Note To The Gubernatorial Candidates
Posted on June 30, 2009 at 11:35 pmJohn Scott doesn’t want to participate in your pissing contest:
Note to the candidates: proving the strength of your campaign is not a motivation to me to give money to you… and that’s the reason for the request, according to most of your emails.
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Busted?
Posted on at 11:08 pmDid Bill Haslam really send you a fundraising email straight from his personal blackberry today?
Jason Shepard is betting not.
Ramsey Still Counting
Posted on at 11:02 pmAnd they are soliciting funds right up until the wire.
We’ve only a few hours to go before our midnight fundraising deadline and we are very close to achieving our goal.
We remain $1,055 away from our goal.
Guv Cash Numbers: Haslam To Report $3.8M, Wamp $1.2M
Posted on at 10:02 pmTwo top contenders for Tennessee’s Republican gubernatorial nomination say they have raised a combined $5 million through the six-month fundraising period that ends at midnight.
Knoxville Mayor Bill Haslam’s campaign says he expects to raise $3.8 million, while U.S. Rep. Zach Wamp of Chattanooga says he will come in at about $1.2 million.
Two other GOP candidates, Memphis prosecutor Bill Gibbons and state Senate Speaker Ron Ramsey of Blountville, have not yet released fundraising totals.
Biggest news: The $3.8 million for Haslam includes no personal contributions or loans from the candidate.
Already Missing Beavers
Posted on at 9:21 pmMark Rose is sad that his current state Senator will not be running for re-election:
Senator Beavers never went bad, never got corrupted by “the system.” She’s every bit as conservative now as the first day she set foot in the State Capitol in 1995. I wish she had run for governor, but I understand why she wants to spend her time here in Wilson County. Politics is often a cutthroat business that can easily corrupt elected leaders if they aren’t careful. By the time she leaves the Senate, Mae Beavers will have served the people of Wilson County (as well as the other counties in her district) for 16 years.
I’ll miss having her as my state senator, but should she become our next county mayor, the voters and taxpayers of Wilson County will be very well served by one of the most principle conservatives we’ll ever see in elected politics.
Vandy Prof Hit Alec Baldwin On HuffPo
Posted on at 9:14 pmCarol Swain doesn’t think Baldwin should be giving lectures to Gov. Mark Sanford:
Baldwin thinks we should look the other way. Instead of condemning this man who has embarrassed his political party, his church, his family, and constituents, we should embrace this as a teaching moment. “Whatever personal problems that public officials deal with privately, leave them alone. This could happen to anyone, in any state, regardless of party. Why make the voters of South Carolina suffer while Sanford is skewered? If he wants to resign, so be it. If not, let him deal with it in private,” argues Baldwin.
Hummm. Somehow, this advice coming from Alec Baldwin causes me to consider the source. Is this the same man, who was caught on tape ranting and raging at his 11-year-old daughter whom he called “a thoughtless little pig”? And, is this the same man who expressed a longing to purchase a Filipino bride by mail? By his high-minded statements, Baldwin clearly believes that adultery among public officials is purely a private matter and is, perhaps, a fringe benefit of holding office.
Rep. Mark Maddox Out Of The Hospital
Posted on at 9:09 pmVia Newscoma:
Mark Maddox is out of the hospital as of Saturday. He’s teaching his daughter to ride a bike today outside. Life is good.
The Dresden Democrat entered Volunteer Community Hospital June 13 after complaining of severe stomach pain.
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Reading Between The May Town Deferment Lines
Posted on at 8:51 pmBetsy Phillips is looking for a bit more on the word that Councilman Lonnell Matthews is asking that the May Town Center Project be deferred indefinitely.
Did the anti-MTC testimony at the Planning Commission meeting have an effect on the TSU folks? In other words, was something said that gave the TSU folks cause to believe that they needed to make sure this land-transfer happened? Can we read this delay as an indication that the TSU folks who supported MTC publicly have some doubts privately? And, if so, what are the nature of these doubts? Are there TSU folks who are concerned that the MTC folks would go back on their word? And most importantly, if TSU gets the land, and if MTC comes back before the City Council after being deferred, will there still be the same level of support for the project among these self-identified TSU people?
Teddy Bart Skates On Prostitution Charge
Posted on at 8:05 pm
Charges against broadcaster Teddy Bart stemming from his involvement in a prostitution sting earlier this year were dismissed June 9th before Judge William Higgins.
Specialized Investigations Division detectives charged nine men in three Internet-related stings held in late February and early March.
The men were responding to an Internet advertisement featuring a female police operative. All were issued misdemeanor citations.
