That would be an awesome outcome (assuming Wilber is a good candidate, I don't know). It would confirm that that there really is a grassroots movement in Tennessee (and elsewhere) unlike any we've seen in a decade or so that says the GOP has gone too far and we're ready to draw a line in the sand.

We should have worked harder for the sake of Tennessee's future and our working families.

By working harder, I mean collectively as a Party in a systematic process: strong candidate recruitment/vetting, strong communications, strong ground game, strong volunteer base, etc.

Like everyone I was disappointed that this was not communicated out earlier from the TNDP.

The TNDP Chair has made it clear that I personally have no influence and that he alone makes all the decisions. He doesn't seem to understand the governing power of the Executive Committee.

When I mentioned "collectively" above, we don't have that. It's my opinion that we currently have a totalitarian rule within the Party. As my icon points out - E pluribus unum for "Out of many, one" -- we don't have that either; therefore we are weak.

It's only my opinion, but I feel that the TNDP didn't put adequate attention on this special election. The Chair likes to point out that we don't understand everything that's going on, but at the same time he's less than open about sharing what is going on. So just maybe they gave this race 110%. The last minute email doesn't indicate that does it?

There are several unacceptable factors that could have played into this (again, my opinion only):
-The TNDP Chair was too involved in his own re-election campaign to help with recruitment for this special election.
-After Mayor Wilber was the only Democratic candidate (and locked down the primary), it's my understanding that the TNDP Chair didn't really think he had a chance (basically writing the election off). I know that he got one photo op with Mayor Wilber.
-The TNDP Chair took a trip to DC during early voting while Wilber's campaign went through early voting.
-The TNDP Chair moved the HQ move during this same early voting time period which took them out of pocket.

However, the TNDP did kick-in (after a request) this "past" weekend with a GOTV (get out the vote) campaign putting people on the ground.

As for the East TN Democrats' effort in this race, I sent out a couple of emails weeks ago to all the East TN Chairs and State EC members asking them to organize virtual phone banks for Wilber or do whatever they could do to help. I made several calls myself to voters in the district to try to help. I know the Knoxville Party was a huge help too.

I really though our job/responsibility as a Party was to elect Democrats. I'm not sure what this administration's mission is or if we have the right leadership to win.

Brad Parish, East Tennessee Vice Chairman
Tennessee Democratic Party