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TN Politics: A Million-Plus Early Voters Foreshadows Big Election Day

This week, Democrat Phil Bredesen slid a few points behind Republican Marsha Blackburn in the polls for Tennessee's seat in the U.S. Senate. It doesn't bode well for the former governer whose campaign has emphasized his willingness to compromise at a time when one party largely supports President Trump's unprecedented campaign against political foes (this week he suggested that he could, himself, change the United States Consitution) and the other party views his nationalist rhetoric at a time of pipe bombs sent to Democrats, anti-semitic acts of terrorism, and increased hostility to a free press as a threat to American democracy. 

As political analyst Otis Sanford points out, while Tennessee's biggest concentration of Democrat voters has seen a stronger than average turnout, some of the busiest early voting locations in Shelby County were in the Republican strongholds of Germantown and Collierville, suggesting that Republicans are just as eager to stop the so-called Blue Wave in Tennessee as liberal leaders are to strengthen it. 

Reporting from the gates of Graceland to the balcony of the Lorraine Motel, Christopher has covered Memphis news, arts, culture and politics for more than 20 years in print and on the radio. He is currently WKNO's News Director and Senior Producer at the University of Memphis' Institute for Public Service Reporting. Join his conversations about the Memphis arts scene on the WKNO Culture Desk Facebook page.