The Billy Mays Story Is Not Unique
Posted on at 6:17 pmThat’s all well and good, but Billy Mays is not any different than any of the hundreds or thousands of other successful celebrities. He was an actor. He had an ability to connect with his audience and get them to buy the story he was selling. Same as when Billy Bob Thorton gets on screen to try and sell his character. Perhaps Mays picked some good scripts (products) to try and sell, but that doesn’t really change what he did.
So, for Conservatives who complain about the adulation given to “Hollywood” celebrities, just realize, that Mays’ story is not really any different. The vast majority of actors and musicians started with little or nothing and struggled to make it big, for every one of them that made it there are 1,000 more who did not.
Guns In Parks Could Cost Murfreesboro Cash Money
Posted on at 6:13 pmAnd the Rutherford County Democrats are very upset about it.
Sarah Palin In Running Shorts
Posted on at 5:07 pmThe former Vice-Presidential runningmate of John McCain says she could beat President Obama in a jogging contest:
Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin says she’d come out ahead if she went one-on-one with fellow jogger President Barack Obama in a long run, according to an interview published online Tuesday.
“I betcha I’d have more endurance,” she told Runner’s World magazine. “My one claim to fame in my own little internal running circle is a sub-four marathon. What I lacked in physical strength or skill, I made up for in determination and endurance.”
Palin, a 45-year-old former beauty queen who became the first woman and youngest person to be elected Alaska’s governor, is featured in the August issue of the magazine for jogging aficionados. She was dubbed the country’s “hottest” governor when she stole the show as U.S. Sen. John McCain’s presidential running mate in 2008.
I Don’t Think Corker’s Going Out Like That
Posted on at 5:01 pmBut, now that he’s been mentioned as a contender for ‘12, Jeff Woods thinks Bob Corker may now be a target for a fall.
Upcoming Interview Of The President
Posted on at 4:10 pmPresident Barack Obama will sit for an interview with The Associated Press on Thursday afternoon to discuss his July 5-12 trip to Russia, Italy and Ghana, and his domestic agenda.
The president will be interviewed by White House Correspondent Jennifer Loven across all AP platforms — print, TV, radio, online, online video and mobile.
“We welcome the chance to question President Obama, just before next week’s foreign trip, and bring his answers to a multiplatform audience of billions of people around the world,” said AP Washington Bureau Chief Ron Fournier.
‘Tax Reform’ Group Hits Rep. Gordon
Posted on at 4:05 pmA group known as Americans for Tax Reform (ATR) strongly panned Rep. Gordon (D-Tenn.) for his vote last week supporting H.R. 2454, the American Clean Energy and Security Act, alternatively referred to as the National Energy Tax bill, or the Waxman-Markey cap-and-trade/ cap-and-tax bill. It increases the cost of energy for every family living in the Sixth District of Tennessee.
Ethics Merger Bill Signed
Posted on at 3:49 pmTom Humphrey notes that fact as well as his policy on reporting bill signings:
I don’t consider it news when the governor goes through the formality of signing a bill passed by the legislature unless there’s some oddity about it - as in the case of the ethics merger. It is news, of course, if he doesn’t sign one or vetoes it. And maybe if he does a ballyhooed “ceremonial signing” with accompanying speechmaking and such.
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Coleman Concedes In Minnesoata
Posted on at 3:32 pmAl Franken is now, officially, the Senator from Minnesota. Eric Ragle notes Norm Coleman’s famous political loses both to Franken and, in 1998, to Jesse “The Body” Ventura.
Guns In Bars Legal Challenge To Be Filed Tomorrow
Posted on at 2:51 pmThe City Paper’s ace reporter Mr. Staff Reports breaks the news:
Nashville Attorney David Randolph Smith officially will file a lawsuit Wednesday challenging the guns in bars legislation passed by state Legislators a few weeks ago.
Smith plans to file the suit at 10 a.m. in Chancery Court in the Metro Davidson Courthouse on behalf of 10 Tennessee citizens with Nashville restaurateur Randy Rayburn as the lead plaintiff.
Rayburn, owner of the Sunset Grill, Midtown Café and Cabana, along with 9 others is suing the State of Tennessee (Attorney General as defendant), challenging the legality and constitutionality of Public Chapter 339 which permits the carrying of loaded concealed firearms by permit holders into all restaurants and bars that serve alcohol.
The suit is asking for a temporary restraining order and temporary and permanent injunction to stop the law from taking effect on July 14.
UPDATE: Jeff Woods’ legal advisory board predicts failure.
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