Written by John Tullock   

Perhaps for the first time in the history of the nation, we have candidates for the United States Senate, one from each party, that have been disavowed by their party's leadership. After Republican Todd Akin of Missouri made outrageous comments regarding rape and pregnancy, calls for him to resign his candidacy came from everywhere, including Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan.

And in my home state of Tennessee, Mark Clayton, an anti-gay, Tea Party nut job who thinks the UN is trying to take over golf courses,won the Democratic primary with 30% of the vote on August 2. Within 24 hours, the party executive committee had repudiated his candidacy and vowed that Clayton would receive no funding. Thus, we have a unique situation in the history of national elections.

Of possibly greater interest, however, is the explanation suggested by one of the losing candidates for how the Tennessee debacle occurred. Unsuccessful candidate Larry Crim sued in Federal court to overturn the election, basically alleging that because the candidates were listed in alphabetical order, the one at the top of the list received the most votes. Had Democratic party officials rejected Clayton's bid to be on the ballot in first place, Crim's lawyer argued, Crim's name would have been at the top, and the outcome would have been different. The judge wisely ruled against Crim and refused to overturn, stating that there had been no evidence of fraud, as Crim claimed.

Judicial opinions aside, Crim should be ashamed of himself. Tennessee Democrats are simply not that stupid. A far more likely scenario is that Clayton's victory was the result of crossover voting by Republicans hoping not only to provide incumbent Bob Corker with an easy-to-beat opponent, but also to embarrass state party leaders with the nomination of an idiot like Clayton. Tennessee has a long history of crossover voting to muddle party lines, and both parties are guilty. With Corker receiving over 80% of the vote in his primary, supporters who crossed over had nothing to lose.

Clayton is part of a cadre of extremist Republicans including several members of the Tennessee legislature, such as the equally nutty Stacey Campfield. Communication within the party structure, urging crossover voting, would have been easy, largely private, and likely was widespread.

National pundits like Rachel Maddow were quick to play the "ignorant hillbilly" card with regard to this race, insulting plenty of well-educated Tennessee Democrats. Unfortunately for Rachel and company, this argument simply won't fly. Republican treachery, not Democratic stupidity, created this situation. A sizable proportion of the Tennessee electorate has been denied a viable candidate. Claiming this is a result of our own stupidity does nothing to help the progressive cause.