Forrester should be given a short window to fix this. Maybe by the end of the week. If he doesn't, then the State Executive Committee - Harold & Sylvia Woods, Bill Owen, & Gayle Alley are Knox County's reps - should ask for Forrester to resign and then choose another Treasurer. Ya know, everybody makes mistakes. And putting this one into perspective with everything else that's going on, many people may think this is a relatively small or unimportant one. But this is a pretty big mistake if you're the State Party Chair and you are trying to unite Tennessee Democrats. I mean, raising money and keeping the Party together are critical parts of the job. My understanding is this was part of a larger Forrester plan to get rid of Will Cheek, who is on the State Party finance committee, and to take another shot at Bredesen. I disagree with the Governor at least half the time, but folks, when is the last time we elected a Democrat other than Phil Bredesen statewide? 1990 (Al Gore and Ned McWherter)?

I appreciate the fact he raised money for Obama. But to me, this is a position of great responsibility and it requires a track record of at least some semblance of loyalty to the State Democratic Party. The fact is, over the course of the last 7 years, the Dems have had 2 terrific statewide candidates - Bredesen and Ford - and Freeman did his part in '02 and '06 to defeat both of them. Bringing moderate GOPs into the Party is great, but not at the expense of loyal Dems. Will more or less Dems feel as I do and decide they do not want to contribute money to the State Party with this guy at the helm? I don't know.

It looks like a question of competence at this stage. I mean, let the guy raise money for Dems all day long but don't feel as if you have to give him the helm to steer the ship. If he's "converted" as you suggest, then he shouldn't need to be State Party Treasurer to raise $$. It's a public relations nightmare. Plus, if you're truly interested in mending fences with the most popular Democrat in the State (as Forrester says he is), why would you go out of your way to take a direct shot at Bredesen and appoint someone who has made no bones about being anti-Bredesen.

So, for whatever reason, looks like he's bought himself a position. If I'd had known it was for sale. . . .

That's plausible about the donation, Courtney....EXCEPT...how could Freeman LEGALLY donate $200,000 to Obama? There's a lot on the Internet to track down donations and NONE show anywhere near that much from Freeman. There's only one bundler of record from Tennessee an his haul shows 1/2 the amount Freeman alledgedly donated. Did Freeman have a PAC? Obama said he wasn't taking that kind of money. Just tell me how to verify $200,000 from Freeman. Otherwise, knoxrebel is right. Goodbye Mr. Freeman. I'm all for "former" GOPers becoming Demos. But not as leaders of the party.

Couple of updates: (1) it appears Freeman was not an Obama "bundler" after all, and can only be credited with about $60,000 in contributions to Obama and related committees, thus, Freeman is actually listed as a "Mega-donor" and only one Tennessean, Nashville attorney Jerry Martin, was an Obama "bundler," (2) it also appears that Freeman and another Nashville GOP-leaning businessman turned Democrat, Ward Cammack, a gubernatorial prospect running as a Democrat, can be linked. The fact that both men are Nashville businessmen, allied with Forrester, who have track records of giving to the GOP, and have been recruited by Forrester to get involved in Democratic politics since January, is suspect, to say the least.

It kinda makes you wonder how he was able to get his hands on so much $$ to begin with, does it not? How do you make this kinda dough if you're this stupid?

Several members of the State Executive Committee have weighed in on this issue and expressed their convcerns to Forrester. It appears that they are not so much concerned about what Freeman raised for Obama as they are with what Freeman personally gave to Corker, Alexander, Frist, Hilleary, Bryson, and the RNC (to help Bush).

Forrester has been asked if Freeman will sign a pledge of support that he will not personally support or contribute to anyone who is not a Democrat during the term of his holding office in the TNDP, but so far, no response.

That train's already left the station. In my view, this is not nearly enough. You can't give Junior Corker's Senate seat. You can't undo a $10K contribution to the RNC in '04 mad after 4 failed years of Bush's Presidency. If Junior runs against Corker in '12 is Freeman gonna write Corker another check? Is Freeman on-board with Corker's pals, the Haslams, in '10? That's a bit of conflict, is it not?

