"This seat was set aside for people who look like me. It wasn't set aside for a Jew or a Christian. It was set aside so that white people could have representation."

Change a word or two and this statement simply wouldn't be tolerated. By blacks or whites.

it might sound odd comin' from the dimocratic party -- but it sure is american...

and it sure is a contemporary form of campaigning. and it might just work for mayor willie.

i'll spare you my views on the great state of tennessee...

Why don't you just call it "reverse racism", put it on a sign, and join the 912ers.

Have you seen the Newsweek cover ? What did you expect ?

Memphis politics suck in a very special way.

See.... we democrats can campaign Republican style any day of the week. Works for them - works for us...next thing you know Herenton will be accusing him of being a marxists communist facist..just like that obama feller. My bet is that Glenn Beck gets behind Cohen.

Willie Herenton has run every campain on the basis of race. If you are against him, you are a racist. All of the blacks in Memphis vote for him based on race, never mind the fact that his administration has been one the most corrupt in modern times. Now, he was a good school administrator and his first terms in office brought some good things to Memphis, I will give him credit for that. But since then he has been one of the most cynical, narcissistic person in the city. Now, he thinks he deserves to be elected to congress just because he is black. Give me a break!

from Wikipedia: "Six middle-class Confederate veterans from Pulaski, Tennessee, created the original Ku Klux Klan on December 24, 1865"

A hundred years later, from Sonny and Cher: -"and the beat goes on. . ."

Herenton is overwhelmingly despised by the white community in Memphis. As a white Democrat in the city, I can report this sentiment is also fairly pervasive among whites on the left, as well, though for very different reasons than among whites on the right. Steve Cohen is one of the only truly progressive members of Congress from the South, certainly the only one from the state of Tennessee. I am proud that he serves our city, and don't give a damn what his skin color, religion, or astrological sign is.

Didn't the Republican Party pursue the Southern Strategy to allow the racists to have a new home? It would be nice if all of the racists stayed in the GOP. It makes life simpler.

Herenton's campaign manager, a black county commissioner, told the NYT, "This seat was set aside for people who look like me. It wasn't set aside for a Jew or a Christian. It was set aside so that blacks could have representation."

Thanks for providing such wonderful ammunition to the people who really are your enemies, you worthless, ignorant, moron.

Like Bobby said above, Herenton deserves some credit for his first two terms, but since then he's been phoning it in, and has become increasingly narcissistic and paranoid. (I suspect he may be in the early stages of Alzheimer's; I hope not, because that's not a fate I'd wish on anyone.)

The only reason Herenton won the last mayoral election is that it was a three-way election in which the anti-Herenton vote was split. He'll be facing Cohen in a one-on-one match, and he'll be defeated. Perhaps not as bad as Tinker was, but he'll still be defeated.

Well in justice that county commissioner is not wrong, the Voting Rights Act set out to increase minority representation in Congress and in the process has accepted some very strangely shaped Districts in order to get minority majorities. In fact this is one of the tools to Republicans used to gerrymander Texas the way they did under DeLay's leadership. They simply crammed as many minorities into single districts as they could in order to create safe suburban Republican (read white) districts. And the blatantly political effort passed muster precisely because the remaining seats insured some minority representation in Congress.

That being said there is a line between running a self-evident 'black like me' campaign and falsely accusing your opponent of being a racist that Herenton seems to have crossed here. The point of the Voting Rights Act was to create opening for talented and qualified minorities to break through, and not just to slot in a black or brown face.

As a TN resident I can tell you that Steve Cohen has represented that district for years - first as a state rep. He has been very effective and is well liked. Black Memphis politicians - most notably the Ford family - have been rotating between the state house and jail for generations. There has never been a whisper that Cohen is corrupt - which is more than you can say for Herenton. Kickbacks and bribes are par for the course. Which is why Memphis is one of the most dangerous cities in the country. The crime rate is unbelievable and there is no middle class left - they are all out in Germantown and suburbs beyond.

As an AA, I feel that the tactics that Herenton is using are truly despicable. If he can't win on the issues, he shouldn't run. To do to Congressman Cohen exactly what he doesn't want done to him is unforgiveable, IMO. I hope all of the voters in the district will see through this and vote NO to Herenton in 2010.