Pundits are still talking about the race and drawing conclusions. Some Democrats almost seem giddy. Despite losing, they are celebrating that the race was closer than many originally expected. Van Epps beat Behn by nearly 9 percentage points in a district Democrats have lost by more than 20 percentage points over the last several election cycles. In 2024, Rep. Mark Green, who retired from Congress this summer, creating the vacancy, was reelected by 21 percentage points.
It is surprising to me that Behn came so close. While I voted for Van Epps, I have mixed views about whether I am pleased or alarmed that the election was so close. If I view the election as a referendum on Donald Trump, then I am pleased. I can be pleased that Trump's authoritarianism and chaos are causing people such concern that they will even vote for a woke progressive socialist.
If, instead of being pleased and seeing the election as a renunciation of Trumpism, I see that an extremist woke progressive socialist almost won an election in middle Tennessee, then I am alarmed. I am choosing the first position and taking the position that the election being close is a good sign that Trump's popularity is slipping.
"Woke progressive" and "socialist" are terms loosely hurled at Democrats by Republicans, much the way "fascist" is hurled at Republicans by Democrats. Sometimes a person labeled a "woke progressive" is simply a liberal. In Atfyn Behn's case, I think it is an apt label. She has supported sex change operations for children, advocated defunding the police, denigrated motherhood, said men can birth babies, and uses the term "birthing people" instead of "mothers." She also said she hates Nashville, the city she wants to represent, and she was endorsed by the Democratic Socialist Party.
My friend Mark Rogers, an astute political observer and political practitioner, points out that the district was never as deep red as the 21-point victory by Green in 2024 indicates. Mark notes NBC's Steve Kornacki's insight when he said, "Of note, in the Dem-friendly 2018 midterm, GOP Senate nominee Marsha Blackburn won what is now TN-7 by 0.5 points over Democrat Phil Brededen. (The statewide margin was Blackburn +11)."
Mark Rogers says Phil Bredesen is the sort of pragmatic moderate that the extremists in both parties want to purge. "I know Phil Bredesen," says Mark, "and Aftyn Behn is no Phil Bredesen."
I think I agree with Mark. If I take myself as by prime example, I was prepared to vote for a Democrat. I hold very few political views in common with Democrats, but I am concerned about the separation of powers and disappointed by how Republicans will not stand up to Trump on much of anything. Some things are so clear-cut that I am astounded that Republicans in Congress just allow Trump to act with impunity. A clear example is tariffs. The Constitution clearly says taxing power is a power of Congress, yet Congress has allowed Trump to set tariff rates. This is just one of many examples. I think that if a Republican Congress will not stand up to Trump, then we need a Democrat Congress. Having said that, I could not bring myself to vote for someone as radical as Aftyn Behn. I explain this in more detail here.
I don't know how many people there are like me, who would have voted for a moderate Democrat but could not vote for a woke progressive Democrat. I suspect that there are quite a few people who could vote for someone like Phil Bredesen but not someone like AOC. I expect that Democrats are not going to see it that way. Performing fairly well with Aftyn Behn, I suspect Dems will think the Mandomi-Bernie-AOC brand of democrat will play well everywhere. I think Democrats will draw wrong conclusions and learn the wrong lessons.
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