I think it’s safe to say that Tennessee is a very Republican state. The governor is a Republican, both U.S. senators are Republicans, and seven of the nine U.S. House members are proud members of the Republican Party. Both houses of the state legislature are firmly in the hands of the GOP.

To top it off, Donald Trump won the volunteer state by a whopping 26 points. Now that’s a landslide.

However, even with all of this, Republicans are increasingly worried about keeping the seat of retiring U.S. Sen. Bob Corker. The reason? The left is energized and recent polls show the Democrats gaining momentum.

To make matters worse for Republicans, Bob Corker himself, at times, has been anti-Trump and has said some pretty unfavorable things about him. Then he made up with Trump and stopped saying nasty things.

Corker also has been indecisive about running for reelection. First, he said he wouldn’t run, then he changed his mind and was going to run, and then finally decided not to run.

The Republican candidate for the Senate is Marsha Blackburn, who is in her eighth term in the U.S. House of Representatives in falling behind in the polls. Corker says he supports Blackburn, but his enthusiasm for her candidacy — and for her personally — seems severely limited.

Corker, when asked, has refused to even say Blackburn’s name, and takes the opportunity to lavish praise in every way for the Democratic candidate for Senate, Phil Bredesen.

Bredesen is the former mayor of Nashville and served two terms as governor. He is well-liked, and the adjective “popular” always seems to be used to describe his present political status.

Another plus for Bredesen is that he is very wealthy. Not only is he wealthy, he doesn’t mind spending his own fortune to get elected.

Ideologically, he is a centrist. This guy is no lefty liberal; this former health-care entrepreneur did well in business. So, Republicans can’t label him as anti-business or anti-free enterprise.

Bredesen left office seven years ago, in 2011, but he was so attractive to Democratic chances that Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) actively recruited him. No other Democrat in Tennessee was considered to have a chance.

Blackburn is very conservative — some observers say even too conservative for conservative Tennessee. More than anything, her manner and persona is strident and intensely confrontational. Blackburn is happy to proclaim that she is “politically incorrect and proud of it.” She has tied herself to Trump in every way.

On Tuesday, President Trump went to Nashville to campaign for Blackburn. This early trip in the political season was an unmistakable sign that the GOP is very anxious about the state.

Trump was so desperate that he couldn’t contain himself. He said of the Democrats, “They don’t want the wall, they want open borders, they’re more interested in taking care of criminals than they are in taking care of you.” If that rhetoric was not enough, he branded House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) with this wildly untrue label: “the MS-13-lover.”

Trump’s plea was clear and to the point: “This election is a very important one, so you have to get out. We need Marsha Blackburn to win.”

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) reportedly regards Tennessee as higher in importance than the states of Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. Those three states have Democratic incumbents up for reelection; they have been targeted because Trump won those states.

The language that Trump used in Tennessee on Tuesday shows where he will go nuclear to keep the Senate Republican. There will be no boundaries — no limits to the ugly divisive speech. Anything goes. Trump knows that a Democratic House and Senate would, for all practical purposes, end his presidency.

Tennessee was not even supposed to be in play. Yet, when the final votes are counted, Phil Bredesen could very well be the Democrat’s savior. ShareTweet