat Lamar Alexander, perhaps the most disciplined (not to mention one of the best-financed) politicians in the country.
That said, Daughtrey tells us that Sen. Lamar Alexander's campaigns for U.S. President in 1996 and 2000 were "ill-advised." I'm willing to concede that Alexander should've stayed out of the 2000 GOP primary; however, if political winds had shifted only slightly during the '96 primaries, Alexander very well could have been the Republican presidential nominee (and I'm not just saying such because I was an Alexander supporter in that campaign).
Bill Clinton admitted that Alexander was the Republican candidate he most feared in 1996. And why not? Alexander was a former two-term governor from a Southern state who'd made quite a name for himself as a champion of education reform. Furthermore, Alexander had nary a skeleton in his personal or political closet (which Clinton had to envy). Alexander was climbing fast in New Hampshire in Feb. '96 - even showing up in first place in some polls - until he ran into a blitzkrieg of negative television and radio ads, courtesy of Bob Dole's campaign.
Patrick Buchanan surprised everyone by winning the '96 New Hampshire primary, and Alexander finished less than four percentage points behind Dole for third place. Had Alexander responded to Dole's ads earlier and more effectively, he may have sent Bob Dole into an even earlier political retirement.
Finally, Daughtrey says Alexander faced "two shopworn former congressmen in the GOP primary" in 2002. In that primary, Alexander faced only one former congressman: Ed Bryant. It was Bob Corker in the 2006 campaign who faced off against two former congressmen, Bryant and Van Hilleary.
# posted by Joltin' Django @ Monday, December 03, 2007 
