In a NY Times article last friday John Wilder, in reponse to questions about what he was going to do now that the was no longer leading the Tennessee state senate, said, “I’m going to Disney Land!”

OK, no he didn’t. What he really said was that he was going to be the best state senator he could be.

The entire article is worth a look as it lays out in detail the recent “historic shift in power” in the Tennessee state senate and its implications here and throughout the rest of the southern states.

Most interesting to progressives is evidence of rising Republican strength in state politics which since 1964 has stayed consistently Democractic even as there’s been a shift towards supporting Republican presidential candidates.

Metro council, mayoral, state legislators, governor - these races are just as important as the presidential and US Congressional races. Get involved now.

This post was written by Mary Mancini