NASHVILLE – Tennessee Republican officials on Wednesday sought to put Democratic U.S. Senate nominee Phil Bredesen on the spot Wednesday after he referred to his GOP rival Marsha Blackburn in an interview as a “big girl” capable of making “decisions for herself.”
Bredesen’s comments came in a Wednesday story in the The Tennessean after he was asked about U.S. Rep. Blackburn’s recently missed congressional votes as the Senate contest heats up.
Marsha Blackburn and Phil Bredesen“She’s a big girl,” Bredesen was quoted saying of Blackburn, who prefers to call herself congressman instead of congresswoman. “She can make those decisions for herself as to what she considers her responsibilities to be.”
State GOP Vice Chairwoman Jennifer Little charged in a statement that Bredesen “clearly feels threatened by strong women leaders and should be ashamed.
“Marsha is a mother, a grandmother, a businesswoman, the first woman elected to Congress from Tennessee, and now she’s running to be the first woman from our state ever elected to the U.S. Senate,” Little said. “She’s not just some ‘girl.'”