Tenn. Defies Cliches on Race and Politics
10th August 2008
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For Nikki Tinker, Tennessee’s 9th Congressional District hung as sweetly as a plum in the state’s Democratic primary. It has a black majority, is full of churchgoing African American women like herself, and includes the hallowed ground where the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated by a white man.
But in an election season in which racial appeals may be losing their power, Tinker discovered that looks can be deceiving. On Election Day, she was crushed by her white opponent, Rep. Stephen I. Cohen, whom Tinker labeled as anti-prayer in one campaign ad and tried to link to the Ku Klux Klan in another.
“It was the first time in a state election where race could have been a factor and wasn’t,” said Larry Moore, an associate professor at the University of Memphis. “She fit the demographic perfectly. She was active in the churches. The majority of voters are female. And she got blown out.”