Voice in the Crowd, 820 words
Voice in the Crowd
By Pete Chaney
IPS Features
Tennessee is Heartland Politics
Tennessee is pretty much Heartland America. Originally part of North Carolina with the thirteen colonies, it almost became the State of Franklin before the genesis of Indian territory gave it the name. Its people are deep rooted in patriotism, from the time when men of the Volunteer State Followed Andrew Jackson down to New Orleans in the War of 1812. The name of Sgt. Alvin C. York, the backwoods boy who became legendary in World War I, is still revered here.
Chattanooga calls itself the Most Patriotic City in America and still has the longest continual Armed Forces Day Parade each May to honor the military.
When it comes to politics, the state leans a little more
to the conservative side but is pretty much divided between Republicans and
Democrats. The governor’s mansion
shifts residents from one party to the other.
Democratic Ray Blanton. Republican
Lamar Alexander. Democrat Ned
McWherter. Republican Don
Sundquist.
Who’s next?
With the primary election only months away, candidates
are still trying to stake out territory and act confident.
Some are choosing up sides. Others
are taking a wait and see attitude, or staying out altogether
U.S. Rep.
Zach Wamp has said he would be impartial in the GOP primaries and support the
nominee. He is running for his own
reelection to the House of Representatives.
He has made no secret that he
plans to seek Sen. Bill Frist’s seat in the senate on the presumption that
Bill will retire after this term ends. But
some observers say Bill has gained too much of a profile to go quietly to
private life and may stay on in the senate as a step toward the vice presidency.
The governor’s mansion is attractive to U.S. Rep. Van
Hilleary who is an announced GOP candidate.
The popular congressman saw action as a pilot in Desert Storm.
He has been gathering momentum with his campaign staff headed by former
state GOP party chairman Jim Burnett. He
has his website running and Jim is cruising the state looking for support.
Most importantly, he has been accumulating a respectable
war chest.
One GOP observer said, “The nomination is Van’s to
lose.” Anybody who has ever been
around an election knows how easy it is for a candidacy to shoot himself in the
foot.
In the Chattanooga area, Van has enlisted the support of
state Rep. David Fowler, who was once considered a possible gubernatorial
candidate himself. David ranks well
with the religious community and conservative right.
Early in the campaign Van put a fence between himself
and Gov. Sundquist by stepping into the income tax debate, pulling support from
the governor. Some think the timing
was ill advised, and that he might have stayed out of it until later.
Greatest challenge to Van in the GOP camp comes from Jim
Henry. A stable moderate
conservative, Jim has grass roots support and is strongly backed by some of the
Republican giants. Don Sundquist is
known to like and admire Jim. In
the Chattanooga-Hamilton County area County Executive Claude Ramsey and Tax
Assessor Bill Bennett number themselves as favoring Jim.
He has yet to gather an organization such as Van’s.
But he’s working on it.
Van does have the advantage over Jim in name
recognition.
The Democratic Party has many wannabees for the
governorship nomination. Phil
Bredesen stands head and shoulders above the pack.
The Nashville mayor will be stronger in the west and in larger cities
than the GOP choice. He is well
known, and his candidacy will have deep pockets.
Although he has said he will not use his own money in the primary,
everyone knows the resources are there.
It is said that the Bredesen camp would prefer Van as
the opponent. One source says they
have “some dirt” on Van and that it will surface “at the right time.”
Many candidates learn the hard way that their whole
lives become under a microscope once they announce for office.
The higher the office, the stronger the microscope.
If a candidate played hooky from kindergarten, someone will make an issue
of it. Best advice for any candidate is to beat the opposition to
the punch and bring it out first.
Right now the election is anyone’s to win, or to lose.
Ask Democrat Al Gore.
The vice president and native son lost his home state to Republican
George W. Bush.
The next few months will become progressive hotter in
politics for Tennessee. New
friendships will be made. Old
friendships will be broken. May be
the best man will win.
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