Obama Responds To Race-Baiting Tennessee Dem Ad

Barack Obama sent out a statement on very negative, offensive ads put out by Democratic primary challenger Nikki Tinker against Rep. Steve Cohen in today's Tennessee primary:

"These incendiary and personal attacks have no place in our politics, and will do nothing to help the good people of Tennessee," Obama said. "It's time to turn the page on a politics driven by negativity and division so that we can come together to lift up our communities and our country."

TPM reports that one of the ads -- which attacked Cohen for visiting "our churches" while opposing school prayer -- has been taken off Tinker's YouTube account. Another ad juxtaposed Cohen with a member of the Ku Klux Klan.

Cohen is a white Congressman in a district that is 60% black. He won the primary in 2006 when the top four black candidates (Tinker among them) split the black vote.

Comments

[sa]

i was never into politics until bush took (stole) office.

since then, like a hollywood movie, i've rooted for "the bad guys"
to be killed or brought to justice. because of this, i often ended up
on c-span - although it is often curiously interrupted overseas,
from where i watch.

but in judiciary, congressional, and senate hearings, i came to know
some of the great politicians - leaders, in america. of these, i couldn't
wait to see steve cohen of tennessee and sheldon whitehouse of rhode island.
these guys were smart, cool, and totally on the money. they were after the
bad guys with smarts and cools. it was better than hollywood because it was
real and it was live - unless sudden and mysterious "technical difficulties" would
arise (or in one case - a sudden break cut to a live karl rove speech - i'm not kidding).

anyway, these guys are the future of america,
if america is to have a future.

steve cohen of tennessee.
sheldon whitehouse of rhode island.

great stuff. people all over the world appreciate you.
you are the good guys. you give me hope in america.

[memphispaul]

Heck, even with the hoopla Steve Cohen did better against his primary opposition than Marsha Blackburn did against hers in TN-7. And Marsha's opposition was largely unfunded and unknown.

[BEHM777]

What goes around comes around. Ms. Tinker KNOWS better than to do what she did.

BEHusseinM777

[JUSTME]

I think Ms Tinker might want to consider switching party affiliations and going to work on the McCain campaign. They love her kind of sass and initiative over there--or so I imagine..

[belief08]

She can take Clinton with, birds of a feather.

[CindyM2008]

Tinkers nasty antics did not work. Cohen won with 79% of the vote. Tinker only got 19%.
Congrats to Cohen.

[bosshogg]

i lived in memphis and she was and is an embrassement.. i'm black and others in the black community liked cohen so i'm sure when tinker made that comment she made things worst for herself.... oh it didn't help when OBAMA CONDEMNED HER......................

[CindyM2008]

THANK you Memphis (spelled wrong above)

[CindyM2008]

Wait, so you mean all black people are not monolithic? That they don't all just look at skin color, but take ISSUES and character into consideration??? Gee, someone should call the news and tell them!
(sarcasm)

Thak you Memphis!

[Daniboy]

I thought only Repubs were racists!

[PKSSK]

She is republican corporate labor attorney supported by the GOP running as Dem (DLC/Blue dog). That is why she used the race card of fear.

[JiminNC]

No Danni sweetie, there are a few democrats with republicitis.

[Northlite]

Anybody know who won? Tinker of Cohen? I noticed that the polls closed at 7:00PM. We should know! Help!

[CindyM2008]

Cohen won.

[Bel4life]

I was irritated by this story.

First of all, Obama has NO business dipping himself in local politics.

Polling has shown that Democrats across the country are much more favored than Republicans.

The local politicians should be left to dictate how best to run their campaigns (negative or not). They are not accountable to Washington or Presumptive Nominees.

What irritated me most about this story is that at this moment when Obama should be using all the fighting words in the English Language against John McCain, he is largely lame. Yet, he is not averse to "kicking his own side" strongly and decisively.

Obama needs to make up his mind; you can't be "skinny and tough" to your allies, but give your opponents a free ride because you are afraid of them.

He should keep his nose out of other people's campaigns, and stick to his own.

[TrueIndy08]

I think as an AA he needs to step in.... he is running for the highest office of the land... and if he sits back and allows this type of nonsense to go on, even at the local level, that says something about his character...

We don't want it done to him, so we should definitely not allow this to be done to the other side....

crawl from under your rock.... RACISM is RACISM.. no matter what side it is coming from!

