Tennessee Republicans Vote For Roe-- Against Big Oil

Last night we were so exultory about Steve Cohen's triumph over Evil in Memphis that we almost forgot to mention some more good news. Right-wing extremist, David Davis, one of the most radical kooks in Congress, lost his primary bid for a second term yesterday. It was very close but he was beaten by Johnson City Mayor Phil Roe. Davis didn't lose because he's an extremist-- Roe is a wing-nut as well. He lost because he's corrupt and was caught trading favors for "contributions," including from oil companies. If those are going to be the standards in November there won't be any Republicans left in Congress and it's also bye-bye Blue Dogs. Roe used the Democratic Party argument that Davis was in the pocket of Big Oil and was partially responsible for driving up the price of gasoline with his bought and paid for votes on their behalf.

TN-01 is such a Republican hellhole (PVI is R+14 and Bush took 68% against Kerry) that Democrats aren't even fielding a candidate. Davis' voting record is as far right as you can go without falling off the edge of the world. There's not a single saving grace on a single issue and when you examine just sharply contested substantive votes he ties with lunatic fringe Republicans like Tim Walberg (R-MI), Mike Pence (R-IN), John Kline (R-MN), Phil Gingrey (R-GA) for the second worst score-- a 0.47 out of a possible 100-- in the entire House. His record was to the right of well-known extremists like Mean Jean Schmidt (R-OH), Lamar Smith (R-TX), Adam Putnam (R-FL)... even Doug Lamborn and Marilyn Musgrave of Colorado!

Don't expect much moderation from Roe; his platform is as whacky as Davis'-- only he pledges to not take PAC money. We'll see how long that lasts. Watch his anti-Big Oil ad. Democrats should be making similar ones: