The Tennessee Republicans Sending Mixed Messages On Gas Tax

By Kleinheider Posted on June 4, 2008 at 12:43 pm

The Tennessee GOP thinks it is bad to endorse a candidate that believes that a gas tax holiday is unnecessary:

“Gov. Bredesen and Chairman Sasser have endorsed a candidate who believes Americans don’t need a tax break at the gas pump and who believes the best way to deal with a troubled economy is a massive tax hike,” Hobbs said. “They have endorsed a candidate who knows the price of arugula at Whole Foods Market but criticizes rural Americans for ‘clinging’ to God and their Second Amendment rights. They have endorsed for president a candidate who is willing to meet unconditionally with the terrorist leader of Iran but refuses to meet with Gen. David Petreaus, the leader of America’s troops in Iraq, and who believes the best way to defeat our enemy is to run from them.

What party members and the public to imply about the TNGOP’s feelings for Senator Bob Corker after reading this?

Senator Corker, you will remember, vehemently opposes the idea of a gas tax holiday just as Obama does.

McCain, for his part, fired back at Corker for his declaration that the plan was pandering during an appearance at the Ryman on Monday.

Is it not odd that the state party would implicitly back the nominee’s play on a position  so publicly in conflict with a member of the Tennessee Republican Congressional delegation? What is the TNGOP position on the gas tax, pro or con?

Could this be a bit of veiled payback, a covert GOP civil war of words, for calling out the TNGOP on the Michelle Obama video?

Or was the line perhaps designed to get back in the good graces of a nominee who no longer wishes to play referee as he did earlier this year over certain press releases the state party was putting out?

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Tags: gas tax, McCain, Obama, TNGOP  

Anti-McCain GOP Primary Vote Not Unprecedented

By Kleinheider Posted on May 7, 2008 at 12:53 pm

The Ground Game argues that the substantial vote against John McCain in the recent primary contests in PA, IN and NC are not demonstrably different from George W. Bush’s performance after he had clinched the nomination in 2000:

[A]re his primary results really that different compared to what George W. Bush received after effectively wrapping up the nomination against McCain in 2000? Bush was considered extremely well-liked by the party’s base, and was the frontrunner going back at least till 1999, up through when McCain officially withdrew on March 9, 2000.

So, what happened in the primaries after that? Results from the Associated Press show that Bush’s numbers in 2000 are largely comparable to McCain’s in 2008. For example, even in the June 6th South Dakota primary, Bush fails to cross the 80 percent threshold. In fact, Bush rarely crossed the 80 percent threshold despite having effectively wrapped up the nomination after Super Tuesday.

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Tags: McCain, Mike Huckabee, Mitt Romney, Ron Paul  

Choosing A Side

By Kleinheider Posted on April 18, 2008 at 2:11 pm

Local radio talker Steve Gill wonders if hiring a company who usually does business with Democrats is a smart idea for John McCain:

There is a good reason why polling companies, campaign consultants, direct mail operations, and other political vendors tend to stay on one side of the aisle or the other. Even with a thick set of heavily-lawyered contracts in place, it is doubtful that McCain would knowingly choose to share a polling company, particularly one that had a long history of working exclusively for Democrats, with the Obama campaign.

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Tags: Democratic campaign consultants, McCain  

State Democrats To Get Up In McCain’s Grill Over Knoxville Visit

By Kleinheider Posted on at 1:39 pm

Via Press Release:

Democratic Party Chairman Gray Sasser, Senators Andy Berke (D-Chattanooga) and Reginald Tate (D-Memphis), and Representative Joe Armstrong (D-Knoxville) will address Tennessee media via conference call on Monday, April 21, regarding Sen. John McCain’s upcoming presidential campaign visit to Knoxville. Democrats will attend the call with brief remarks and answer questions for any available media representatives.

Sen. McCain’s self-described “Forgotten Parts of America” tour was reported in USA Today as intending to reach out “to African Americans, displaced factory workers, and people living in poverty.” McCain will appear in Knoxville on Tuesday, April 22.

UPDATE: KAG reports that McCain will not be in Knoxville next week or anytime in the near future.

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Tags: Andy Berke, Gray Sasser, Joe Armstrong, McCain, USA Today