First-term 9th
District congressman Steve Cohen of Memphis has long indicated that he intends
to call on some heavy guns to support his reelection campaign for the U.S. House
of Representatives And one of the heaviest — Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi
– turned up as the guest of honor at one of several Cohen fundraisers held in
Nashville on Monday.
A press release
put out by the Cohen campaign quotes Pelosi as saying some handsome things
indeed about the Memphis freshman and former longtime state senator. Among her
reported observations: “His years of experience in Tennessee allowed him to hit
the ground running when he reached the United States Congress.” Calling Cohen “a
progressive and an important member of the Transportation Committee,” Pelosi
ratcheted up her praise to the point, says the release, of calling Cohen “the
conscience of the freshman class.”
On hand for
some or all of the events in Nashville were Democratic congressional colleagues
John Tanner, Bart Gordon, and Jim Cooper, as well as former Public Service
Commission chairperson and gubernatorial candidate Jane Eskind.
Cohen has no
Republican opposition this year, but he faces primary challenges from Nikki
Tinker, who was runner-up to him in the Democratic primary two years ago, state
representative Joe Towns, James Gregory, and Isaac Richmond.
–Jackson Baker