Tomorrow morning @ 8:30 a.m., Forrester has a conference call with the District Chairs from across Tennessee. I'm encouraging folks to write to these representatives and let them know that this situation is unacceptable and that Mr. Freeman needs to be replaced. Write them at:

HaroldGWoods@aol.com
sperkinson@bellsouth.net

bables772@yahoo.com
davidr@nctc.com

I would copy our other state executive committee reps:

SylviaWoodsKnox@aol.com

gayle.alley@netzero.net

wandgowen@aol.com

Your point on Junior is well taken. But his Congressional voting record is a bit more to the left than what his Senate campaign portayed his views to be. I suppose that has something to do with trying to be a viable statewide candidate (which he obviously was). Steve Cohen's a decent Congressman if you're left-leaning, but he would not have a prayer in a statewide race in TN. Much as I hate the practical side of politics, if Junior had to appear to be more moderate his last term in Congress and during his Senate campaign to get in the US Senate, I'm willing to give him a pass.

Privately, I was hearing that Corker was RINO and that some R's were worried that he would flip at some point in the future. He has flipped alright. From being a moderate R to a winger R. I agree that the Corker support is a problem.

Of course he's raising money, as well he should. He's in a firestorm here and is trying to get out. These new folks you are speaking of are the Obama folks who have never, for the most part, supported any other Democrat for office. They supported Obama, but where were they for other candidates? You can't just come out every 4 years and say, I'm a loyal Democrat. Just because you voted for Barack Obama does not mean you are a Democrat.

There are a couple hundred new folks in Knox County interested in becoming good dems, should we keep'em out because they voted/donated for Bush once or twice upon a time?

...because casting a vote is JUST LIKE sending the GOP a check for $10,000 during a presidential campaign year, and maxing out the personal contribution limit for Bob Corker in the next cycle. Those things are identical!

Why, let's let THAT GUY run the party's fundraising!

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Dirty deeds done dirt cheap! Special holidays, Sundays and rates!

Ms. Nobody,
I actually think you don’t "get it".
Most of us take this very personally. Many of us, of much less means than Mr. Freeman, literally went in debt for democratic candidates including Harold Ford Jr. Democrats like me spent countless hours, drove insane miles, knocked on countless doors, erected hundreds of yard signs, stood on street corners for visibility, wore out phone lines, missed our kids ball games and definitely got our hearts broken.

Let me connect the dots for you. Mr. Freeman's contribution helped fund the "Call me Harold" commercials which killed us. It was a close race. President Obama would be much better served by having a Senator Ford as opposed to Senator Corker.

There is a huge leap from welcoming those who may have voted for Bush "once or twice" to naming them State Party Treasurer. Outrageous!

The way this story has unfolded has only pissed me off even more learning that he spent 10K so his kid could supposedly meet the president. I wonder if he was willing to spend the additional 15K for the photo with W. Nice parenting. Opportunities like that should be earned. I bet little Billie has his snap shots nicely framed above his bed.

I don't want to "chill out".

A bundler is different from a fundraiser. A bundler collects checks made out to himself, let's say for $100,000, and then writes a check to the candidate for $100,000. This person must then submit a list of all the names of the people (contact info and check amount) who contributed to the $100,000.

A fundraiser is someone who goes out and asks people to contribute. The people who are asked write their own checks to the candidate directly. I think Freeman is classified as a fundraiser not bundler.

Cortney can you speak on the different levels of fundraising. I attended a house party a few years ago that Randy Button organized. I understood close to 200k was raised at that party and Randy's cut was 10%. Not bad for a single event. So is the TNDP paying Mr. Freeman a salary or does he get a % of what is raised? I am for welcoming any and all that want to get involved in our party but I am a little hestitate lately the last person I personally helped that was a convert ran back to the GOP just last week. And yes I am speaking a Andrew Graybeal. So what happens in Nashville when Freeman gets pissed off or tired of the democratic values and runs back to the GOP. Again we will be the laughing stock. If Freeman wants to raise money for democrats let him but dont make him the treasurer of the party.

CP, this entire affair is about one thing more than any other: poor judgment. Forrester was elected amidst a fairly public feud with Bredesen, the Congressional delegation, former Chairs, and big donors. The idea he pressed was that once he became chair, he would do whatever was necessary to unite the Party, including mending fences with Bredesen, the Congressional delegation, and big donors. Face it, these guys are Dems who got elected in a red state. By choosing a Treasurer who admittedly has had a long-running feud with Bredesen, has given $$ to Bush, Corker, Alexander, and Frist, etc., the message Forrester sent was not "I want to unify Democrats," it was "Gotcha, Phil" and "Gotcha Junior." Reading the Nashville papers and blogs over the past month, the way this thing has played out is a typical intra-party feud, something we do not need now or anytime. The upshot is that even if Forrester's goal was to "bring Independents into the Party," the way he went about it demonstrated extremely poor judgment.

