Live from Music Row Tuesday morning on The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy – broadcast on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. –  host Leahy welcomed public affairs strategist Clint Brewer in the studio.
During the third hour, Brewer discussed Congressman Jim Cooper’s recent comments during the Postmaster General’s hearing in the House citing he’s had plenty of years to rectify the situation. He added that his close call race with Keeda Haynes was a sure indication that Nashville was ready to upset the congressman who no longer reflects their values.
(James Comer clip plays)
Leahy: Now that’s kind of funny. That’s Republican Congressman James Comer of Kentucky commenting on this $25 billion bill passed by the House on Saturday. It’s not going to make it through the Senate. But it gets to this whole issue how the Democrats are creating the new bill of the postal crisis.
And then Jim Cooper with his just beneath contempt smear of the new Postmaster General. Here is what he said in the House Oversight Committee. Cooper said this and implied that the guy was a crook. The guy just started the job Mr. Louis DeJoy guy who is the new Postmaster General. Cooper said, is your back up plan to be pardoned like Roger Stone?
To which the Postmaster General replied, I have no comment on that. It’s not worth a comment. Factually wrong, Roger Stone who will be our guest here on Thursday. His sentence wasn’t pardoned it was commuted. Why all of a sudden does he have a pulse? He’s smearing somebody in a very reprehensible way. Why is acting up all of a sudden?
Brewer: Well he had a young activist take him to the wall in his primary just weeks ago.
Leahy: Actually you know I’m sorry to say we didn’t really pay attention to that. What was the election outcome?
Brewer: It was 57 to 40. He won handily.
Leahy: 57, 40?
Brewer: Yeah, when you are racking up 39 and change against a sitting Congressman without nearly his budget or reach. A very sharp young woman. A public defender. Keeda Haynes.
Leahy: Keeda Haynes. Keeda Haynes. Now just for our audience who may not be familiar with Keeda Haynes. She got basically 40 percent of the vote against Cooper. She got 34,000 votes. He got 50,000. This is how much even Democrats in Davidson County don’t like Jim Cooper. She’s a convicted felon.
Brewer: Yes. She did serve time in prison. She went through the legal process.
Leahy: Got involved with some drug dealing thing as a kid? She was in prison for like five years.
Brewer: Got her citizenship back. Went to law school. Became a public defender. Sort of the model of rehabilitation.
Leahy: Here’s what’s interesting to me Clint. I’m looking at this and I’m thinking this convicted felon is probably going to be a nicer person to deal with than Jim Cooper. He seems like an arrogant left-wing jerk.
Brewer: I think maybe she has some life experiences a little closer to the ground than the sitting Congressman Cooper. Let’s put it that way.
Leahy: His dad was a governor. He was born into a wealthy family. He went to Harvard of all places. How can anybody decent come out of Harvard?
Brewer: I don’t know Mike.
Leahy: But he’s pretty arrogant. He doesn’t return calls. He certainly won’t talk to anybody that’s conservative in his district from what I’ve heard.
Brewer: I think the results of the primary probably ended the long extended Weekend at Bernie’s episode that was his career up until this point.
Leahy: Would you say some ambient lefty might describe it?
Brewer: Yes. He pokes his head up and makes comments like this and you’re probably going to see more of that in the next few weeks and in this year. He’s got to show sort of the progressive activist left-wing of the Democratic Party in Nashville that was behind Miss Haynes that he’s got something to offer. But I mean smarmy smug little comments like this in hearings. Look, Jim Cooper had decades to deal with problems at the U.S. Postal Service.
Leahy: And what did he do?
Brewer: I don’t recall him doing anything.
Leahy: He hadn’t done anything except being smug, arrogant, and condescending. And he won’t even talk to conservatives.
Brewer: I just think it’s unfortunate. It doesn’t represent Nashville well. I’m sure there are people cheering him on social media. But the fact of the matter is that the postal service has some deep systemic problems that long predate this administration. And people like Representative Cooper have had every opportunity in their careers to deal with it and it hasn’t been a priority until it became a talking point and a soundbite.
Leahy: I think he outspent Keeda Haynes significantly. That is an alarm bell for his political career. Do you think he runs again in 2022?
