Virtue Triumphs!

by hilzoy

It's not every day that I can write a headline like that and come close to meaning it with a straight face. But today, I can:

"Nikki Tinker, the Democratic attorney who based her primary challenge to first-term Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN) almost entirely on appeals to race and religion, has gone down to an ignominious defeat. (...)

Cohen won a divided primary for this safe seat in 2006, becoming the only white Congressman to represent a majority-minority district in the South. Tinker, who also ran in that primary, based her challenge this time around on direct arguments that the state's African-Americans should have a seat in Congress, and also aired a particularly nasty ad attacking the Jewish incumbent Cohen for visiting "our churches.""

And not only did the forces of good prevail, they prevailed by a landslide: Cohen beat Tinker 79%-19%.

I'm so glad: not just because it would be awful to have Tinker in Congress, but because I do not want future candidates to think: bigotry is a winning strategy.

***

I'm also glad I cut my ties to EMILY's List a few months ago. I did so over their willingness to misrepresent Obama's record on choice back in the Democratic primary, and more generally because of my sense that they had lost their moorings, and become willing to endorse literally any female Democrat over any male. -- I think it's really important that women be represented in politics, and would vote for a woman over a man if the two candidates were otherwise equally appealing, or close to it. My problem with EMILY's List was not that they were working for female candidates, or that they favored them over more or less equally good men; it was that they seemed to me to be close to favoring any female Democrat over any male Democrat, even when the male Democrat was obviously better. (Here I was not thinking of the Democratic Presidential primary, in which I didn't think it was a no-brainer that Obama was better.)

EMILY's List had endorsed Tinker in this primary. They eventually condemned her last ad -- the one about Cohen coming into "our churches" -- but that was pretty late: I had been reading about Tinker's use of race and religion for several months, and I don't think it was in any way unknown. They should never have endorsed her in the first place.

Comments

[liberal japonicus]

I don't know how valid this backstory is, but it makes for interesting reading.

[Ugh]

Huzzah! Race and religion baiting only works on one in five Democrats.

[liberal japonicus]

Ugh, I thought the traditional method of expressing that figure is '4 out of 5'. Or maybe that's only for dentists.

[Donald Johnson]

More reasons for disliking Tinker--

Link

This was about as clear a choice as you ever get in politics (aside from cases which would violate Godwin's Law if I brought them up).

[Donald Johnson]

Oh, my link says more or less the same thing as lj's.

[Elvis Elvisberg]

If Tinker has won, after the FISA business, I would have felt no connection to the officials or the voters of the Democratic Party. What a huge relief this result is. Thanks for the post, I hadn't yet seen how it turned out.

[Bernard Yomtov]

I'm very glad Cohen won in a landslide.

The size of the win is important. I'm told, by knowledgeable residents, that Memphis politics is intensely racial. Cohen's district, mostly Memphis, is 60% black, so he overcame the racial obstacle pretty convincingly.

Cohen famously tried to join the Congressional Black Caucus when first elected, but was not allowed to do so.

[liberal japonicus]

The article I linked to says that Cohen tried to join the Black Caucus, but withdrew because some other members of the Caucus (unnamed) felt uncomfortable with the prospect of having a white member of the Black caucus. Not sure which one is the correct version though.

[Bernard Yomtov]

lj,

I'm not sure of the details, but what I meant was that the CBC did not permit him to join, so maybe there's not much difference there.

[liberal japonicus]

Sorry, it was in donald's link and this article has a few more details

Unfortunately, googling this reveals that the usual folks seized on this as evidence that the CBC is not living up to being liberal because it is discriminating against whites.

[Ara]

This is ironic, Hilzoy. I've been receiving constant updates on this race from a rather different point of view.

It's very hard to watch these videos and think that Cohen's a great guy, even if you more or less agree with him.

And, to be honest, the way he expressed himself was more than a little offensive.

[hilzoy]

Ara: after watching the first one (raw footage of the confrontation), I was basically sympathetic to Cohen -- at any rate, I can see not wanting filmmakers to come into my home uninvited. But the second was definitely over the line. I didn't know about that.

I'm still glad he won over Tinker, since she seems plainly worse, but: ugh. And thanks for posting these.

