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Tennessee: Bredesen to aid Obama in Ohio

By: Andy Sher
(Contact)

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NASHVILLE — Gov. Phil Bredesen will preside over today’s “grand opening” of Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama’s Zanesville, Ohio, campaign headquarters.

But will he nab a coveted speaking spot at next week’s Democratic National Convention in Denver?

The Democratic National Convention Committee’s latest list of speakers includes 11 Democratic governors. But Gov. Bredesen is not among them, according to the DNCC’s Web site.

More speakers are expected to be announced, according to convention officials, but Bredesen spokeswoman Lydia Lenker said the governor has not been approached to speak as far as she knows.

“I don’t think he has been,” she said. “I don’t think he was anticipating (it). I think those slots go to the swing states and (officials) that early endorsed.”

During the primary battle between U.S. Sen. Obama, D-Ill., and U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., Gov. Bredesen refused to make an endorsement. As the fight raged on, Gov. Bredesen at one point called for a mini-convention of Democratic superdelegates to help decide the primary. The call was ignored.

Vanderbilt University political scientist Bruce Oppenheimer said it should not be surprising if the Obama campaign does not choose Gov. Bredesen for a prime or even a secondary televised spot at the convention, which begins Monday.

Convention officials often highlight people whose political careers will be helped, are running for key congressional seats or who can help the party, Dr. Oppenheimer said. Prevented from seeking a third term in 2010, Gov. Bredesen is “now a lame-duck governor,” he said.

Moreover, the professor noted, “he’s pretty late in backing Obama.”

As for the Ohio venture, Gov. Bredesen said earlier this week that the Obama campaign “called and asked if I would go to Ohio.” He said Sen. Obama is interested in some “town meeting-like things with what I’d describe as ordinary people and some of their problems.”

Tennessee does not present much of an opportunity for Sen. Obama, according to polls. An Aug. 10-12 poll for U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., shows presumed GOP nominee John McCain leading Democrat Obama by 51-36 percent — the same margin as in a June survey by the nonpartisan Rasmussen Reports.

In a Sunday New York Times article about Sen. Obama’s failure so far to connect with some voters, Gov. Bredesen was quoted as saying “instead of giving big speeches at big stadiums, he (Obama) needs to give straight-up, 10-word answers to people at Wal-Mart about how he would improve their lives.”

Asked Tuesday by Tennessee reporters on whether he was being critical of Sen. Obama, Gov. Bredesen described the remarks as “more tough love. I’m certainly a strong supporter of him. I have endorsed him. I’m a Democrat. I’m going up and spending two days in Ohio campaigning for him.”

But Gov. Bredesen noted that he and some others believe Sen. Obama “has got some connecting to do across this gap that exists, and I hope he will step up to that and do it.”

Noting his own experience in Tennessee as a native New Yorker, Gov. Bredesen said, “in a way, I’ve got a lot of sympathy for the position that he’s in ... I started out facing a lot of people, like in rural Tennessee, over a chasm. You’ve got to work some to get across there and convince people you’ve got their interests at heart.”

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