Tuesday, June 27, 2006

Pratcher out, what effect does it have?

WTL has broken the story of Tyson Pratcher's withdrawal from the 9th district race, and cross-posted at The 'Cue.

I really am not sure what, if any effect it will have. I like him, he was my second choice because he had progressive leanings (his work for HRC not withstanding) but the moment Cohen got in the race, he lost most of his potential support.

Will they be scattered, will they go to Cohen, or will they go to another African-American candidate who is as close to progressive as Pratcher was (and who would that be?)

Tinker is campaigning as a progressive female, but her money sources belie that, Stanton is campaigning as a progressive, while bashing Cohen because he's not a homophobe, Harris is honest and out-front about his leanings, but he is not as progressive as the others, Whitman is an anti-choice progressive (yes, it's possible, I guess), Redwing and the others are just out campaigning hard, period.

Your guess is as good as mine. go read the comments at both posts, and then say what you think!

I'm down until Thursday, aloha!~

6 comments:

David Holt said...

Both of your links go to the 'Cue.

Anonymous said...

Aw, shuckers. Eye feex it for heem heeyer: David Holt's scoop.

Anonymous said...

I'm not happy with his parting shot. It strikes me as ageist.

David Holt said...

That's just cause you're an old coot, my friend.

kibitzer said...

Well, shucks, I think it's fine if you want to credit WTL (a good man and true) with "breaking" the Pratcher withdrawal (and he certainly gave it full attention). But, hey, let's not get carried away. TP went away via an emailed news release!

Desi Franklin said...

Regarding Tyson's ageist comments, as a bona fide old coot myself now, I'm excited about the possibilities his generation offers for moving beyond the racial divisions that permeate everything in Memphis, whether it is politics, (repetitious) demographic patterns, educational choices, social habits, you name it. People my age and older of all flavors can't get beyond the racial divide - it continues to hold Memphis down, and that won't change until there are people who are willing to see things differently. Tyson is one of those people. Mature Memphians, unfortunately, even those with good intentions, keep falling into the traps of distrust and misunderstanding.

So maybe we old coots should pay attention to the ageist criticism and see if we can hear something new that might help us break up the old dynamics and move Memphis forward.

Ok it's past my bedtime so that's it for me.