Corker For Veep?
Posted on May 16, 2008 at 8:04 amTommy Oliver, a conservative critic of the Senator during the 2006 Republican primary, says why not:
I doubt that McCain will be calling Senator Corker to be his running mate anytime soon, since Corker has been extremely critical of the Senator from AZ from time to time, but if things don’t work out in 2008 for Republicans, Corker is a man that they should give a long look towards in 2012 as a possible candidate. He has business credentials that are almost as strong as Mitt Romney’s, as he was a self made multi million dollar CEO of the largest construction company in Tennessee, which he expanded into a successful real estate business. He has executive experience in running a government, and was successful. While mayor of Chattanooga from 2001 to 2005, he cleaned up the city. He also served as the Commissioner of Finance and Administration for Tennessee from 1995-2001. By 2012, He will have spent six years as a Senator, and is establishing the conservative voting record to brag about. He will have had experience in both the legislative and executive branch to match, and since he was elected, he’s been talking so much sense conservatively that Fred Thompson would be proud. Lastly, he’s still only fifty-three, and could be around for a while.
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If Everybody Else Is Going To Pander, Jim Kyle Wants In
Posted on May 8, 2008 at 1:54 pmFrom a press release:
Democratic Leader Senator Jim Kyle, D-Memphis, announced today that he supports allowing Tennessee to participate in a suspension of the 18-cents-per-gallon federal gas tax.
Presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and John McCain have proposed such a national gas tax holiday as consumers face the crunch of gas prices that have topped $3.50 per gallon. However, Tennessee may not be allowed to take part in the program.
Under current state law, Tennessee’s gas tax must be increased to make up the difference if the federal gas tax is decreased. In 2006, Kyle passed a two-year suspension of this law. That suspension expires on July 1, 2008.
“If 49 states in the country are going to have a gas tax holiday, then I believe that Tennessee should have one, too,” he said. “I’m committed to making sure that we get a break at the gas pumps just like everyone else.”
UPDATE: Rep. Susan Lynn has an amendment to the technical corrections bill all ready to go on this issue.
Dream A Little Dream
Posted on April 25, 2008 at 1:34 pmSean Hackbarth reports that John McCain told a group of bloggers on a conference call that he would be Hamas’ “worst nightmare”:
Jennifer Rubin asked if Obama has given an unhelpful signal to Hamas? McCain responded that it’s clear who Hamas wants to be President. So does Daniel Ortega. “I will be Hamas’ worst nightmare,” said McCain. McCain noted that Iran is stepping up their export of explosives to Iraq, and they wouldn’t want him to be President either. New slogan: John McCain: The candidate America’s enemies least favorite.
Never Get High On Your Own Supply-Side
Posted on at 1:23 pmThe Tennessee Democratic Party examines John McCain’ history of opposing supply-side tax cuts and wonders whether his current support for continuing the Bush tax cuts represent a philosophical transformation or Machiavellian political maneuvering:
So, is this McCain being disingenuous? Is this McCain realizing his previous errors? If it is the latter, then it certainly shows a tremendous movement from one side of the political spectrum to the next. What that proves is that Senator McCain knows less about the economy than even he suspects.
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Lamar Alexander On The Temper Of John McCain
Posted on April 23, 2008 at 7:25 amFrom Jackson Baker:
For what it’s worth, one of McCain’s Republican colleagues in the Senate, Tennessee’s own Lamar Alexander, was asked, on the occasion of his recent visit to the Flyer, if he had ever been on the receiving end of one of McCain’s outbursts.
“Yes, I have,” the senator nodded gravely, going on to say, “There are very few of us who haven’t.
Of course, there is no love lost between our senior senator and John McCain due to McCain’s instrumental role in Alexander’s embarrassing loss to Trent Lott for Majority Whip:
One Lott ally said McCain was instrumental in persuading Warner to switch his support to Lott. Lott also held a long meeting with Warner.
Matching Fund System In Need Of Reform
Posted on April 22, 2008 at 10:41 amRick Hasen declares the voluntary public financing system for Presidential candidates on its last legs and in desperate need of reform:
The voluntary public financing system for U.S. presidential candidates, established in the post-Watergate era, is in its last throes. As it collapses, presidential candidates have been calculating—and recalculating–the advantages of opting in or out.
Sen. John McCain, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, has accused Sen. Barack Obama, the likely (though not certain) Democratic presidential nominee, of going back on his word; according to McCain, Obama had said he would participate in the public financing program in the general election. Democrats, meanwhile, have gone to federal court for permission to sue McCain for improperly trying to opt out of the public financing system during the primary season, after previously opting in.
It is true that both McCain and Obama have been trying to have it both ways on the public financing question. But the fault lays not so much with them as with Congress, which has failed to update the public financing system to make it a viable alternative to privately-run campaigns, and to the President and the members of the Senate, who have failed to break a deadlock over a controversial nominee to the Federal Election Commission.
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Al Gore Gives McCain A Boost
Posted on April 21, 2008 at 9:42 amThrough his spokeswoman Kalee Kreider, Al Gore states that John McCain is just as trustworthy on the signature issue in his portfolio as is Barack Obama:
“Former Vice President Gore thinks that both candidates are very strong. Both of them have offered plans to address the climate crisis … as has Senator McCain,” she said.
I asked Kreider why she is praising McCain, considering that Bush lied in 2000 about his intent to deal with climate change. Here’s her response.
The key threshold issue for most NGO’s and people working on climate, ourselves included are: Does the policymaker, work, support, vote in favor of, introduce legislation for mandatory reductions in pollution or not. McCain has, Bush has not.
Home Invasion Or Not, A Deadline Is A Deadline
Posted on at 7:00 amChattanooga Times Free Press reporter Herman Wang finds the time to file the story he was working on when his home got invaded on the buzz of a possible Phil Bredesen Veep run as well as other Tennessee connections to the Vice-Presidential search on both sides of the aisle:
Ten Mile, Tenn., native and Washington attorney A.B. Culvahouse Jr. is consulting Sen. McCain in his vice president search, according to The Associated Press.
Other Tennessee and Georgia lawmakers offered other names they would like to see considered as vice president.
Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., and Rep. Nathan Deal, R-Ga., said they favor having former presidential candidate Mitt Romney on the Republican ticket, citing his business experience and tenure as a former Massachusetts governor.
Rep. Zach Wamp, R-Tenn., said former Rep. J.C. Watts and former presidential candidate and Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson should be on Sen. McCain’s short list.
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Wampening Conservative Criticism
Posted on at 6:10 amRepublican Presidential candidate John McCain appears to have turned to prominent Fred Thompson backer, Congressman Zach Wamp, to help serve as a liaison to conservatives skeptical of his candidacy:
“We just talked about the Republican agenda for reforming the government,” Wamp said. “I want to help him carry the reform mantle through this campaign.”
Wamp was reticent about details, but said they discussed spending-reduction proposals, including an earmark overhaul — specifically a plan backed by Wamp and some other GOP appropriators to create a congressional committee on earmark reform — as well as plans to make the Army Corps of Engineers more efficient, an agenda item dear to conservatives.
McCain still has a lot of work to do in winning over House conservatives, many of whom loathe him for bucking the party on issues ranging from taxes to oil and gas drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Wamp, who is also a conservative with a fierce independent streak, could help McCain make inroads with the small legion of social and economic conservatives who formed Thompson’s political base in the House.
Can John McCain Cobble Together A Coalition Of Nativists And Hispanics?
Posted on April 18, 2008 at 7:22 amNashville immigration attorney, Greg Siskind reports that he’s gonna give it a shot.
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