This Democrat has potential

Instapundit Glenn Reynolds has profiled his governor, Phil Bredesen, who as a rich white northern liberal Democrat won the election as governor of Tennessee. The article references a New Republic article describing his history and how he won the election. Glenn Reynolds' comment is well worth reading:

Bredesen's secret is no secret at all: It's respect. He doesn't view rural people, or southerners, with the thinly disguised contempt that is found, all-too-often among national Democratic figures. And he's also not afraid to talk with people who disagree with him. In fact, one of the striking things, to me, is that he does so well on conservative talk radio. He speaks clearly, doesn't duck questions or retreat into soundbites and blather, and treats others with respect while not acting ashamed of his own positions. The result is that talk-show hosts, and listeners, respect him too. If this is hard to replicate, it says bad things about the rest of the Democratic field; this sort of thing ought to be Politics 101, not the advanced class.

Just like I've been saying: no one likes condescension.

Plus, his background is something Republicans can endorse. He was raised in a rural community, attended Harvard on a scholarship, and built the company that made him rich, unlike, say, the two Senators from Massachusetts. (How Bredesen stayed a liberal is beyond me.)