Occam's razor: when multiplying competing hypothesis are equal in other respects, the hypothesis which introduces the fewest assumptions and postulates the fewest entities is usually the correct one. The hypothesis that Forrester is trying to "broaden the Democratic base" by selecting Freeman as Treasurer necessarily ignores how risky such a choice was in view of everything else that has happened (as demonstrated by the firestorm that is raging as we speak about the appointment of Freeman). But the hypothesis that Forrester is just in a pissing contest with Bredesen, the Congressional delegation, and other notable Dems who supported his opponent in January, explains this entire scenario. It's not that hard to figure out.

Right now he seems to be mostly banging his ankles on the furniture.

It's more like he's asking the faithful to grab their ankles in preparation for the next rogering.

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Dirty deeds done dirt cheap! Special holidays, Sundays and rates!

You are correct, WhitesCreek. This PR has not been well managed.

Eh, I think that's an apples and oranges comparison. It would depend on who that person is, what kind of money they are capable of raising and why they now wanted to support me.

Yeah, wait and see how this affects the races next year. And this notion that folks who are upset about this situation have some kind of axe to grind with Forrester and/or Freeman is way of the mark. For instance, I have no relationship with either of them and didn't support Forrester's opponent. Moreover, I'm not a Bredesen groupie either. But, the guy did win all 95 counties in '06 and is the only Dem to win a statewide office in TN since 1990 (Gore/McWherter). Plus, he can raise the bucks. And so can Junior (I might actually be a Junior groupie). And this whole sad story is a smack in the face at both Bredesen and Junior.

Gary, I don't have a relationship to speak of with either of these gents. Reaching across party lines is great and what's more, it looks even greater. But comparing Forrester to Obama is not gonna get it. Obama is a smart fella, and has the political sense and judgment not to do something that makes him politically weaker by causing him significant intra-party grief. Sure, Forrester needs to broaden the Party's base, as you and Cortney point out, but I (and many others) have serious reservations as to whether that is what he was trying to do in this situation. Reach out? Sure. Make him a party officer? That's just unnecessary. How many other Democrats without loyalty issues are there in TN who have been raising $$ for Democrats much longer than Freeman? So, was the idea that if you don't give Freeman the appointment, he won't raise $ for Dems?

This guy Freeman ran Richard Fulton's gubernatorial campaign in 1986 - back when I was too young to vote. He's got a long history of supporting Democrats. He raised a boatload of money for Obama. He gave $23,900 to the DNC in 2008.

I agree that we should be angry ... but look, I voted for Bush in 2000. I regret that decision regularly. That's one of the reasons I'm more passionate than ever to support progressive causes and promote government openness and transparency. I know for a fact that Chip Forrester is committed to this as well. Call the TNDP at (615) 327-9779 or email questions@tndp.org, and you'll get a response to your concerns.

You're probably right about the TNDP hunkering down. Next? If you support Forrester and the TNDP you should want him and it to succeed. But this affair - and as Randy pointed out a few minutes ago, it's getting worse, not better - has made that delicate prospect a lot more difficult than it was a week ago. This isn't going away. Folks aren't going to just drop it. It's too important. Especially if we want to unite the party and win a few seats back in '10, or the Governor's race. It might also have a trickle down effect at the local level, since the Party is re-organizing the 1st week of April across the state. What's next? Fix this now and move on, that's what.

It looks like Freeman's explanation about how benign his contributions were and how he really, really, really is a Democrat are just words meant to fend off the raging storm. In other words, his explanation is worse than misleading. It's false. Not only did he "have to contribute" to GOP candidates, he also "had to" vote for them, and against Bredesen, and against Harild Ford, Jr. Yeah, let's give him the key to the safe.

Distracted? We will have a 2-party system for a long while to come. Obama didn't run as an "Independent." The parties' practical function, like it or not, is that they choose who we have to choose from on the ballot. That's not going to change. So, the "party apparatus," much as folks might want to ignore or minimize it, is very important. At least it was in the Kurita case. Party primaries are not only traditional, they are not going away. Dems and GOPs can raise millions of dollars. The Green Party, the Libertarian Party, or an Independent cannot. And while I appreciate the fact that more and more folks are identifying themselves as "Independents," they still have to vote - or not vote - in primaries controlled by the parties. So . . . this is important and it is not merely a distraction.

