I spent the previous two days focused on coverage of the "homegoings" for Rev. Dr. Benjamin L. Hooks, and it was a privilege and an honor to get the assignment. With all the leaders paying their respects to Dr. Hooks, there was also a fair amount of access to political figures.
At the funeral on Wednesday, at Temple of Deliverance Church of God in Christ, Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) told a story about how someone once suggested to Dr. Hooks he would make a great member of a gubernatorial cabinet. Cabinet? Dr. Hooks said. No, think bigger.
Alexander recalled that Dr. Hooks told him: "I was going to be the first African-American Republican governor of Tennessee. I was going to carry Memphis big and get all those Republican votes in East Tennessee."
At the visitation on Tuesday, at the Greater Middle Baptist Church that Dr. Hooks pastored for 52 years, it seemed somehow appropriate that early voting for the May 4 Shelby County primaries was occurring simultaneously, over in the church gym. There were the usual political signs sprouting like weeds along the drive leading to the church, and many people who paid respects to Dr. Hooks availed themselves of the opportunity to cast votes.
The Shelby County Election Commission's early-voting totals show that Greater Middle had nearly twice as many votes on Tuesday (181) than they had on Monday (97), despite the fact that the opening day is usually one of the highest-volume days. On Wednesday, Greater Middle only had 64 people cast ballots. So far, only 7,790 people have cast ballots in the primaries, putting us on pace for a potentially record-low turnout.
At the funeral on Wednesday, at Temple of Deliverance Church of God in Christ, Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) told a story about how someone once suggested to Dr. Hooks he would make a great member of a gubernatorial cabinet. Cabinet? Dr. Hooks said. No, think bigger.
Alexander recalled that Dr. Hooks told him: "I was going to be the first African-American Republican governor of Tennessee. I was going to carry Memphis big and get all those Republican votes in East Tennessee."
At the visitation on Tuesday, at the Greater Middle Baptist Church that Dr. Hooks pastored for 52 years, it seemed somehow appropriate that early voting for the May 4 Shelby County primaries was occurring simultaneously, over in the church gym. There were the usual political signs sprouting like weeds along the drive leading to the church, and many people who paid respects to Dr. Hooks availed themselves of the opportunity to cast votes.
The Shelby County Election Commission's early-voting totals show that Greater Middle had nearly twice as many votes on Tuesday (181) than they had on Monday (97), despite the fact that the opening day is usually one of the highest-volume days. On Wednesday, Greater Middle only had 64 people cast ballots. So far, only 7,790 people have cast ballots in the primaries, putting us on pace for a potentially record-low turnout.
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