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At A Weekend Rally, Blackburn Makes A Pitch For Republican Unity In The Wake Of Kavanaugh Hearings

The event served as an attempt to, once again, nationalize the Tennessee Senate race, something that Congressman Marsha Blackburn has done throughout the campaign.
Sergio Martínez-Beltrán
/
WPLN
The event served as an attempt to, once again, nationalize the Tennessee Senate race, something that Congressman Marsha Blackburn has done throughout the campaign.

Hear the radio version of this story.

Republican Marsha Blackburn says she is campaigning hard despite some polls showing her in the lead.

Her remarks were made Sunday at a rally featuring a prominent Republican, Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina.

The event served as an attempt to, once again, nationalize the Tennessee Senate race, something that Blackburn has done throughout the campaign. 

Graham focused heavily on the hearings for Justice Brett Kavanaugh and on the possibility of having a Democratic majority in the U.S. Senate if Phil Bredesen is elected.

He said this election is not only about issues like taxes and immigration, but also about an attitude.

“Who do you want to run your government?" Graham asked. "You want the people that is going to destroy this man to be in charge? They wanted power so badly that there’s nothing they wouldn’t do.”

Graham was one of Kavanaugh’s biggest defenders and he said the hearings were a defining moment for red-state Democrats running for office across the country.

"If you are a red-state Democrat, this was a defining moment in your political career," Graham said. "And if you went with the mob, I think you are going to pay a price."He told reporters the Kavanaugh confirmation fight helped unify the Republicans, including in Tennessee.

 

That's even though a recent national poll by USA Today/Suffolk University found that Kavanaugh’s confirmation has pushed voters toward Democrats even more.

At Sunday's event, about seven protestors were removed from the venue.

The Bredesen campaign issued a statement condemning the protests and similar behavior from Blackburn supporters at some of his events.

"This is not what this election is about and it is time to get back to bringing attention to fixing problems for the people of Tennessee," the statement read. 

This is not the last event for Blackburn featuring a big name from the Republican Party — President Trump is expected to come back to Tennessee sometime before the election.

Copyright 2018 WPLN News

Sergio Martínez-Beltrán is Nashville Public Radio’s political reporter. Prior to moving to Nashville, Sergio covered education for the Standard-Examiner newspaper in Ogden, Utah. He is a Puerto Rico native and his work has also appeared on NPR station WKAR, San Antonio Express-News, Inter News Service, GFR Media and WMIZ 1270 AM.