The Curious Case Of Jim Cooper
I’ve been watching the drama over the weekend regarding primaring Jim Cooper in Nashville in the 2010 election. Now, don’t get me wrong, I don’t have a problem with any elected official being challenged in a primary. Isn’t that what we are supposed to do? I have sat this morning reading a blog post at Daily Kos (which I admit readily I don’t usually read) as well as the political bloggers across the state (that I usually do read) regarding this issue.
I think there are more dynamics happening in this situation than meets the eye.
The Blue Dog Democrats have had their feet held to the fire by progressives/liberals regarding the health care issue. And I think that it goes without saying that one of them was going to be targeted. As GoldnI wrote in her post, the bottom line is that Cooper (or any other Blue Dog) can answer simply with a yes or no if they support the public option. And, if folks in his district don’t like what he’s doing, then they need to mobilize.
It’s really that simple. I don’t live in Cooper’s district but I do live in Tennessee.
Now, from the national blogs, there has been a lot of, as my dear sweet mother would have said, “talking down to” the Nashville political blogosphere which is about as smart as going into someone’s house and telling them that their wife is ugly and stupid. Of course there was a reaction. Local bloggers basically said “Whoa, what’s going on here?” When they were basically dissected negatively on national blogs, of course they were pissed off. You see, the one thing that I’ve learned the times that I’ve been picked up nationally is that it’s that one or two posts that are read. There are relationships that are bound over time in blogging that gets lost in one issue melees. The whole story of those bloggers’ identity is not seen in situations such as the Jim Cooper spike from yesterday. You can’t get everything from just a couple of posts about a blogger and who they are as a whole, so there is going to be misrepresentation.
With that said, all politics are local in my opinion.
Now, on to why Jim Cooper is the focus. I’m speculating here and I own that. I believe that Cooper is the primary suspect because of his location as much as anything.
Nashville is a huge hub for For-Profit health care industries. It has been for a long time. I’m playing armchair political pundit here, but being that Cooper represents an area that has this dynamic sort of throws up some flags in why he may have gone on the radar of national bloggers.
I’m just saying that could be a factor.
So Cooper has some competition in the upcoming election. So what is my initial response? He will either win or he won’t.
The real face of how health insurance can debilitate a family is what we need to be discussing instead. And it does in different ways for the individual. The healthcare issue is sadly about money, not people.
[...] about Daily Kos as of September 29, 2009 The Curious Case Of Jim Cooper – newscoma.com 09/29/2009 I’ve been watching the drama over the weekend regarding [...]
The numbers indicate that the 5th District would vote for a Democrat more liberal than Cooper. Our pal Ross noted that he thinks Nashville is more progressive than Memphis.
That said, I will ask why this is being done the way it is, which seems to be counter-productive.
It’s a good question, Cracker.
“He will either win or he won’t.”
Such the logical lady. Just another reason I worship the grass between you toes.
Not living in his district, I don’t know what it would take to remove him. I do know that if he stands with Progressives for the Public Option he will win.
The national opposition to Cooper is just like the opposition to Ross, Baucus etc. The majority want a “public option” and they’re standing in the way for money.
I can’t say that opposing the PO will sink his ship. But supporting it will surely keep it afloat.
There may be divisions amongst Dem pols concerning the PO, but the Democratic voters are nearly 100% behind it. That’s what had better be of concern to Blue Dogshits hoping to keep their jobs.
I find it interesting that Cooper is their blue dog of choice right now to go after. I still believe it has to do with Nashville’s health care industry setting.
That may just be me though.
Remember Vibinc’s great work on the Bush Dogs? here’s a refresher: http://www.vibincblog.com/?p=89/
There are several reasons Cooper is a target. First, rightly or wrongly, Cooper is credited with killing healthcare reform in ‘94.
When Cooper came back to Congress in 2002 representing Nashville this time, I doubt anyone blinked, but after Dems retook the House in 2006, many in the national progressive blogosphere were looking for reasons to go after him due to his history on the 94 healthcare bill and several other reasons.
The post that Cracker references is in response to a push by Open Left to alert voters to the records of their Representatives which they called Bush Dogs. The metrics for what is a “Buh Dog” are spelled out on that post.
Obviously, I don’t live and don’t anticipate living in TN-05, but if I did, I would probably want someone to primary him under the right conditions. I wrote about my feelings about the positives and negatives of primaries here.
The problem with a foreign push (a push from outside a district) for a primary is that it gives the incumbent an easy target to direct his ire. As Mark at No Chaser notes, people don’t take kindly to the idea of carpetbaggers, and while any potential primary challenger may be native, Cooper can exploit that perception easily. This will just end up with a, “He may be a douchebag, but he’s our douchebag” sentiment from large swaths of the public.
Finally we have to think about Nashville. Cracker is right, I do think Davidson is more progressive as a county than Shelby, however, Davidson is also the home of the state capital, and as such, has huge armies of establishment sustaining checkbooks that will open like the cave in Ali Baba and the 40 Theives upon ANY primary threat to Cooper.
So, these guys may think they’re doing Nashville a favor, but in reality they’re not doing anyone any favors. We’d be better off trying to get Cooper in the Senate so a more progressive person can take over that seat.
I mean, does anyone think Cooper wouldn’t be better than Corker or Lamar!?
“I mean, does anyone think Cooper wouldn’t be better than Corker or Lamar!?”
True.
On a People First scale of 1 to 10, Corky and Lamar rate -5.
Cooper Scooper is a 1.
Running Cooper against Lamar or Corker is a VERY good idea.
I’d vote for the slob in a heartbeat if he ran against either one of them.
Then we could run a Progressive against Cooper later on.
Works for me.