THE 08 ELECTION AS OF 5/17/08; DEMOCRATS MUST UNITE TO WIN by JMRII

THE 08 ELECTION AS OF 5/17/08; DEMOCRATS MUST UNITE TO WIN by JMRII

In early August there will be a General Election for state offices. In Hamilton Co. Democrat Greg Beck is running for Sheriff. We need to support him.

In the primary in Shelby Co. it is urgent to help Rep. Steve Cohen win re election. He is the best of the Tennessee Congressmen. There will be a Democrat against Marsha Blackburn. We need to pick up that seat. Hopefully the opposition to David Davis in upper East Tennessee will be strong because we need that seat. David Davis is the worst of the Tennessee people in the Congress. His Progressivepunch.org rating is less than one per cent.

Our other Democrats who are now in the Congress Jim Cooper, Bart Gordon, John Tanner and Lincoln Davis should have no problem keeping their seats. We need a new Democratic U.S. Senator to take the seat now held by Lamar Alexander. We will know after early August who that will be. Mike Padgett has won local office in the Knoxville area which has never sent a Democrat to the Congress. His strength in that part of the state could mean victory in November if he is nominated.

We are encouraged by the three recent special election victories by Democrats winning old Speaker Hastert?s former seat and the victories in Louisiana and Mississippi where the RNC tried to use Obama as a scarecrow. That may mean that the voters will not believe that kind of nonsense this time around.

The national primaries will be over by June 3 and the super delegates will probably decide soon afterwards. I will support the Democratic nominee in each of these races for November. On June 4 there will be two sets of numbers one with Michigan and Florida and one without. If either candidate is ahead at that time in both categories then the supers will vote for that person. If Hillary leads in the first category and Obama in the second then I hope the supers will go with the totals that include Michigan and Florida.

Either candidate would have a better chance in Michigan and Florida if these two delegations are seated without penalty. Remember that it was Republican Gov. Charlie Crisp of Florida and his Republican legislature who created the mess in the first place. If these two states are punished then it will not only hurt our chances this time but it will encourage the Republicans to pull that same trick again in 12.

The primary contest has made each of the two stronger for the General Election. The attacks against Hillary have simply made her stronger with the blue collar workers. The attacks against Obama have given him a chance to repudiate Rev. Wright early which is better. The Republicans were waiting to come out with this later but now it has been repudiated.

Obama needs to emphasize his Midwestern background and ancestry from his American grandparents Stanley Dunham and Madeleine Payne. He has FFV First Family of Virginia status from Capt Thomas Harris who was a very early settler in Jamestown. He gets that through his grandmother Madeleine Payne.

He has Magna Charta ancestry through both of these grandparents as well as Charlemagne ancestry through both of these. The Magna Charta was the first Bill of Rights in English history. A group of nobles forced King John to sign this document which limited royal power. Saier de Quincy is at least one of Obama?s Magna Charta ancestors. Some of the recent statements by Bush and McCain are ridiculous. His American background should help deflect some of this nonsense.