"Come to Tennessee....

[Soup Bean]

...we're playin' your song....."

[Another Bill C.]

1. I'll be there Wednesday

visiting my Republican daughter and her husband. I don't know where I failed but I love her in spite of it. Maybe I can get her into recovery before there's no going back.

[kitkatrose]

2. Don't worry, it's not your fault.

Sometimes, it just happens. How long has she been a repub?

[Another Bill C.]

4. Since she married one.

That's about 16 years now. But there's always the chance that she's a closet Democrat and puts up a front for the sake of harmony.

[Claire Beth]

10. There *IS* hope...

I used to be Republican but finally saw the truth and won't ever vote republican again. There is HOPE!

[Bolo Boffin]

3. Already here...LOL

Seriously, though, could California or New York spare a few solid Democratic votes? It's crazy here...

[Soup Bean]

5. What's funny about that is.....

...that Tennessee has a Democratic Governor, a House, Senate, and a pretty moderate judiciary. Now, granted, we're still pretty conservative, but it's better than having Mitt Romney for a governor.

[Bolo Boffin]

6. Amen.

Just caught Bredesen on the teevee the other day talking about supplemental tuition assistance for Guardsmen. That's an excellent idea, and I'm glad we've got it up and running here in TN.

[SharonAnn]

14. Technically, the State Senate is Republican 17-16. The rest is Democratic

[SharonAnn]

15. We have a Republican senate. 17-16

[Flirtus]

24. no more, now even split with one ind.

http://www.chattanoogan.com/articles/article_103561.asp

[ermoore]

7. Amen to that . . .

And I wish I could.

[strategery blunder]

8. Invasion of Missourians!

:hi:

[Claire Beth]

9. Hello

I live in Nashville and I'm working as hard as I can to see that Kerry wins the election in November. I hear more and more people who have NOTHING good to say about Bush even here in the south and some who said that voted for him the last time but won't this time. What is the consensus among voters you are hearing from?

[CoonDawg]

11. I live near nashville too...in Lavergne

I too take every opportunity to talk to people about bush's failure to the country and the hope that kerry is offering.

My new slogan...

"No Fear - Kerry 04"

Hey, it's a work in progress, but a counter to the fear mongering of the repubs.

Ernie B.


PS, my bro is a poster here who lives in Oregon. He tried to get me to see the light 3 1/2 years ago, but I was too hard headed then. Shame on me.

[Wcross]

12. Hey CoonDawg, I work in Lavergne,

At the tire plant.

[GeorgeGist]

13. testing

[Jasper Kent]

16. Truth about Tennessee

I've lived in TN all my life (Nashville, Knoxville, Chattanooga, and now Gatlinburg) and it's been my observation that Tennesseans aren't particularly partisan. A lot of Tennesseans call themselves "moderates" or Independents. They don't like extremes and tend to vote for the moderate candidate, whether Republican or Democratic.

Bush is the exception and I'm baffled by the phenomenon. However, there seem to be a lot of disgruntled Bush voters. They're finally realizing that he is not moderate nor conservative, but a radical, reactionary warmonger who is also fiscally irresponsible.

I'd like to see more support for Gore in his home state, but there is an inherent distrust of him because he grew up in Washington, DC. Thus, he's seen as "one of Them" rather than "one of Us."

If Gore can shake that image, get back to his roots, and appeal to TN voters, he has a real chance of winning the Presidency again and making it stick this time.

Peace&Love,
Jasper Kent

"First God made the Idiot. This was for practice. Then he made the School Board." -- Mark Twain

[southerncrone]

17. I also have lived in TN all my life

(Chattanooga, Cookeville, Nashville, Tullahoma, Dickson) & I agree w/you about TN voters not being partisan. The only explanation I have for the Bush elections is mind control orchestrated by the Christian Evangelical & Pentecostal churches. The separation of church & state when out the window since 1994. We must convince these folks that the Repukes do not have the market cornered on Christianity.
Gore does need to spend more time here, but I believe he made a few believers when he taught at MTSU a few years ago; the students loved him. He needs to loose the stuffed shirt image as well. People relate to him when he lets his hair down & just acts natural. I would like to see him run, but if not, I'll put my support behind Kucinich, Edwards, Obama, or Clark.
H*ll, anybody is an improvement over what we have now!

[SharonAnn]

18. Hmmm, where I live, it's extremely partisan. East Tennessee, strongly Republican.

Absolutely wouldn't vote for any candidate but a Republican.

