For post 1100, let's talk about the 9th District

Got here quick from 1000, didn't we?

Now, to some things on my mind. Wendi Thomas, with whom I've not always agreed, wrote a very meaningful column today about the 9th District race between our incumbent congressman, Steve Cohen, and Nikki Tinker.

Wendi goes right after EMILY'S LIST's endorsement of Tinker, given the fact that Tinker has not exactly set the woods on fire with her support of reproductive rights. Here's a taste:

But neither on Tinker's Web site nor on the EMILY's List site does Tinker clearly declare her support for a woman's right to choose. Instead, the EMILY's List site has this from Tinker: "We must do a better job of helping young women avoid pregnancy through education, abstinence, and access to safe, affordable birth control. ... I also support programs to encourage adoption and expand access to prenatal care for poor women."

Contrast that with the quote on the site from another EMILY's List endorsee, Judy Baker, running for a Congressional seat in Missouri: "I will fight to preserve Roe v. Wade's status as established law."

Now, that's the kind of bold stance pro-choice women like to hear, not fence-straddling talk about abstinence education.

Exactly. The simple fact that Tinker has been markedly vague about ALL of her issues (whatever they may be) has turned people off to her campaign. When you have an incumbent (who is tough enough to beat just for that reason alone) who has an impeccable record of service to first his Senate and then his Congressional district, you have to prove malfeasance or dereliction of duty in order to unseat them. Given the fact that he's the hardest-workin' man in Congress, how CAN she do that?

What the hell IS she running on, anyway? Well, besides the obvious. She has apparently come out in support of Mom, Puppies and Apple Pie, but it's hard to find anything on her site besides meaningless platitudes.

Some day, when Steve Cohen has either retired or moved on to high office, we will have an African-American female in the 9th district seat. However, when you have a pool of accomplished Memphians to choose from like Lois Deberry, Barbara Cooper, Deidre Malone, among others, why would you choose Nikki Tinker? Why should she be sent to Congress before one of the aforementioned leaders?

Which is, of course, the point. She may be a nice person, but Tinker is running like she's Junior in a dress, and we've had enough DLC to last a lifetime in TN-09. I believe in the idea of More and Better Democrats, and since A) we already have a Democrat and B) you're not going to find someone who has worked harder in their freshman year than Steve Cohen, we have already achived that goal in TN-09.

If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Oh, and go read all of Wendi's column, it's great!