On The Ninth Congressional District (Nikki Tinker)

(ScreenCap: Mediaverse) Revised.

UPDATE (10PM): WMC: The gloves.


ORIGINAL POST (7/10): As the Flyer's Jackson Baker notes, this Sunday will be a true test for Nikki Tinker and her hopes for Congress.

She will debate incumbent Congressman Steve Cohen and fellow challenger, state Rep. Joe Towns, in this race's first televised debate that will air on WREG News Channel 3 Sunday evening. (Check your TV listing.)

Baker even gives her some sage advice:

Her questioners this weekend will undoubtedly press Tinker for details on basic policy matters. They also should, and no doubt will, ask her to do what both Obama and Republican presidential hopeful John McCain have had to do more than once — namely, renounce both the indefensible statements and policy positions of extremist supporters and the supporters themselves. In Tinker's case, this means those responsible for racist and anti-Semitic attacks against Cohen.

She should also be prepared with positions on an assortment of issues — like hate crimes legislation and Turkish genocide against ethnic Armenians — that have so far been thrown up one-sidedly against Cohen.

Lastly and crucially, Tinker needs to articulate a clear and comprehensive position on abortion rights. Right now she is counting on the votes of church-going African-American fundamentalists to whom the very idea of abortion is abhorrent. But the proprietors of the Emily's List PAC have endorsed Tinker and contend that she has answered to their complete satisfaction a very detailed questionnaire supporting the pro-choice position.

Like every other candidate for national office (and like Cohen, who is unmistakably pro-choice), Tinker will have to clarify exactly where she stands on this deal-breaker of an issue.

Now that it's debate time, Nikki Tinker has a long-deferred opportunity to provide specifics and eradicate doubts about herself. Good for her that she's willing to try.

Now, as someone who has known Tinker for years (we're both University of Alabama grads), let me offer some unsolicited advice as well: be fresh.

I know, that's tougher than it sounds.

I agree with Jackson Baker. Sunday will provide an opportunity for Tinker to really present herself in a new light but the best thing--judging from the serious gap between her and Cohen in fundraising--is that the debate is free.

Granted, the FEC data is dated and July 15, the next reporting date, will be a truer indication of where Tinker stands but it seems like she has money problems, which translates politically into support issues.

Admittedly, that's pure speculation but it's based on the fact that her campaign Website is relatively unchanged from two years ago, which says alot about her message, but even more telling is that one of her first ads--the one about her Grandma's impact on her life--also seems old too.

I'm just sayin, this isn't 2006 anymore.

Fortunately, Tinker knows that as evidenced by this ad, which seems to spin her narrative forward from her last attempt to win this election:



Ultimately, though, for Tinker, it will come down to the media and whether its reporting of this election will remain focused on the black-white dynamic to a fault.

I mean, when she gets critical of Cohen and his photo ops and relative opportunism, will the media see that as a discussion of a valid issue or a racial attack?

How the media responds will indicate its savvy or ability to see the nuances of racial issues.

And to that end, she seems to be leery of the media and with good reason but that doesn't mean she shouldn't answer reporter questions--and, if she can, she needs to educate her supporters who do.

An excerpt:

Dawson, a Tinker supporter, says people are looking more at the issues and less at skin color.

Still, he said many black ministers are concerned with losing control of the district.

"We waited 500 years to get a black person as a congressman in this district," said Dawson. "That's what a lot of people are looking at."

The clock was reset two years ago but it is really no longer useful.

I'm just sayin, folks don't seem to understand what the impact of Barack Obama's ascendancy will mean for African Americans. For certain, it will mean that statements, like Rev. Leonard Dawson's, will no longer hold sway and the impact on the cultural psyche will be immense and jarring.

The sooner folks realize that, the less traumatic it will be.

*MDN: Denied.
*CA: Bill Day.

ON AN UNRELATED, BUT RELATED, NOTE: Why is Joe Towns, Jr. even in this race? According to the FEC, he has raised no money at all. It's obvious that the more candidates in the race, the more it favors the incumbent.

*Flyer: The mystery man.

*A new campaign ad from Cohen:



He says he helped "create" The Med. Is that akin to Al Gore's creation of the Internet? What role did he really play? More importantly, what has he done to alleviate the Med's challenges since he's been in office?

Here's something that seems to be in the works.