Governor Phil Bredesen says Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama should brush the mud off instead of slinging it back. Bredesen made his comments yesterday at a forum on civil discourse, which he co-hosted with former Tennessee Senator Howard Baker.
The governor was referring to recent remarks from Vice Presidential Candidate Sarah Palin, who has insinuated that Obama associates with terrorists because of his work with former Weather Underground leader Bill Ayers.
The Obama campaign has fired back with ads targeting McCain’s link to the Keating 5 Savings and Loan scandal of the late eighties.
Governor Bredesen says he should stop.
“I sure would love to have my candidate, Senator Obama, just kind of step back from this whole thing and say, ‘Enough’s enough, we’re not going to win this thing this way, it’s not what people want.’ I actually think people would respond very well to that.”
Bredesen says it’s one thing to respond to an opponent’s attack, and another to launch a counterattack.
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The panelists for the civil discourse forum were the Republican governor of Mississippi, Haley Barbour; NBC News senior vice president Mark Whitaker; Politico managing editor Bill Nichols; and Pat Schroeder, head of the Association of American Publishers.
Schroeder argued the House of Representatives is more partisan because of redistricting. Incumbents can choose districts that are hard to lose in re-election, and act divisively with little fear of reprisal. Governor Barbour agreed:
“Republicans have become more Conservative; Democrats have become more liberal; there are fewer people in the middle; there are fewer competitive races; and it is because of apportionment.”
Schroeder also noted the influence of outside groups in presidential races.
“The other thing that’s happened is you’ve allowed third-party groups to come in, such as the Swift Boat people. The average voter thinks that the candidate has some control over those third-party groups. They really don’t.”
Bernard Shaw moderated.
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