FORMER TENNESSEE GOVERNOR WINFIELD DUNN: Phil Bredesen was independent as governor; he won’t be as senator.
The reason is simple: Phil Bredesen is used to having more independence. As governor, he was an executive. He chose his team. In the Senate, the team chooses you.
In the Senate, Bredesen would be low on the totem pole, following the lead of national Democrats like Schumer, who Bredesen would choose to be the Democratic Majority Leader, as well as liberal elites like Massachusetts’ Elizabeth Warren, New Jersey’s Cory Booker, and California’s Kamala Harris.
He claims he would be an independent voice for Tennessee, but that’s a lot easier said than done. Even those who choose to put the Independent “I” next to their names have to pick a side.
Just look at current Senators Bernie Sanders and Angus King, both of whom would call themselves Independents yet caucus with the Democrats and vote along the party line almost every single time.
Phil Bredesen was popular when he served as governor. But what we need to understand is that Washington is a different beast. In Washington, Phil would be beholden to Chuck Schumer.
How do I know this? Just look at other Democratic Senators who come from conservative states. Joe Manchin, Heidi Heitkamp, Jon Tester — they all tried to convince their constituents that they would be an independent, moderate voice they could count on to represent their values.
We have more examples in Tim Kaine and Mark Warner, both former governors from our neighboring state of Virginia. They were elected to the Senate on the premise that they would continue the moderate form of governing they claimed to adopt as governor. But they quickly realized that wouldn’t be possible in the Senate.
When it came down to the votes that mattered most, none of them was allowed to go up against Chuck Schumer and the national Democrats.
The same would happen with Bredesen.
Seems plausible. On the other hand, there’s this: Bredesen backs Senate vote if Kavanaugh accuser won’t appear.
Democratic Senate candidate Phil Bredesen said Wednesday that the woman accusing Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault “has a very credible story.” But he said the Judiciary Committee should consider proceeding with a vote if she does not testify under oath.
“She has put herself out there,” Bredesen said of Christine Blasey Ford, who accused Kavanaugh of assaulting her while they were both in high school. “If she decided at this point to not do something, I guess the committee has to go ahead and say, ‘Well, we were willing to listen, but if she’s not willing to talk, we need to go forward.’”
But, of course, he’s saying this pre-election.