Brewer: I think I’d be doing a lot of polling if I was his advisors in advance. And I think I’d be modulating publicly what I care about and what I care about to the issues that resonate. We are in a presidential election cycle. We are coming down to the wire here soon. And there will be lots of opportunities to throw bombs. And I’m sure he’ll throw some.
Leahy: I think he’s channeling Steve Cohen from Memphis.
Brewer: Well, Steve’s actually good at this, right? Steve, for all of his ideological faults, is really good at grabbing a headline or grabbing a soundbite. It’s sort of like Jim’s imitating him.
Leahy: Yes. Again, back to the issue. He’s not really had an original thought for most of his life.
Brewer: Say what you want about Cohen. Cohen is consistent in his bomb-throwing. At least he can get a funny one in often.
Leahy: We have kind of a story here and an approach to coverage at The Tennessee Star traffic. There was a period of time where we could put any story up about Megan Barry and it would get, during her controversy which was a big mess and we all remember.
It’s a Megan Barry story and it would get like 50,000 Facebook shares. Well, we’ve had that with Steve Cohen. Anytime he says something that’s so stupid that our readers will say well there you go. He’s being stupid again. It’s gleeful to them to find Steve Cohen making a fool of himself.
Brewer: I think it’s gleeful to the people in his district because they keep re-electing them. I think he’s playing to the base. Steve Cohen, again let’s set aside the ideological differences between most of you listeners and Representative Cohen.
Leahy: All of our listeners.
Brewer: Steve Cohen is an effective politician.
Leahy: If your idea of effectiveness is being a national fool I think you are probably right.
Brewer: He’s effective at getting re-elected.
Leahy: That is a true statement. But Cooper is shall we say, a pale imitation of Steve Cohen. He doesn’t quite have the pizzazz or the theatrical element and showmanship of Cohen. Now, Cohen’s showmanship may be hokey.
Brewer: The other thing to is and this postal service thing just flies all over me. Representative Cooper makes himself appear a mile wide and an inch deep.
Leahy: It makes him appear that way.
Brewer: I’m trying to be polite Mike. (Leahy laughs) I mean look, he’s been positioning himself as a fiscal and budget hawk for his entire career and here he is defending cuts to a government agency that has run so deeply in the red for so long that people just forgot about how bad it is. It’s just kind of intellectually dishonest.
Leahy: I think that’s the kindest thing you could say about Representative Jim Cooper. I do think this very robust challenge to him by Keeda Haynes is…look, you know how these trends are. It’s the far-left activists that have the energy.
Brewer: I’m just being very transparent here with your listening audience. I have friends on both sides of the aisle and the activists I know in Nashville, the journalists who follow them, and the progressive leaders in Nashville are really ready for a change in that congressional seat. They are really ready for somebody that represents the politics in Nashville in a more closely held fashion and a more modern fashion.
Leahy: She is I guess a progressive Democrat. I mean her politics seem to be typical social justice Democrat. But that’s the wave taking the Democratic Party.
Brewer: It is.
Leahy: Over a cliff perhaps. But it could take her in Nashville to an even closer challenge for Jim Cooper. I will not shed a tear by the way.
Brewer: You should watch the next primary and who’s going to get in leading up to it. It will be interesting.
Listen to the full third hour here:
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Tune in weekdays from 5:00 – 8:00 a.m. to the Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy on Talk Radio 98.3 FM WLAC 1510. Listen online at iHeart Radio.Â
When we first moved here from ATL, I called his office regarding some Issue going thru Congress and I wanted to know where he stood. I thought, even tho I was a Conservative, his Office MIGHT want to know what his Constituents were thinking. I was SHOCKED. A Young Man answered and as soon as I stated my Opinion, he laughed. I told him that I had a Vote too and he said “He doesnt need or want YOUR Vote”. I was really amazed
We lived in Cynthia McKinney’s District when she was in Congress and if I called her Office, they were respectful, nice, professional and always tried, good naturedly, to talk me into Voting for her but in a really positive way.
One of the BIG reasons I didnt Vote for his brother, MiniCooper, for Mayor was I HATE “Legacy Politicians” and it seemed to me that is what was going on–Sibling Rivalry. I was right
The BEST thing that could happen is Jim doesnt run and a Conservative takes his seat. That wont happen, Nashville is GONE