[wonkie]

Ara, the reporter wasn't a serious reporter on legitmate business. he was there at the behest of Tinker's campaign to disrupt an event.

I don't think that Fox is ever a realiable source.

[wonkie]

Another thought: this event occurred att he end of a long campaign during which Tinker engaged in a level of nasty behavior that woud be surprising even in a Republican. Somehow Cohen held on until the very end before losing his manners. If he had been consistantly rude or had been rude early, I would agree on condemning him.

[Ara]

Wonkie:

First, I don't know why you think they are not serious. You may think they are misguided, but they are definitely serious.

Second, what's there to be unreliable about? The first clip is mostly Cohen talking, and he sounds pretty silly.

Third, excuses excuses. I know it's a long tough campaign. But our elected officials should show cool under pressure, no? That's partly why we choose them.

[Ara]

It's an interesting issue.

I've written a bunch of letters this morning to people in the lobby that donated to Tinker telling them they've made a mistake. The reaction has been along the lines of "Eh, Cohen is a jerk" and indignation that I'd defend Cohen in any way.

And, of course, my argument is that a lobbying group loses credibility and reputation (just like EMILYs did) by supporting noxious candidates. And that having people call you terrorists on the local news isn't a great outcome.

So far this argument isn't taking. I wonder if there are more persuasive ones I can make.

[hilzoy]

wonkie: talking about "those people" and how "they" killed people a couple of decades ago? It would be offensive if someone said, say, that "those people" killed people back in the Mau Mau rebellion, and so he didn't feel comfortable with Barack Obama coming into his home. Why is this different?

[Bernard Yomtov]

It would be offensive if someone said, say, that "those people" killed people back in the Mau Mau rebellion, and so he didn't feel comfortable with Barack Obama coming into his home. Why is this different?

Because Obama is not a Mau Mau.

I think what Cohen was saying was not that Armenians are killers, but that there is a group of Armenian activists who are, or were, ready to kill in support of their cause, and that he associated this film-maker with that group.

One thing that's clear is that this had little to do with Cohen's campaign. The cameraman was not a reporter covering the event. He was an independent operator making a film in support of his point of view.

Why he was even there is a bit mysterious. I don't think this issue is important to many Memphis voters. It was a pure provocation.

[hilzoy]

Bernard: he is half Kenyan. This cameraman is not in any obvious way a member of any group that killed people, unless you count 'Armenians' as such a group.

I absolutely think it was provocation, but I don't think that fully excuses the response.

[Bernard Yomtov]

hilzoy,

I think he is counting "aggressive Armenian activists" as such a group, rightly or wrongly. I do think the film-maker falls generally in that category.

Moreover, Cohen was expressing concern over his own safety, not claiming the film-maker was going to kill him. It may be far-fetched for him to fear becoming a target of violence, but if he was harassed at other times maybe some concern, or an expression of discomfort, is understandable.

[Randy Paul]

I had the pleasure of having lunch with Steve Cohen some years back. He will go far in Congress and he deserves to.

[tgirsch]

I'm not entirely comfortable with Cohen's response, although I'd want to see the whole thing, in context, before I'm quick to judge. If he really does exhibit anti-Armenian bigotry, that would be a huge problem. If his statements were edited to make him sound worse than he actually is, it's another matter.

That said, he's reliably on the right side of almost every issue in Congress, and I care less if my representative is a "great guy" (or gal) and a lot more if s/he votes correctly. Let's face it, most of the people in Congress can't be fairly described as a "great guy."

But again, if he's truly bigoted, then I have a huge problem with that.

Full disclosure: I'm caucasian, Cohen is my representative, and I voted for him in the primary.

[tgirsch]

Oh, and I agree with hilzoy: any time you talk about "those people," it sounds bad.

[Randy Paul]

I have to say that I have no issue with what Cohen did, now that I have seen. The man came into his home uninvited.

Hilzoy, the use of the term those people is questionable, but he is right that Armenian groups (chiefly ASALA, which is largely defunct) have killed several Turkish diplomats as well as children, opened fire in the airport in Ankara killing nine and wounding 82. They also killed eight people in Orly Airport.

If someone other than the police or fire department comes into my house uninvited, as far as I'm concerned, I'm being endangered. Under the circumstances, I think Cohen showed remarkable restraint.