With Clinton and Obama still neck and neck, and with the gold ring still eluding McCain’s grasp, the national results were a wash. (Things were a wash in storm-tossed Shelby County, too, of course.) Before the voting, there were clear and
obvious meta-texts to the choosing-up-sides that went on amongst local
political figures.
Nowhere was this more obvious
than in the choice confronting 9th District Democratic congressman
Steve Cohen, who was personally attracted to the candidacy of Illinois
senator Barack Obama but owed a personal debt to former president Bill
Clinton, husband of New York senator Hillary Clinton. And Senator
Clinton, entering this week’s Super Tuesday showdown, was running neck-and-neck
with Obama in most polls.
What Bill Clinton had done for
Cohen was make a point of recognizing him in the audience and citing him in a
complimentary manner before the large crowd attending the former president’s
local appearance in 2006 on behalf of then-Senate candidate Harold Ford Jr.
Inasmuch as candidate Ford’s
brother Jake Ford was just then running as an independent congressional
candidate against Democratic nominee Cohen and no advance provision had been
made for Cohen’s participation in the Clinton visit, the former president’s
action had in effect canceled out a de facto embargo against Cohen.
Fade to the present: Cohen,
whohas maintained his friendly relationship with Bill Clinton, had long
respected Hillary Clinton as a political figure, as well, but not only was he
inclined toward Obama already, he was aware of some obvious ethnic realities.
Having been elected two years ago in an overhwhelming African-American district,
he has paid special attention to the needs of his black constituents – both in
his hiring practices and in his legislative priorities.
Cohen’s voting record as a
state senator had always been positive on issues relating to civil rights and to
bread-and-butter issues affecting blacks, but as a congressman he redoubled his
efforts in that regard – sponsoring a congressional resolution to apologize for
slavery, for example, and working hard to get federal funding for historically
black LeMoyne-Owen College, among other initiatives.
None of that, even coupled with some high-profile
endorsements from the black community, had daunted the intentions of his 2006
runner-up, Nikki Tinker, a corporate lawyer and an African American, from
running against Cohen, however, and the realities of his imminent reelection
race also bore on his endorsement decision, most likely.
In any event, Cohen bothered to consult with former
president Clinton, who in effect chose not to pressure the congressman. Finally,
on Monday of this week, on the very eve of Super Tuesday, Cohen made his
decision.
At a press conference at Obama’s local Eastgate
headquarters, Cohen called the 2008 presidential election “the most important”
in his lifetime and said Obama would be a departure from politicians who were
“too cozy with lobbyists and special interests.” He compared Obama’s
inspirational qualities to those of John F. Kennedy and also likened the
Illinois senator to both Robert F. Kennedy and former president Clinton.
Obama and the ex-president were the two “most charismatic”
political figures in his memory and the two most able to synthesize and
articulate issues, said Cohen, who noted pointedly, “Barack Obama is the only
one on the ballot tomorrow.”
The congressman was joined at the endorsement ceremony by
the Rev. Keith Norman, the chairman of the Shelby County Democratic Party, who
had said earlier that his endorsement of Obama came from “Pastor Keith
Norman, not from Chairman Keith Norman.”
Before introducing Cohen, Norman had made a brief statement
of support for Obama, concluding, “Hope is my choice, and therefore I’m here
tonight to make Barack Obama my choice for president.”
Senator Clinton, of course, was also the beneficiary of
some important local endorsements – e.g., those of Memphis mayor Willie
Herenton and former city council member Carol Chumney last week and
current councilman Myron Lowery this week.
LOCAL REPUBLICANS WERE NOT WITHOUT QUANDARIES as Super
Tuesday approached, either. One such was former GOP national committeeman
John Ryder, who had first been attracted to the candidacy of
ex-Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney but became one of the legions of
Tennessee Republicans who ended up backing favorite son Fred Thompson
when the ex-Tennessee senator entered the race last year.
After running what by general consent was one of the
weakest presidential races ever by a ballyhooed contender, Thompson, winless in
several primary contests, withdrew two weeks ago. Ryder, however, still voted
for him on election day this week.
Why? “Because I wanted some of his delegates to go to the
convention,” said the veteran Republican pragmatically. (Slates of local
delegates appear on the ballot for each of the contending candidates.)
The reality was, too, that Republicans like Thompson and
Democrats like former candidate John Edwards, who also withdrew before
Super Tuesday, had already received a number of votes from early voters – a fact
likely to skew the results here as elsewhere.
ALMOST OVERLOOKED IN THE ATTENTION paid, locally as well as nationally, to the presidential race has
been this week’s primaries for two countywide offices. Democrats had one
contested race, and Republicans had one.
The Democratic primary
for General Sessions Court clerk was contested between businessman Otis
Jackson, who was the favorite because of name identification from several
prior races, and lawyer Jerome C. Payne. Republican incumbent Chris
Turner was unopposed in his primary.
In the race for Shelby
County assessor, Democrat Cheyenne Johnson, who is currently chief
administrative aide to outgoing clerk Rita Clark and has the incumbent’s
support, was unopposed. There were four Republicans running for th eir party’s
nomination – businessman Bill Giannini, the current Shelby County
Republican chairman and the favorite; Betty Boyette, a veteran of
previous county employment; John C. Bogan; and Randy Lawson.
Inasmuch
as these words were written before complete voting results can be tabulated, the
form sheet could certainly be upset (right, Patriots fans?), but advance
thinking cocnerning the August general election was that Jackson would be
opposing Turner for the clerk’s job, and Giannini would be the GOP entry against
Johnson.
UPDATE: The apparent matchups are indeed Johnson vs. Giannini for Assessor and
Jackson vs. Turner for General Sessions clerk.
the late Bob Patterson as Shelby County trustee. Ultimately, the
executive committees of the two parties will each presumably provide a nominee
for that ballot. In the short term, the Shelby County commission will appoint an
interim successor.
That choice will be
made next Monday, and, while no specific candidate had yet emerged on the
Republican side of things, Democrat Paul Matilla, who had been a ranking
Patterson aide for some years, was picking up support that may actually turn out
to overlap party lines.
There is a bit of a
backstory here: Former city council member and ex-mayoral candidate Chumney had
put out feelers about getting the appointment and made some initial headway. But
a conversation with Democratic commissioners Deidre Malone and Sidney
Chism put an end to her interest.
Pointedly, Malone, who
is known to be considering a run for county mayor in 2010, wanted assurances
that Chumney would not use the appointment as a stepping stone for a county
mayor’s race of her own. That was something Chumney was unwilling to provide.
In a later statement
disavowing interest in the job, Chumney said, “I did make an inquiry about the process at the
request of some constituents. For the record, I want no part of any backroom
dealing making and certainly hope the process for whomever does apply will be
above-board.”
That, pending the possible surfacing of other candidates at Monday’s commission
meeting, would seem to be that.
