The Revolution Will Be Twittered

Yesterday, I attended the Tennessee Young Democrats state convention at the Williamson County Democratic Party headquarters in Franklin.  I got there late because Jim Cooper had delivered the sermon at West End Synagogue that morning (which was supposed to be about the U.S.-Israel relationship, ended up being a very good foreign policy stump speech that said very little about Israel specifically).

The most important thing I can report from the meaning--if there is anyone reading this who is considering running for office as a Democrat in Tennessee next year, do yourself a favor and talk with state Rep. Ty Cobb.  He should not, by all accounts, have won his seat in a conservative district in a year when so many other Democrats were wiped out.  Not only did he win, however, he did so without bending over backwards to sell out as a Democrat.  Yesterday, he and his campaign staff outlined exactly what they did to win.  All Democrats would benefit from hearing from him.

There was another moment that bears mention, one that Kleinheider no doubt had a good laugh over.  As what happens often lately when you get a bunch of 20-somethings and their cell phones into a room where lots of interesting things are being said, those sayings will end up on Twitter.  So Sean Braisted, Leah Kirk, and I all tweeted during lunch when the gubernatorial candidates and/or their surrogates spoke.  First up was Ward Cammack who, as I noted, pledged not to cut the budget for higher education as governor.  Next up was Brady Banks, who gave a very eloquent speech for Roy Herron.  There was no one there from the McWherter campaign, and the person who I thought was supposed to be there for McMillan, campaign spokesman Wade Munday, wasn't able to make it.  But a Young Democrat from Knoxville asked to speak for McMillan.

We all quickly realized that the speaker was Angela Danovi, who had presented herself to the press last year as a Democratic leader and had pledged not to vote for Obama after Hillary Clinton conceded.  She was still wearing a Hillary campaign button yesterday, whether out of spite or denial I'm not sure (again, being angry over what happened is one thing, but holding yourself out as a Democratic leader while saying that is completely unacceptable).  And those of us in attendance quickly tweeted our disapproval, leading to a little dust-up on Post Politics.

I accept the campaign explanation that she was not an official spokeswoman nor had her speech been coordinated with the campaign whatsoever.  It doesn't change my opinion of McMillan at all (by which I mean I still don't know enough to really have an opinion).  And I'm willing to concede that I say more on Twitter than is probably polite.  But I stand by that conversation 110%.  I believe that people like her are toxic to Democrats in Tennessee.  If she thought Obama was so "extreme," then I sure as hell am not going to let someone like her tell me which candidate is the most "progressive."