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Democratic candidate for governor Kim McMillan was in Blount County today and we had a chance to meet up with her and Blount Co. Commissioner Wendy Pitts Reeves for lunch.

After a couple of fundraisers in Knoxville last night, Ms. McMillan visited this morning with Blount Chamber of Commerce CEO Fred Forster to talk about workforce development among other things, and then spoke to the College Democrats at Maryville College. After lunch she was headed off for a tour of the Pellissippi State Technical Community College Blount County campus.

She's a hard working candidate, and if you haven't met her yet you will.

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At lunch we talked a little Blount Co. politics and the upcoming county elections and some of the challenges Democrats face in this Republican stronghold. We also talked about women in politics and government, and Wendy Pitts Reeves noted that women are good public servants because they know how to stay calm, bring people together, and get them working towards common goals.

Ms. McMillan said the topic of open government came up at her Maryville College visit, and that she is proud of her record on transparency and ethics reform in the state legislature and noted that she had been recognized by the Tennessee Press Association for her work in this regard. She said that when she arrived at the legislature, committee meetings and budget hearings were held behind closed doors and she encouraged the Speaker to open them up to the public and the press. She noted the tremendous progress that has been made, with video coverage of sessions and committee meetings now available live over the internet to anyone.

On the Democratic primary, Ms. McMillan said she is pleased that the candidates are not attacking each other, in sharp contrast to the Republican primary which she thinks is getting ugly. She was reluctant to talk about the Republican candidates, but suggested that Bill Haslam is not as well known around the rest of the state and that Zach Wamp and Ron Ramsey are gaining. She did say that Haslam seems to be spending more time reacting to remarks about his Pilot Oil past than he does talking about issues that matter to voters.

On fundraising, she acknowledged that Democrats are trailing but "we're seeing momentum" among the three candidates. As for her campaign, she said "I've been the least funded candidate in every race I've ever run," and that "like most mothers I know to make a budget work," whether it's a campaign budget or the state budget. She also pointed out that she may not have the most money but she has the most donors, and those are the numbers that count because they vote.

Her approach to campaigning is to get out and meet as many people as she can so they can get to know her and appreciate her optimism and enthusiasm about the future of our state. "There are two kinds of public servants: the kind who only run when times are good and the kind who run when things are tough. That's who I am," she says. While some candidates only say what people want to hear, Ms. McMillan said that as governor she will work hard to find solutions to the state's tough problems and involve the public in decision making. "People want someone who will tell them the truth."