By Emily Pierce
Congressional Quarterly

Electoral votes: 11

Delegates: 81

Chairman: Douglas A. Horne

Hotel: Westin Bonaventure (213) 624-1000

1996 Election:
Clinton – 48%
Dole – 46%
Perot – 6%

High on the hopes that favorite son Vice President Al Gore will win the presidency in November, Tennessee's delegation likely will play a high-profile role at the Democratic National Convention - especially since Gore is nominally one of the state's 81 delegates.

"We in Tennessee know [Gore] best, and we'll be able to say to fellow delegates that we know first-hand what kind of person he is," said delegate Jerry Futrell, a long-time Gore family friend.

Futrell, who is from Gore's home town of Carthage, said he has been friends with the Gore family for 35 years and has taken on the task of driving Gore's octogenarian mother, Pauline, to and from campaign events in the state.

Delegate Benjamin Hooks, who served as president of the NAACP from 1977 to 1993, said the Tennessee delegation also "has a special responsibility to make sure this brilliant, talented and very deserving native son becomes president."

The excitement in Tennessee for Gore's presidential candidacy is not surprising. His family name carries weight in the Volunteer State, because of his father's long political history as well as his own.

Gore's father, Albert Gore Sr., served in Congress for 32 years, rounding out his tenure with three terms in the Senate before losing a 1970 re-election contest. A man who once had national political ambitions of his own, the elder Gore died in December 1998 at age 91 after seeing his son elected twice as vice president.

As the son of a congressman, Al Gore grew up primarily in Washington, attended exclusive private schools at the behest of his father, graduated from Harvard University and enlisted for Army service in Vietnam.

After brief stints in journalism as a soldier and civilian, Gore followed his father into politics, first by winning a U.S. House seat in 1976, then easily winning election to the Senate with an overwhelming 61 percent in 1984.

But rather than simply relying on his father's legacy, Gore earned voter loyalty for himself by making himself accessible to ordinary residents of the state. And late last year, when his campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination appeared to be floundering, he got it turned around after moving his headquarters from Washington to Nashville.

Despite his grounding in Tennessee political history, Gore faces ridicule from Republicans who portray him as a native of the nation's capital and scoff at his tales of plowing fields during his summers home in Carthage. And because Tennessee - where Southern conservatism is the predominant political strain - has been trending Republican in recent years, Gore may not be able to count on his home state's electoral votes in November.

The past two presidential elections signaled that Gore would have to fight for Tennessee if he got to run for the top spot. President Clinton twice carried the state with Gore on the ticket, but not by much: 47 percent to 42 percent over Republican incumbent George Bush in 1992 and an even narrower 48 percent to 46 percent over GOP challenger Bob Dole in 1996.

The Tennessee Democratic convention delegates interviewed by Congressional Quarterly acknowledged that the state is not a slam-dunk for Gore, but predicted that voter outreach efforts and home state enthusiasm would win the day for their candidate.

Futrell said talks have already begun among some county party leaders about how to energize Democratic voters across the state.

Delegate and teachers' union activist Velma Jones said of helping Gore win the state, "It's not going to be an easy task, but it's a task at which we can succeed."

Larry Beaty, a delegate and president of the Tennessee Young Democrats, added that the party will have to "toot our horn a little bit about what Democrats have done for the people of Tennessee."

African-Americans, who comprise more than 15 percent of the state's population, make up a vital part of the Tennessee Democrats' coalition. That is reflected in the convention delegation, which includes 26 African-American members - double the party's goal of 13, said party Vice Chairman Bobbie M. Caldwell.

Caldwell said the state party also made an extra effort to recruit younger Democrats to be delegates - eight people under age 30 will be going to Los Angeles.

All four Democratic members of Congress - Reps. Bob Clement, Harold E. Ford Jr., Bart Gordon and John Tanner - are members of the delegation, which will be led by Tennessee Democratic Party Chairman Douglas A. Horne.

TENNESSEE NOTABLES: Vice President Al Gore; Tennessee Democratic Party Chairman Douglas A. Horne, the delegation chairman; former Gov. Ned McWherther; former NAACP President Benjamin Hooks; Nashville Mayor Bill Purcell; Memphis Mayor W.W. Herenton; Chattanooga Mayor Jon Kinsey; Tennessee AFL-CIO President Jim Neeley; former Tennessee Democratic Party Chairman Jane Eskind; Tennessee Federation of Democratic Women Marlene King.