Thu
Mar 19 2009
12:34 pm
A path to gubernatorial victory for TN Democrats?
By: R. Neal

Kleinheider moves the pieces around the TN gubernatorial chess board looking for setups that could lead to victory for Democrats.

A.C. seems to think Ward Cammack is the best candidate for Democrats, although it would be a tough matchup if Haslam is the GOP nominee because "a Democrat is not going to out moderate Haslam and, in this state, you certainly can't go to his left."

Ward Cammack seems serious, and while he may not be a household name he has the money to establish his brand and appears to be creating some buzz in the right (so to speak) circles.

The only other Democrat who appears serious is Kim McMillan. Lincoln Davis has already declined, Harold Ford Jr. has already taken what was probably his best shot at statewide office, Mike McWherter teased us once and folks aren't likely to forget that, and a couple of other potential candidates have gone curiously quiet.

Who will it be? Whoever it is, they need to get busy because the GOP is already out of the gate and rounding the first turn.

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Sylvia Woods's picture

Gov. candidate

Submitted by Sylvia Woods (not verified) on Thu, 2009/03/19 - 12:58pm.

The last I heard, Doug Horne, Knoxville, was exploring the idea. He already has some support, could afford the campaign, and is a Democrat.

knoxrebel's picture

The Devil You Know

Submitted by knoxrebel on Thu, 2009/03/19 - 3:32pm.

If you're a Democrat and are confronted with a Cammack-Haslam choice in the General Election, you might as well vote for Haslam. At least he's willing to be honest about his party affiliation, unlike Cammack, he's from Knoxville, he's much more moderate than Wamp or Ramsey (Gibbons hasn't got a chance), and folks, the devil you know is better than the devil you don't.

A large majority of Cammack's donations have gone to Tennessee GOP candidates for federal office. For instance, in '94, he gave to Bill Frist and Fred Thompson. In '96, he gave to Lamar in his Presidential race (and again in his '02 Senate run), and he gave to Bob Corker in '06 though he curiously says he actually "voted for Ford." Although he's been voting for over 3 decades, he cast his first vote for a Democrat for President just last year. In other words, he voted for GWB twice. But now he's declaring "I'm a Democrat. No, I mean I really, really, really am. So, here I am to save the day!" Yet another Republican opportunist. He knows he can't win in the GOP field as a relative unknown, so he decides he can take on Kim McMillan easy. Heck, he might only have to spend half a milllion to win the Dem Primary. . . .

StaceyDiamond's picture

E. Tenn.

Submitted by StaceyDiamond on Thu, 2009/03/19 - 5:49pm.

I wonder if Haslam will do as well in the primaries as folks think. With all the Sentinel drum-beating I kinda thought Fred Thompson might really be a presidential nominee. But outside Tn. he totally flopped. I wonder if the word Haslam means as much and brings as much awe in other parts of the state as it does here.

KC's picture

I wonder if Haslam will do

Submitted by KC on Thu, 2009/03/19 - 10:08pm.

I wonder if Haslam will do as well in the primaries as folks think.

With all due respect to Mayor Haslam, and I think he's a great mayor, I think there's at least two factors that haven't been looked at too closely.

One is his name, will it be an advantage or a disadvantage? Obviously an advantage with donors, but what about voters?

Two, since the next Republican primary elections will be a lot about the direction of the GOP, how will that affect the election? After watching the struggle between Steele and Limbaugh, which is far from over within the party, I don't think anyone has a clear idea of what will happen.

Will people be looking for a good manager or an ideological soulmate as governor? In two years, what will turn out be like, what will the potential voters be like?

In my opinion, the GOP, including the TNGOP, is looking at a lot more unknown variables than they have had to deal with in a long, long time.

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