10 days to go!

Tennessee has been an active state in this election cycle with potential nominee, Fred Thompson, and one of the three debates being held in Nashville at Belmont University. However, the state will remain a red one when it is all said and done on November 4th. Obama's massive fundraising strides will not allow him to capture this southern, traditionally Republican state. The current polls and electoral maps find McCain in comfortable standing. The Tennessean highlighted yesterday top state Senate races, with a current Senate split between both parties, which may make the vote closer than usual for the presidential candidates. I will still confidently call Tennessee as "Strong McCain" with 10 days to go.

Tennesseans talking about Joe the plumber

Joe the plumber became a household name after last week's presidential debate with McCain saying his name over 20 times. He has appeared on television shows, in newspapers, and all over the internet. The Tennessean reported that "Middle Tennessee 'Joe the plumbers' pipe up on debate".  In interviewing a few Joe's that are also plumbers in Tennessee, the newspaper got a sense that the questions initiated by Joe the plumber to Obama has stirred up conversations about Obama's tax plans to many people who usually have not paid attention to the election in the past. While some argue that McCain will actually be hurt by the use of his Joe the plumber example because of the scrutiny Joe has gotten since the debate, it seems as though it is getting people more interested in the candidates positions. 

Was Nashville boring?

The front page of the Drudge report this morning said one simple word in describing last night's debate at Belmont University: "Boring". Real Clear Politics reported a Newsweek article about the debate titled "The Nashville Debate: McCain and Obama Sing the Same Old Tune". While both Obama and McCain had certain strong points in the debate last night, the overall consensus seems to be that not much of anything will come out of the second debate. Obama maintained the status quo, which is all he needs to do at this point, and McCain didn't do anything to further his campaign, unlike many believe he needed.

Southern Hospitality during the debates

Both the GOP and Democrats are hosting big pre-debate, post-debate, and debate watch parties in Nashville. The second presidential debate will be held at Belmont University, and has made the politicians in Tennessee "roll out the carpet", according to the Tennessean.