Very serious question - is THIS the next president of the United States?

[GarySeven]

Gov. Phil Bredesen of Tennessee


..."Clearly, Bredesen has figured out something about Southern politics that many national Democrats have missed, which is why a growing number of them are looking to his career as a model for how to win in the region. And, at first glance, he does appear to be the perfect test case for those on the left trying to "figure out" the South."


http://www.tnr.com/doc.mhtml?pt=HsJW2DrYhp/68tRNZ1rtYB==

[radwriter0555]

1. No. BIll Frist is.

That's the plan.

[blueknight]

2. i agree

about frist. god help us all

[fertilizeonarbusto]

3. Frist is meat once the cat story gets widely disseminated

Crazy as this country is, cruelty to animals is not countenanced by most people of any persuasion and that's the kind of personal detail that people remember and sticks to a person.

[RaleighNCDUer]

13. Nah. The cat story is a dispicable calumny, spread by people

who envy the good doctor and want to smear his reputation. A healer would never engage in such behavior.

Mengele, anyone?

[adigal]

15. I agree 100%

Torture of Iraqi men, women, teenagers and old women - fine

Torture a cat - you are DONE!!!

[John_H]

6. And as long as Dems continue to operate the way they are

That's the future.

[newportdadde]

4. Jeb probably.

[TheUnspeakable]

7. Here's *'s own words on the subject !

From a speech on Inaug night.....I'M GAGGING!!!!

The crowd was also thick with Bushes.

"Because of the inauguration, we have a lot of Bushes here tonight," the president said. "George Herbert Walker Bush, George W. Bush, Barbara Bush, Jeb Bush, George Prescott Bush, Marvin P. Bush, Laura Bush, William H.T. Bush, Doro Bush Koch and John Ellis Bush Jr.

"Or, as we are known within the family: 41, 43, 44, 45, 47, 49, 50, 51, 52, and Marvin

[saltpoint]

5. It's a good question. Both Bredesen and Frist are --

-- from border state Tennessee, a state Gore didn't carry and should have.

Frist and Jeb keep coming up along with McCain for the Republicans and our field is more wide open. No reason Bredesen couldn't join the fray.

I think John and Elizabeth Edwards will assess Elizabeth's health and well-being in the coming weeks and make a decision about what to do with their family and their futures. If Elizabeth is ok, I think John will run and probably win the nomination.

[sarcasmo]

8. IF Frist is President their will be gay death camps, that man is a NUT.

Frist would be a nightmare for all minority groups, much worse than Chimpy.

[txaslftist]

9. Seriously... no.

[4_TN_TITANS]

10. I'll go along with that......

Bredesen has been good for Tennessee. He brings a successul and responsible business sense to the government. There have been some hard decisions with TennCare, one of country's most generous Medicare supplement programs, but I agree with Bredesen that we can't run our state budget into the ground trying to out-do other state supplemental programs.

If Dems are looking for a liberal who can flat out appeal to the red states, Bredesen is the man. And, he can do it without having to suck up to these "values voters". He's very much worth considering.

[lynintenn]

12. TennCare

Those Tenncare cuts are going to be a disaster.
Most of the cuts are to the mentally ill and jails and ERs will becoming revolving doors for mental health patients.
He is leaving most of the state's uninsured children on the Tenncare program. Almost 25% of these kids belong to Walmart employees who are offered insurance by the company but employees say they can't afford it. The Waltons continue to make millions at the expense of their employees.

[Wiley50]

16. I'm Disabled and on Tenncare

But have been fighting SS for 4 years to become "officially" disabled. Therefore, unless They come through for me at my hearing this spring and put me on Medicaid, I'm losing my Tenncare. The pain patches I wear are changed every 3 days and cost $40 a piece. Without Tenncare paying for them I go into life-threatening situation. I'm on 6 other meds too.
I've met Bredesen and he's likeable, but he's very corporate. He just lost a friend by pulling the plug on Tenncare. It's the Hospitals and Pharma companies that have bankrupted it, not the patients

[Virginian]

11. Watch out for Sen. George Allen (R) VA

They could put him in as a spacer until Jeb is ready.

[farmbo]

14. Great article...thanks for the heads up!

eom