Tennessee Dem Party Leaders: "Obama May Be Terrorist Connected"
It's easy enough to understand the reasons most politicians give for not wanting to endorse their party's nominee. It's not very easy, though, to understand reasons tied to the kind of ignorance that would lead state officials to publicly repeat rumors about their party nominee's alleged ties to terrorists:
"I'm not sure we know enough about him. He's got some bad connections, and he may be terrorist connected for all I can tell. It sounds kind of like he may be."
That's what Fred Hobbs, a Tennessee Democratic Party Executive Committee member, told the City Paper when asked about the reluctance of Congressman Lincoln Davis to endorse Obama.
According to the article, Hobbs then added that he was skeptical of Obama himself and said that he does not approve of some of the things Obama stands for.
The City Paper reporter, John Rodgers, says Davis was unavailable for comment. When I called Davis's congressional office this morning, his staff said that he had not yet spoken with them regarding the matter. They were unable to make any statement or comment. According to the congressman's McMinnville office in Warren County, Davis is presently on the road doing "county visits."
Davis Chief of Staff Beecher Frasier attempted to clear up the matter but only added fuel to the fire. City Paper's Rodgers asked point blank whether he, Beecher Frasier, believed Obama had ties to terrorists. Frasier responded saying that he "didn't know for sure" whether Obama was "terrorist connected" but that he assumed not.
Tennessee Democratic Party Communications Director Wade Munday issued an official response, blaming the statements and the sentiments behind them on Republican efforts "to turn internet smears and highly offensive gossip into the [Republican] message against Senator Barack Obama." Munday's release assures readers that the Democratic Party of Tennessee is united behind the party nominee. The Democratic Party office told me that Fred Hobbs had apologized and would be voting for Obama.
Clint Brewer, the editor of City Paper, was nevertheless clearly vexed that Davis would not issue a formal response on the comments made by Chief of Staff Frasier. After all, three ranking figures in local Democratic politics had given voice to concerns widespread in the area.
Today, as this story is being published, Beecher Frasier has issued a formal statement for the press: "No one in their right mind, including me, believes Senator Obama has ties to terrorism. It is truly ridiculous for anyone to try to make hay out of these comments."
But City Paper reporter Rodgers and editor Brewer are adamant. Brewer said he and Rodgers "stand by this story," certain that the tone of Frasier's comments was portrayed accurately.
While Obama won the primary vote in the well-educated, affluent Williamson County area, he lost terribly in the rural surrounding areas of Tennessee. In rural Hickman County, for instance, he received only 14 percent of the primary vote.
Email campaigns voicing such allegations are well-known in that part of Tennessee. Some of the emails allude to Manchurian conspiracies while others repeat allegations that have long been debunked by mainstream media. It has been difficult even to keep up with much less refute the online campaigns being waged against Obama in the region.
The City Paper article appeared, in fact, the day after the Obama campaign released a new website, Fight the Smears, designed to combat allegations such as these and the suspicions they have given rise to.
Rep Davis (D) faces a Republican challenger this November in this very conservative district. He also plans to run for governor in 2010. Beecher Frasier is a former adviser to Harold Ford Jr. He was a strategy consultant in Ford's losing bid for Bill Frist's Senate Seat against Bob Corker. Some Democrats have accused Frasier of throwing the liberal wing of the party under the bus.
Tennessee is called the Volunteer State because of its large number of volunteers for the War of 1812 and the Mexican War, and the state still boasts some of the highest numbers of military recruits in the country. Davis's district borders the Fort Campbell area, a major military base and launching pad for troops being sent overseas. Many families in the area have a personal stake in the war in Iraq and Afghanistan and hold some of the most conservative positions on foreign policy.
Follow Dawn Teo on Twitter: www.twitter.com/dawnteo
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You know, its bad enough that he has to deal with smears from REPUBLICANS...but fellow democrats??? Jeez. Why do these guys even call themselves democrats??? Why are they watching Fox News??? Where can I go to send a disgruntled email to these yahoos???
Think there is a lot that isn't known completely about Obama and that might be because of this particular problem, viewing someone who was born to a Muslim father and attending Muslim schools as a youngster with his half-brother, Malik, whom Obama has yet to acknowledge. Until he attended Jerimaih Wright's church and "accepted Christ" Obama was at least a Muslim; must have been about 26, after law school. But it is the not knowing and the denying that makes his early upbringing a problem for Obama, at least in my book.
Actually his mother was an atheist. The school he attended was actually affiliated with the Catholic church when he went to school there, and so he attended catechism class. From what I understand it is now Muslim, but that is now, not when he attended. You only hear what you want to hear, and believe what you want to believe. I personally don't care what you believe in. It should remain separate from the way you govern. Look what that got us the last 8 years.
I think there is alt you need to learn, pal. A muslim? What email smear you hear that from? You know, I am learning why Bush has gotten away with his crap these past years: Because most Americans are total idiots, retards, and rumor-mongers.
...and this Wallace-Reagan Democrat not only wants to return to Congress but become Governor ?
I am guessing that he also believes Eve was made from Adam's rib, the Earth is flat, New Orleans was flooded by Katrina due to God's wrath over the scheduling of a gay pride parade and that Iraq attacked us on September 11th.
This is one guy who needs to be denounced and repudiated by the Tennessee Democrat Party.
I have just contributed more to Obama. He will need it AND when he wins, this country will have taken one large step forward, away from this hate speech and racism.
