Tuesday, August 31, 2010
But he did what he did before Bubba came to town
In case you haven't heard, Bill Clinton's comin' to town to campaign for guv-candidate Mike McWherter. It'll be interesting to hear how Bubba makes the case for electing a feller whose primary qualifications are (a) his dad was governor a few years back and (b) he's been endorsed by Phil Bredesen.
What ... you didn't know Mike McWherter's been endorsed by Phil Bredesen? You can't watch the local news without seeing one of Mike's TV ads in which he tells us such:
Back in 2006, I made this observation about Phil Bredesen's 2002 gubernatorial campaign:
In 2002, Phil Bredesen was elected on a platform of low taxes and promises to use the power of the market to deal with issues like TennCare. That is, he more or less ran as a Republican. In fact, if an individual knew absolutely nothing about Phil Bredesen except what he or she had seen in the governor-to-be's 2002 television ads, the individual in question would've had to conclude that Bredesen is a card-carrying Republican.
Not only has Mike McWherter been endorsed by Governor Bredesen, he seems to be running his campaign right outta the Bredesen for Gov 2002 playbook. That is, he's for lower taxes on small businesses (though he never gets around to tellin' us how he's going to pull that one off), he's for getting all tough on criminals, and he never, ever mentions the D-word ("D" for Democrat).
This ain't 2002, however; and Mike McWherter doesn't have the good fortune to run against a beanbag opponent like Bredesen did. Bill Haslam has a lot - and I mean a lot - of money with which he can counter McWherter every time a negative ad goes up (and believe me, the negative ads are a-comin'). Furthermore, Haslam is a well-disciplined candidate who can point to his years as the popular mayor of a major Tennessee city to make the case that he's more qualified to be Tennessee's next governor. You know, like Phil Bredesen did.
From where I sit, I see Haslam beating Mikey by 10 points. Ain't no way a Democrat is going to win statewide in Tennessee with the stain of Obama on his party i.d. Methinks Bubba should use his frequent-flyer miles on a cadidate who actually has a chance.
What ... you didn't know Mike McWherter's been endorsed by Phil Bredesen? You can't watch the local news without seeing one of Mike's TV ads in which he tells us such:
Back in 2006, I made this observation about Phil Bredesen's 2002 gubernatorial campaign:
In 2002, Phil Bredesen was elected on a platform of low taxes and promises to use the power of the market to deal with issues like TennCare. That is, he more or less ran as a Republican. In fact, if an individual knew absolutely nothing about Phil Bredesen except what he or she had seen in the governor-to-be's 2002 television ads, the individual in question would've had to conclude that Bredesen is a card-carrying Republican.
Not only has Mike McWherter been endorsed by Governor Bredesen, he seems to be running his campaign right outta the Bredesen for Gov 2002 playbook. That is, he's for lower taxes on small businesses (though he never gets around to tellin' us how he's going to pull that one off), he's for getting all tough on criminals, and he never, ever mentions the D-word ("D" for Democrat).
This ain't 2002, however; and Mike McWherter doesn't have the good fortune to run against a beanbag opponent like Bredesen did. Bill Haslam has a lot - and I mean a lot - of money with which he can counter McWherter every time a negative ad goes up (and believe me, the negative ads are a-comin'). Furthermore, Haslam is a well-disciplined candidate who can point to his years as the popular mayor of a major Tennessee city to make the case that he's more qualified to be Tennessee's next governor. You know, like Phil Bredesen did.
From where I sit, I see Haslam beating Mikey by 10 points. Ain't no way a Democrat is going to win statewide in Tennessee with the stain of Obama on his party i.d. Methinks Bubba should use his frequent-flyer miles on a cadidate who actually has a chance.
# posted by Joltin' Django @ Tuesday, August 31, 2010 