And Democrats can't likely win with new moderate GOP or "Independent" support if we lose part of our own base. And that seems to be eroding ever so quickly over the past 6 months.

Forrester said he would fight the GOPs when they spewed their racist filth but within a month, the TNDP appoints a guy who helped fund the racist ads against Harold Ford, Jr. in '06. This is important.

But it does make sense for the TNGOP officials to want the TNDP to be in disarray, if not entirely dysfunctional.

And now they have one of their own handed the keys to the Dems' safe so that he can wreak havoc among the Democrat donor base.

Paraphrasing Will Rogers: "I'm not part of any organized party, I'm a Democrat." It's in our system.

Bill, I love ya man, but I'm not about to give up this fight and allow these bumblers to run a party I've worked for most of my life into the ground. By staking out Bredesen and trying to rub him, Forrester willingly made a deal with the devil. If you were a supporter of Bredesen or Harold Ford,Jr., I just don't see how you can take this nonsense lying down. Sure, I want Dems to win the Governor's race in '10, take back the house and senate in Nashville, widen our margins in Congress, and pick up a commission seat or 2 and a countywide office or 2 in Knox, but we're not doing to do that if we permit decisions like this one by Forrester to go unchecked. Obama's national so-called insurrection came from within, as must our own.

We Democrats must heal ourselves of these never ending circular firing squads.

Check yourself before you wreck yourself. I'm not hearing any lectures about "party unity" from the same people who wholeheartedly supported the railroading of Rosalind Kurita. Y'all had every opportunity to "get over it" viz. her partisan infidelity but y'all made your choices. Find your ethical bedrock and get back to me.

the glue of the 21st century Party organization is not patronage but folks who are volunteers working together for a common goal.

That's precisely the point about Freeman in case you missed it. The leadership is saying that the common goal of funding Democratic candidates doesn't apply to themselves and what they do with their own money. How much money do you drop on GOP candidates, Bill?

We must understand that the Party no longer runs the machinery of campaigns..candidates do.

So your argument is that since the party is ineffectual, then we should just drop it (regarding the hiring of a bipartisan money whore as treasurer) because that office doesn't ultimately matter in the big scheme of things?

That being the case: "We're" dead in the water. Res ipsa loquitur. "We" have no candidate for 2010 statewide, ergo there is no machinery to operate. By admission, the race is already conceded to Bill Haslam (face it, Wamp and Gibbons can go scream in their pillows).

Because real solutions too real problems are not found in the black & white world of partisan elections.

Yeah, that's how we wound up electing a Republican governor who occasionally* proclaims his Democratic bonafides.

"When you stand for nothing, you will fall for anything."

* When he's begging for cash from Jerry Lee, e.g.

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Dirty deeds done dirt cheap! Special holidays, Sundays and rates!

Cortney, exactly how does putting Freeman in a leadership position attract more converts or independents to the TNDP? It might very well attract folks of his ilk, but my instinct tells me that's not going to elect more Democrats or make the TNDP more successful. This is not about raising money. C'mon, don't piss on my leg and tell its raining. If it was about raising money, Forrester would have appointed a notable, popular Democrat to be Treasurer and put Freeman in a lower profile position on the TNDP finance committee. But he didn't. And it's pretty clear why. Who was the most notable Dem to oppose Forrester? Bredesen. Who does Forrester choose for the 2nd most(maybe the most) important position in the TNDP? A guy who was one of Bredesen's most vocal critics in the 90's and who maxed out to Bredesen's GOP opponents. The guy who funded racist ads against Harold Ford, Jr.

So, does this mean Freeman wouldn't help raise money for Dems if he wasn't appointed? Again, it's about judgment. I hear you loud and clear but you can scream all day long and justify and rationalize Forrester's actions, but in the end, that doesn't change the fact that this was a dirt poor political call from the supposed leader of our party. The effect of that call has alienated TN Democrats from Memphis to Bristol to DC. What was supposed to be an era of "building the party" has turned into an era of "trying to keep the party together" . . . again.

