Taking on Cooper
by Jerome Armstrong, Fri Sep 25, 2009 at 05:09:42 AM EDT
Here's a PR put out by Accountability Now. Ben Tribbett and I went over to watch the Redskins with their hapless win this past Sunday, and he was filling me in on all the details here. He's heading over to Nashville this week, to scout out the potential primary challengers.
I don't always get behind these primary challenges. In fact, I've been pretty vocal with the other members that we need to go into competetive open primaries as well. Cooper is one though that stands out in his defiance toward being a voice of progress. While representing a very Democratic CD, he does next to nothing but carry the load given to him by lobbyists. I'll fill you in on the details as they come along. Sounds like there are a couple of State representatives looking at challenging Cooper.
Nashville Voters and Accountability Now Cite Cooper's Financial Ties to Big Insurance and Obstruction of "Public Option" in Healthcare Debate
Nashville, TN - Congressman Jim Cooper (D-TN) is being targeted for defeat in the 2010 Democratic Primary by citizens in Tennessee and Accountability Now, the Political Action Committee set up to challenge incumbents who fail to represent their Congressional Districts.
According to a Research 2000 poll from August 24, 2009, Cooper's approval rating has sunk to below 50 percent (47% favorable, 41% unfavorable). Even more telling, was that just 36% of likely voters stated they would vote to re-elect Congressman Cooper.
Ranking high among Nashville voters concerns was Cooper's perceived obstruction of the "public option" during the recent congressional debate on health care. According to the poll conducted in August, 80 percent of Democratic voters and 64 percent of independents support a public option. 77 percent of Democratic voters and 60 percent of independent voters disapprove of Congressman Cooper's actions on the health care issue.
"Cooper has spent so many years in Congress without being accountable, that he's forgotten how to represent his constituents," said Markos Moulitsas, owner of Daily Kos and the commissioner of the poll.. "He has a choice ahead of him -- continue representing the interests of his insurance company buddies, or those of the people who elect him."
Cooper, who has collected more than $1 million dollars from health care special interests and related political action committees, has come under fire in recent weeks for failing to represent Democrats in the 5th Congressional District.
"Representative Cooper's decisions to repeatedly vote with Big Insurance while accepting over $1 million from related special interests along with his decision to block the public option during the healthcare debate have caused his approval rating to plummet," said Ben Tribbett, Executive Director of Accountability Now.
"Nashville voters want someone who will represent them, not big health insurance companies."
A breakdown on Cooper's money, votes, and polling are available here:
Money: http://cooperuncovered.com/money
Votes: http://cooperuncovered.com/healthcare, http://cooperuncovered.com/military
Polling: http://www.dailykos.com/statepoll/2009/8 19/TN/350,http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/8/24/ 771526-TN-05:-Natives-arent-happy-with- Blue-Dog-Jim-Cooper
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