[roshni]

Disagree - as a matter of principle, race-baiting and religion baiting is wrong regardless of the person doing it.
Obama was absolutely correct and consistent to deplore this behavior.

[Janco54]

As the current leader of the Democratic party, not only should Obama "dip" himself into a local political race, he is obligated to do so.

Obama is attempting to change the face of politics in a very real way and this is the proof. He's not just talking about the potential changes, he's implementing them.

[nellie]

On the contrary, I like the down-ticket solidarity. It's a good strategy.

[PAposter]

Why would you be outraged when on Democrat, asks another Democrat to do the right thing? Fear mongering is a tactic of the Republicans (but you know that, huh?), they can have it, we don't need it.

[CindyM2008]

I guess us democrats should just be quiet when we see something wrong and divisive occur. Particularly when it goes against the ideals of the party.

[lisaintexas]

Really awful ad. And Tinker was supported by EMILY's List. I sent them an e-mail yesterday saying how appalling I found the ad and that I was surprised that they had endorsed and supported her. I did get a response - not form letter - and Ellen Malcolm, president of Emily's list has spoken out strongly against the Tinker ads. "We were shocked to see the recent ads run by the Tinker for Congress campaign. We believe the ads are offensive and divisive. EMILY's List does not condone or support these types of attacked.

Go Cohen - Tinker find another job.

[JonStewart4President]

Good for him. Bigotry is all of our problems and it's never right. It hurts us all and is never acceptable no matter who is doing it.

Kudos to Obama for standing up about this.

[guntotinganglion]

"It's time to turn the page on a politics driven by negativity and division so that we can come together to lift up our communities and our country."

Good luck with that strategy. There are criminals destroying this country, and what they've done needs to be exposed, negativity or not. And division (as in "divide and conquer") is a permanent plank in the eternal Republican platform. They will never change. And they relish having someone come into their playpen who'll attempt to take the high road. They'll be flinging their simian feces before you can say JAIL TO THE CHIEF (am I being negative?)!

[Georgiapundit]

Today is election day in memphis...

Raw Video: Cohen throws man out of his home...police called
http://www.wreg.com/

[Georgiapundit]

Ouch! This woman is tougher than Hillary. Have you seen some of her ads? Of course you won"t be able to find the one referenced above, I"ve looked. If you have a link for the ad mentioned above, PLEASE post it.

Tinker actually has a shot at un-seating the incumbent Cohen with the swell of black voters in Memphis. If she can get them out along with a few Jew haters, she just might win and make history in the state of Tennessee. Go figure.

This Tinker ad is pretty interesting
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ss9fECTDYac

[goldnchyl]

hmmm, tough is not the word that comes to my mind

[roshni]

I think you underestimate black voters if you think they would respond to this filth.
Blacks, Jews, etc are not monoliths and they can recognize deplorable behavior.

[zoozey]

Rep. Cohen endorsed Obama a long time ago, when lots of southern Dems were being wishy washy, and afraid of the Clintons. He has done a fine job in the short time he has been in office. He is more liberal than his fore-runner, Harold, Ford, Jr. He is no "old time" conservative southern, white Dem--but seems to be a real progressive. That is the thing that people don't understand about the new white southern Dems: think Jimmy Carter, Al Gore, for an example of what the south can offer.

I hope the good people of Memphis turn out for Cohen today.

[neesy08]

I heard about this on KO's show last night. As a African-American I can say my mouth dropped to the floor when I saw who was responsible for this ad: a African-American woman! Appalling!! Absolutely appalling! I nearly cried! This is disgraceful! If anybody should no better, it is Ms. Tinker! I would no more vote for her than i would David Duke! I do not see any difference between them.

She needs to loose, and I hope she does! I do not care that O sent her a note! He should not have had to write a note to a black person chastising them for such a prejudicial ad! After all we have been through, a black person is the last person to make such statements

[roshni]

As I said above, those who think African Americans would vote for this filth are not with it.

[uheardme]

Calm down. It's ok.

Memphis folks will vote for the pol that best represents their interests.
As an aside, Senator Obama shouldn't have to write this woman a note. The man IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR EVERY BLACK PERSON IN AMERICA. He should have stayed out of this race unless he wanted to endorse someone.

[CindyM2008]

I agree.

[clearthinker2008]