Burnt Orange Report

Hart in Tennessee... Some Interesting Thoughts

By Andrew Dobbs

This story is getting quite a bit of traction in the online world. Turns out that the only Republican to file for the congressional primary in Tennessee's CD-8 is a White Supremacist booster of the discredited "science" of eugenics named James Hart. Good thing this is a solid Dem seat with 15 year incumbent James Tanner.

The local GOP declined to endorse Hart originally and supported a write in candidate who got about 20% of the vote.

Now here's the rub. This despicable guy is getting a lot of attention- I just saw a thing about him on CNN and we'll look at the papers over the next few days also. Most reasonable people and all members of the "unfavored races" as he calls them will be disgusted by such blatant racism and his psychotic policy proposals such as just printing more money to pay off our national debt (seriously). Having this guy's name on the ballot right under George Bush's can't help Bush and having him in the same party ties him to the president in a negative way. This guy has the potential to hurt Bush.

But there is a way Bush could get out of this bind- support Hart's Democratic opponent John Tanner. Tanner, according to the great new vote rating system from Progressive Punch is the 9th most conservative Democrat in the House. The American Conservative Union gives him a 43% lifetime rating and the Americans for Democratic Action give him a 46% rating. He's a conservative/moderate Dem and Bush could easily get away with supporting him, especially since the state and local GOP wants nothing to do with Hart. This would have the added benefit of making Bush look reasonable to many swing voters and Democrats a little uneasy with Kerry- it will be a big news story.

Bush, while he has traded in racism and used it to his advantage in the past (Bob Jones U., McCain's "Black baby," Haley Barbour, etc.) is not a racist as far as I can tell. He gains nothing from staying silent on this candidate and there is a perfectly viable option for him- support Tanner. Of course, Bush is far more interested in partisan oneupmanship than he is in doing the right thing so something tells me he won't say anything (or do like Perry did in regards to wingnut Steven Wayne Smith's 2002 candidacy for Texas Supreme Court- "I support all of the Republican ticket but I am pulling for some parts of it more than others") and as a result we should knock him in the jaw with this one. Barbour and Hart- two White supremacist bookends to sum up Bush's cynical views on race.