[ad_1]
Democratic Senate candidate Phil Bredesen continued to receive negative reactions after supporting Brett Kavanaugh, a Supreme Court candidate at the time. Since this announcement several weeks ago, volunteers and campaign staff have reportedly withdrawn their support or expressed disappointment at the candidate's choice to support Kavanaugh, accused of sexual assault and misconduct by many women. .
Although it's only a small fraction of its volunteer base, at least 22 volunteers from Bredesen have contacted the campaign to cancel door-to-door and telephone banking changes. or simply express their frustration at Bredesen's decision, according to a spreadsheet maintained by the campaign and obtained by Politico.
Rhonda McDowell, a campaign volunteer in Memphis, told Politico that she felt "torpedoed" by Bredesen's support for Kavanaugh.
"I've had so much arguing about this for a while, but the more I think about those candidates who are at the bottom of the vote, the more I think I do not want to cut my nose to hurt my face," he said. McDowell.
In the days leading up to Kavanaugh's confirmation vote, Bredesen issued a statement in which he claimed that he was worthy to become a Supreme Court judge and that he was already "ready to say" yes To his appointment before the Dr. [Christine Blasey] Ford advances. "
"Although the events that followed make it a lot narrower and I miss essential information to a practicing senator, I'm still a 'yes'," Bredesen said, referring to the fact that "I do not know what to do." Further investigation into the FBI's alleged antecedent allegations of sexual assault against the candidate.
In addition to the disapproval of volunteers and supporters, three members of the Tennessee Democratic Party staff at the Bredesen campaign offices in Nashville also seemed disappointed by a video recorded secretly produced by the far-right political group Project Veritas Action Fund, known for its "sting". operations on Democratic politicians. The video, often cumbersome or misleading or false, showed staff members claiming that the decision to support Kavanaugh was a political initiative to gain more support in the Conservative state, rather than show Bredesen's true feelings at the same time. respect of Kavanaugh.
Mary Mancini, president of the Democratic Party of Tennessee, said Newsweek In a statement, the people shown in the video are 2018 Tennessee Victory Field Organizers, a federating organization of the ruling party in the state that works to elect Democrats across the state. They are not members of the Bredesen campaign staff for the Senate.
"For weeks, a young woman claiming to be a partisan volunteered and gained their trust," said Mancini, citing the woman secretly recording staff members who presented themselves as "Reporter" in the video. "Then, according to the usual sticky tactics of [James] O'Keefe and Project Veritas, she betrayed that trust for a cynical political gain. "
The records of the Federal Election Commission show that the three staff members identified in the video – Delaney Brown, Will Stewart and Maria Amalla – are paid by the state's Democratic Party. Tennessee Democratic Party spokesman Mark Brown said Newsweek they "simply expressed their opinions to a person they thought was a friend" and had "no access to any campaign strategy or high-level message, and no one in this video knows Governor Bredesen's deep thoughts" .
Tennessee Victory 2018 said it was considering bringing a lawsuit against the Veritas Project.
The Bredesen campaign has not responded to NewsweekFriday's questions on the video or the backlash reported by Bredesen for his position on Kavanaugh.
Bredesen, former governor of Tennessee, is currently fighting Republican Congressman Marsha Blackburn for the Senate's open seat in the state. Blackburn beat his Democratic opponent in 2016 by almost 50 percentage points.
"He rejected Judge Kavanaugh's answer for 88 days, under [Senate Minority Leader] Chuck Schumer's direction is to stay neutral as long as you can, "said Blackburn in a statement after Bredesen's initial announcement, which supported Kavanaugh." The contrast on these issues could not be clearer. "
The Blackburn campaign has provided a statement to the local TV channel WTVF in recent days, after reports of violent reactions from volunteers were unveiled and the Project Veritas video aired, calling Bredesen " Phony Phil "for what she called" dummy campaign tactics "for her support of Kavanaugh.
"It's exactly the kind of" say anything to get elected, "the policy is hated by the Tennesseans," said Blackburn's campaign. "Marsha always says that you can not always agree with me, but you will always know where I stand."
Taylor Swift, a Tennessee native, approved Bredesen and Democrats' candidate for the House of Democrats on Monday, while glancing at Blackburn, saying the GOP MP's "voting record" Calls and terrifies me ".
"In the past, I have been reluctant to publicly express my political views, but because of many events in my life and around the world in the past two years, I feel a different thing in this respect now," said Swift.
After Swift approved the two Democrats, Trump said the singer "probably knows nothing" of Blackburn. The president joked that he no longer liked his music so much because of his approval.
"And let's say that I like Taylor's music about 25% less now, agree?" Trump said.
[ad_2]
Source link
