WKNO TRANSCRIPT
CHRISTOPHER BLANK (Host): On Tuesday, it will all be over. A contentious election cycle comes to an end. But it has not been quiet these last few days. And with us now to talk about the Midterms' home stretch is political analyst Otis Sanford. Welcome back.
OTIS SANFORD: Thank you, Chris. Good to be here.
BLANK: And welcome back from Middle Tennessee. I know you were part of a forum this week talking to the main candidates for governor except for one. There were two independents -- David Hatley and Lauren Pinkston -- and the Democrat Jerri Green. Republican Marsha Blackburn was a no-show, of course. Even though it's the last minute, what kind of cases did these candidates make for an alternative to the current Republican-dominated state government?
SANFORD: What it accomplished is, we clearly understand these three candidates' political positions. Jerri Green, obviously, took a more progressive, left-of- center approach. David Hatley is clearly trying to get some conservative voters, probably the Marsha Blackburn voters, and Pinkston actually was kind of middle-of-the-road and pretty pragmatic about some of her responses. So, it was it was a clear contrast all the way around, and the voters benefited.
BLANK: I was kind of surprised about how much agreement there is on certain issues like data centers and school vouchers. Especially agreement, kind of, in the center of the political spectrum. Tennessee has been a deep red state for a long time, but I wonder if Tuesday's vote totals, maybe even after this debate, could tell us something about voters themselves, or maybe a shift in Tennessee politics?
SANFORD: I think what this voting is going to show, which is a very heavy turnout, that a lot of voters are disgusted with the direction of the country and they are making their feelings known at the ballot box. The shift here is in voter sentiment, and they want to have their voices heard and they want to let the political leaders know how they feel about things and they're not happy right now.
BLANK: Well, Otis, in the category of "October surprises," you can't get a bigger one than State Sen. Brent Taylor admitting to sending lewd photos of himself to people who apparently did not request them. What are some of the reasons this really exploded as a national news item?
SANFORD: Well, because the national media had been looking at this race all along. And the level of attention is based on what actually happened here. Sexual improprieties, they've been around a lot lately, and national media are covering them as they should. And that's why this is a big story right now.
BLANK: Do you think there's a reason liberals are piling on? Is there something about it that has really justified this level of response to Sen. Taylor's admission?
SANFORD: Oh, absolutely. And the reason is the rank hypocrisy. He denigrates people. He calls them names. He has insisted that if he's elected, it'll be competence over chaos. And to have this come out right now. And I said in my column today, it renders him unfit to serve in this office.
BLANK: But this does kind of bring up the perils of polarization, right? Because Taylor's Democratic opponent, Rep. Justin J. Pearson, is so far to the left that Republican voters probably won't find him the lesser of two evils. So, how do you think this October surprise will actually impact the election?
SANFORD: Despite this very, very damning revelation, Brent Taylor is still the front-runner. And that's only because of the gerrymandering that went on into the Ninth Congressional District and fashioned it so that it would be heavily Republican. But honestly, Chris, if Brent Taylor wins this, he will not be taken seriously. He will always carry the stench here of impropriety and hypocrisy.
And he's trying to downplay it by calling it a "youthful indiscretion" when he was 53 years old.
BLANK: I was happy to learn that I am in the prime of my youth, judging from that political response.
SANFORD: Well, even I'm in the prime. I'm 73. And I you know, I can claim youthful indiscretions too, I guess.
BLANK: I guess we all can at this point.
SANFORD: They don't call me Baby Boomer for nothing. Emphasis on the baby.
BLANK: Well, finally, one other race we are looking at in the MidSouth is the new Fifth Congressional District, which is now one-half of Memphis and a lot of western Tennessee. Does Democrat Chaz Molder, the mayor of Columbia, have a chance of beating the former agricultural commissioner Charlie Hatcher?
SANFORD: Oh, I absolutely think he has a chance. As a matter of fact, from the outset, a lot of pundits have said that he stands the better chance of any Democrat in these three races. The energy, especially on the Democratic side, is clearly with Chaz Molder.
And if he can pick off enough votes in those north western counties that used to vote Democratic, he has a better than even chance to win this thing.