CP, I love ya Babe, but this "wait and see" thing crashes every time. My point is that I don't care if the guy hauls in money in a dump truck, he does not have the bona fides to represent the Tennessee Democratic Party. This scandal is filled with lies, ill-gotten gains, dealings with the devil, and it demonstrates that Forrester is wholly bereft of ethics. Less than a month in office, and he has boxed himself into a position from which he can't soon recover. Freeman does not have to be in this position, as an official TNDP spokesman, to be able to raise cash for Tennessee Dems. So, that being the case, why was he chosen? Me thinks the party in-fighting is not going to settle down at all as long as he is Treasurer.

Nobody. Forrester asked Charles Robert Bone to do it and he turned the job down. It's not like people have ever clamored to have that job. Forrester is damned if he does and damned if he doesn't. The trolls were riding his ass because he a) was too liberal, and b) didn't have a treasurer. So he gets a conservative treasurer and now that's a problem!

I think a lot of this shit comes from a couple of people who are on elected officials staffs and have a beef. It's common knowledge C.R. Bone had to be talked into running for chair in the first place - he told Forrester once he had no interest. Then three weeks later, he was in. The same couple of staffers continue to stir the pot on the government dime. Maybe they ought to worry about other things . . . .like, oh, the state budget?

Unique opportunity? Are you kidding? Our Presidential candidate - a guy who may be the most charismatic, intelligent, and skilled politician in generations - just got beat in this state by more than 20% points by the worst GOP ticket since 1928. We just lost the state house and fell further behind in the state senate. We are facing a cycle ahead where our most popular elected official is term-limited and can't run again. The GOP has presented two viable, well-financed candidates to run for Governor while the Dems have yet to field a true Democrat (forgive me, but Cammack and Freeman are about in the same boat, but that's a story for another day). The November results statewide have caused a number of potential Dem candidates to step back and reconsider. Our US Senate candidate got blistered by 30% by Lamar.

Knox County's August '08 election results were deplorable for Democrats and we face yet another sound thrashing in a little more than a year unless something very drastic is done. Obama's numbers in Knox were worse than his statewide numbers and a local candidate who spent practically nil out-polled him.

Now, tell me about this great opportunity again? We're in a crisis mode here, folks. If the TNDP cannot stop the bleeding fast, we're devolving into a one-party state. It's time to step up and be counted. Forrester screwed up. Fine. Learn from it. Just fix it and quit acting like it's not a problem. Of course, it's a problem. There are important things to be done and this nonsense is bleeding our Party dry. The sooner Forrester recognizes that, the sooner we can begin the road to recovery.

Chip, send me an email about something other than fundraising. How do you PLAN to turn this state around and take advantage of the current political environment? The local OFA group is more organized than you are in terms of planning for, say, the upcoming Employee Free Choice battle.

Money doesn't win or lose the race- it helps, but in the absence of strategy or, I dunno, actual candidates, or getting the cash to the right candidates, it's going to be the same-old.

IMHO, good strategy attracts money. No one wants to give to people who are obviously destined to lose and waste it. People want to support a win. That's how Obama raised so much damned money.

Gary - my message was that it CAN be changed, that's why I said we're in "crisis mode." First, we need effective leadership at the top to compliment a grassroots effort to make TN blue from the bottom. We might as well be in a ship captained by that fella who ran the Exxon Valdez aground in Alaska. Sure, he knew how to steer a ship, but look where he steered it. Nothing would please me more if Forrester actually acted like he knew what he was doing and showed a small bit of progress. But the little money he has raised thus far pales in comparison to the two notable decisions he has made to date: pitching Bredesen's name to raise $$ without Bredesen's ok and pushing Freeman as Treasurer. So, show us something, Mr. Chairman, other than that you are willing to go down with the ship.

It appears that the folks in Nashville are paying at least a little attention to us peons over here in K-Town. The Nashville blogs are talking about a Knoxville blog that is putting pressure on Forrester. In fact, it says that an State Executive Committee person says that the biggest cry about this mess is from K-Town. And beyond that, now there's a grassroots movement afoot to send Forrester emails from just us good ole Democrats asking him to fix this. As you might have read on another thread, both Forrester and Freeman are hunkering down and standing their ground, saying Freeman won't go, and trying to weather the raging storm about his GOP-leanings and givings. I've received emails from folks all across the state saying keep the fire lit and keep pressing for a solution.