For many, the best you can hope for is that if they're disgusted with the GOP candidate, they'll stay home and not vote.

Party affiliation is something inherited, like the color of your hair and eyes. It's also something taught, like your religion. Double whammy.

I was talking with someone here who's upset about our new county mayor (GOP) and his anti-democratic policies that he's trying to implement. Shutting off access to all public records is part of it.

There was a good Dem running against him with an "Open Gov't" platform. The person wanted the opponent, who lost, to fight for open records. I told here that would be hard to do because the GOP candidate won and he was in charge. She was very impressed with the Dem candidate and knew that was the kind of county mayor she wanted. I asked who she voted for and she gave me a funny look and said, well we're Republican so I voted Republican.

I told nicely that she got what she voted for.

[southerncrone]

19. Yes, I know East TN is sadly entrenched in RED

My college roommate was from Kingsport, was & is, blind to anything other than Repub. mantra. That is one of the reasons East TN "glows in the dark" from so much nuclear activity & highly polluting industries. I''m not sure how that Repub. hold can be broken, but any inroads are an improvement. Maybe not voting is the best we can do.

[aintitfunny]

20. I was born and raised in Johnson City

my mother, also born in JC, still lives there. My father was from the Bronx and was a Teamster exective. I was raised Catholic and Democratic, both of which made me an outsider of sorts. I was quite active in politics from an early age. In those days we would joke that we had to hold our Demo meeting in a phone booth.

I left more than 30 years ago and figured there would be some changes - but I guess not much - too bad.

[southerncrone]

21. Was in JC in Oct.

My daughter was looking at ETSU. I thought JC was a really nice town, thought I might be able to live there, except for the Rethugs. But I have to deal w/them where I am, too. I too was raise Catholic & Dem in East TN (Chattanooga). It was difficult being viewed as "different", but I think it helped me in my adult life be more compassionate & deal w/independent thought. Where are you now?

[aintitfunny]

22. I attended ETSU, back in the day

I paid to have bright orange Impeach Nixon stickers made and droppped them from the Arts building to passerby below. College was better then high school, but I generally did not mind being different, in many ways it was a relief! I was the only admitted Catholic in my high school. Once,in Gym class, standing there in the awful gym outfits they made you wear a girl approached me cautiously. She said, "I hear you are a Catholic, is that true?" I said yes, and then she asked, in all seriousness "Are you a nun?" I said yes.

I now live in Baltimore, Maryland - not the city the burbs in a place called Catonsville. Catonsville is a little purple, but the state in general is blue, and I like that. I lived in Miami for 10 years after leaving East TN. Or Upper East Tennessee as we always called it. :)

[southerncrone]

23. ROFL!

:rofl:

I remember those gym outfits! God awful!
How funny she accepted that you were a nun! When she found out different, she probably thought you were the devil, like most of the Protestants thought!

I am no longer associated w/Catholic church. When Vatican II came along, I found it hypocritical & left at the ripe age of 14. My parents were divorced & excommunicated already, so no biggy.

[AshevilleGuy]

25. ETSU!! Me, too!

I was there 1967-72, again 1986-88, and taught there 1990-95. It was great back in the 60s, an actual party school, although we didn't get much studying done. It was a fairly decent town in which to live back then, but now it's just empty and grim. The downtown is literally empty - you can drive through on a Saturday night and there is NO ONE on the streets, and nothing there to do anyway. Campus as well; students leave for weekends, who can blame them?

It's a shame, but I can still remember the good times, anyway. I live in Asheville now, it's quite different.

[aintitfunny]

26. Just missed you!

I was a freshman in 1973. Left JC as a resident in 1978.

I remember going downtown as a child all dressed up in dresses and black patent leather shoes to go shopping, and always stopping for at least a fountain soda at the Woolworth. You are right, I always take a spin around "downtown" when I visit and it is pretty sparse.

[southerncrone]

27. As fate would have it,

we are the same age. ETSU was my second choice for college. I came close to going there, & I bet we would have been friends! I instead went to Tenn. Tech. & had a very good experience there. Did you know a blonde girl at ETSU that was 2-3 yrs. younger named Standridge? I was in school w/her brother & sister at Tech. Just wondering?

:pals:

[aintitfunny]

28. No, I cannot recall, but then

I lived at home while going to school there. Outside of attending classes and writing a political column for the college paper, I was not involved in campus life.