Northwest Political Rundown Today was an interesting day on the political realm in northwest Tennessee. I can honestly say that our portion of the state doesn't get a great deal of respect, which is amusing to me. We have had Gov. Ned McWherter, and Congressman John Tanner isn't any slouch on Capital Hill doing the Blue Dog Democrat A GO GO. Go further in your memory banks (even older than me and I'm older than dirt) and we've had Casey Pentecost (kin to candidate Lowe Finney) and Fats Everett. Rep. Mark Maddox is the assistant House Majority Leader right now. There is weight here and it's blue, baby. But when it comes to the current race for state offices, I find that no one really is paying attention to us anymore. Or maybe they are. Yes, the Big THEY. I think, campers, that the political waves are buoying a bit. I do honestly believe that northwest Tennessee is being watched more carefully on an underground level. Many times, I believe there is some significance regarding our tiny haven. Back when Ned was governor, the northwest was undeniably blue. Then it started to lean red. Very, very red. However, the state rep and senate positions are held by democrats in my tiny political arena. Sen. Roy Herron keeps winning although there was quite a bit of negative campaigning from his last opponent, Dennis Doster but he held onto the seat with a decisive win two years ago. The Senator formerly known as a Democrat, Don McLeary, who is now Republican race against Finney might be interesting, but not many folks are talking about it. Will folks stick with McLeary, or will they keep the seat Democrat? I think it's a bigger story than people are discussing because all we do these days is talk about the Memphis Fords, Harold Ford, Ophelia Ford, Jake Ford and their interaction with the rest of the state. I'm about Forded out, quite honestly. Jr. just needs to throw his support to Candidate Steve Cohen in Memphis and stop this nonsense. But Finney and McLeary is some respects are a bigger story if you ask me on a state level on the political playing fields for Tennessee because the winner of this race could be a big factor in the future of John Wilder.They have debated three times. Each time has been a decent battle on issues such as minimum wage, crime and on a more subliminal level, loyalty. But who will voters be loyal to? A conservative democrat from the school of Tanner and McWherter or a former democrat who jumped parties allegedly over the Ophelia Ford vote? Isn't it so odd now that the Democrats use terms embracing conservatism and the Republicans are taking a more moderate use of the political language known as spin? So, the moral of this long post is that John Farmer was in town today (yes, I took him to the Republican Headquarters and we hung out for a few minutes. The Republicans did not try to hurt me) and Randy Ford, who is working with Finney and is on sabbatical from Tanner's office both came to see me within minutes of each other today. And I find that very interesting. So I do think we have more value than meets the eye.  ¶ 10/17/2006 07:29:00 PM