Country Music Star Comes Out in Support of Republican Marsha Blackburn

Country music star John Rich, half of the "Big & Rich" group, said that he voted for Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) on Oct. 18. Blackburn is running for U.S. Senator against former governor Phil Bredesen. "Excited for #EarlyVoting Today! Headed down to cast my vote for @VoteMarsha I know some of my friends are too!" Rich posted on Twitter. "GET OUT AND VOTE!!" he added, tagging singers Lee Greenwood, Larry Gatlin, and T.G. Sheppard. In another post, he explained his support for Blackburn. "She's been a fierce warrior for songwriters for well over a decade, and being a woman, she's inherently smarter than any of us guys! We need smart, strong women representing us in the Senate," he wrote. Swift's Endorsement The support for Blackburn came after singer Taylor Swift announced her support for Bredesen in an Instagram post. Following her announcement, Bredesen's poll numbers took a sharp dive. Latest Polling Blackburn has recently gained a lead in the race, getting 54 percent to 40 percent in a recent poll from Siena of 593 voters with a 4.2 percent margin of error. The most recent poll, of 800 voters with a 4.9 margin of error, found Bredesen in the lead, 44 percent to 43 percent. But on average, Blackburn has a plus-6.5 percent lead, according to Real Clear Politics (RCP), which averaged polls from Sept. 29 to Oct. 13. That includes the Vanderbilt poll. "Phil Bredesen has hung in there, but his vote share has generally been stuck in the mid-40s while Marsha Blackburn has consolidated the vote since winning the Republican primary. Bredesen is very much in the game, but is probably still a bit of an underdog," according to RCP. From NTD.tv