From Our "Mark Clayton is a Right Wing Creep, Thanks for Everything, Mr. Forrester" Dept.

State Democratic Party Chairman Chip Forrester is very good at winning one, and apparently only one, election... the internal party election that keeps his paycheck flowing. Other than that he seems stunningly incompetent. This is not news to Democratic activists but now everyone knows. Republicans are falling down laughing at the debacle of having a man who is vice chairman of a right wing extremist group running as a Democrat, running zero ads, spending zero money, and yet somehow winning the Democratic nomination for Senate against Bob Corker.

Attempts by Forrester and others at having the (Republican ) State Elections Coordinator, Mark Goins, remove Clayton are being predictably laughed off... "Although Chip Forrester had the authority in April to disqualify Mr. Clayton, he did not do so..." The party chairman's first responsibility is to vet statewide candidates. How hard is to spend two minutes at a candidate's organization web site to learn that it opposes everything the Democratic Party in Tennessee stands for?

For that matter, why hasn't Forrester started an investigation as to how Clayton got twice the number of votes that people with name recognition and who actually campaigned got? Did the Republicans' darling unverifiable electronic voting machines have anything to do with it? Thanks to Republicans revoking the verifiable voting act in Tennessee, we may never know if this election was gamed. I do know that in 2008 over one million votes were cast by Tennessee Democrats for Barack Obama. The abject failure to energize even ten percent of those voters to oppose Bob Corker with a viable candidate is damning testimony to the regime of Chip Forrester.

At the top, Democrats in Tennessee are plagued with bumbling incompetents running the show. Democrats deserve better. Tennessee deserves better.  Perhaps this is the wake up call Tennessee Dems need to make them clean house and start rebuilding the Democratic party that can serve the working people of this great state instead of merely providing a job for a few small time bureaucrats.

Let us hope so, but instead of just hope, let's get to work. The voice of Tennessee's One million Democrats is being snuffed out from within. This has to stop now. Otherwise we will continue to watch as Republicans sell off our public schools to for profit entities, serve the financial health of the health care industry instead of the health of our citizens, and eviscerate the Tn Dept. of Environment and Conservation (TDEC's proposed fracking regulations are weaker than the ones proposed by the industry itself, if you can believe that). The list of Republican atrocities is endless. Unfortunately it is compounded, aided and abetted by the incompetencies of the weak, ineffectual, blundering Democratic Party leadership.

Steve

Update: RNeal lays it out

Background from The Times Free Press

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