Isn't this Al Gore's home state? Geez, this guy is an idiot.
Note to the GOP, it is your boy George W. Bush — THE SHRUB — Whom has/had serious ties to the Bin Laden family via the Carlyle Group. Look it up bubbas in Tennessee before you call the kettle black.
Today's update: the TN DP has added a message on their homepage supporting Senator Obama and criticizing Mr. Hobbs as "misinformed."
And this statement appears "below the fold" meaning you have to scroll down on the homepage to find it.
"I'm not sure we know enough about Fred Hobbs. He's got some bad connections, and he may be terrorist connected for all I can tell. It sounds kind of like he may be."
I AM sure I know enough about this CLOWN! He's got some bad connections in his brain, and he may be racist connected for all I can tell. It sounds kind of like he may be.
You can't fix stupid.
Good Old Tennessee - where ignorance is bliss. Where people chose to believe what they want instead of what is true.
I'm still waiting for a country song that exploits Obama's terrorist ties. ;)
OMG Can someone from the Democratic Party in Washington make an emergency mission from god trip down there to give these morons a clue? Please!
These MORONS from TN need to be VOTED OUT OF OFFICE.
I live in Hickman County, and I was one of two people in the entire county that voted for Dennis Kucinich in the primary. I am on the wrong side of Highway 100- which disects the county- so I am represented by Republican Marsha Blackburn. You would not believe the lengths local politicians will go to in order to pander to their conservative constituants. For instance, my State Senator (a Democrat) introduced a bill this year which would allow licensed gun owners to carry them into bars and restaurants.
It gets increasingly hard to vote for even the Democrats here. There often isn't a lot of difference in the candidates of the two parties. It was very hard to vote for Harold Ford for the U.S. Senate, considering his conserative background, and I am not sure I can do it again (if given the option).
I'll be at a Democratic Heritage Day Dinner this evening, and Lincoln Davis will be there- as will many of the party leaders. I was kind of dreading it, but now I look forward to hearing how they plan to dig out of this mess.
Unfortunately, I am afraid many of them fail to see the harm that has been done here.
See Dawn Teo's Profile
Hi TennTom, I am the author of this piece, and I grew up on the other side of that highway. I would be very interested in hearing about tonight's dinner if you'd like to share. Feel free to email me at dawn@rightoffcenter.com
Dawn - " special kind of ignorance", I like that and it's true. I grew up in Tallahassee, Fl, which is about 35 milles from the Ga. line. It is very southern and I know some of thsoe kind of people. I was talking to a woman the other day and she said that she thought the south won the civil, until she learned differently in junior high school. Now that says something. You can't change these people, they just die off.
Tenn Tom. I admire your progressive efforts in the area. But I'm pretty sure tis one of the handfuul of states that we have to write of as permanently red for the next ha;f-century at least. It's nigh impossilbe to change the minds of a populace (and their leaders) who are so woefully ill-informed.
I moved to east TN from MI right before the 2004 election. TN politics, especially the eastern side, is a story all in itself. Good Democrats have to run as a Republican and change their values to even have a chance in a local or state election = this includes County judges. Wearing a Kerry/Edwards t-shirt I encountered my personal political TN nighmare. A woman approached us in the parking lot of Lowes, asked if I could please explain WHY I supported Kerry, I spoke, and as I began she dropped to her knees! She began loudly praying for me...asking that I find the way from my "baby killing". I was shocked.
2004 and 06 (certain it will happen this Nov too) the day before election in Nov...the church lawn's are adorned with white crosses (100's of crosses) and signs with a count of aborted deaths....the polls close and the signs are taken down and packed away for another 2 years.
Davis and Hobbs are just bigoted snobs in Dems clothing
Wolves amongst sheep, lay in wait for something to eat
Along comes Obama and lo and behold -- fear and loathing
Davis and Hobbs are compromised wolves of deceit
Davis and Hobbs showed their true stripes
Now we can see who is on the menu,
Davis and Hobbs differ little from some on the Right
They sing the same song, but in a different venue
Davis could not be reached for clarifying comment
Is he in the forest with a white hood on, sitting in a tent
Perhaps he is meeting with the terrorist group the KKK
Part of the planning committee on how to make Obama go away
Idiots on the Left and idiots on the Right
America in the middle, struggling for life
Idiots on the left and idiots on the right
A marriage of evil, a hating husband, and a scandalous wife
Change the channel; turn down the volume of despair
Get your brain to channel love, respect, and care
We cannot afford opinions like those of Davis and Hobbs
Idiot on the Left, idiot on the Right, doing a pis poor job
Meanwhile America goes a slipping and a sliding
Right and left need a spanking forget a firm chiding
For that will not work, they will not listen
It seems that the idiots on the right and left
Have made destroying America their mission
Coming from a state that believes that Jeebus was tall and slim with blond hair and blue eyes, I would think nothing less of them.
They raise nice horsies though. Giteeup.
what is this concept of the party? i mean i understand dissenting when u just know in ur heart something is wrong but repeating hearsay with "kinda sounds like" against the party's highest stakes candidate, when u hold an official elected post through that party and then feigning ignorance (because they do this clearly to pander to the local conservative electorate) and giving ammunition to the republicans? DNC needs to get some spine and call its officials on unsubstantiated smears and faux soul searching in public.
I think I read on the internets that Tennessee believes the sun revolves around the earth and that Jesus sent down Bush to take care of "dem der muslims". It's an internet rumor so you know...
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