Candidates James Mackler, Lauren Rider rise above shiny object stories

Mackler last week was in Knoxville the same day that Gov. Bill Haslam announced he was not running for the Senate seat, and U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn announced she was. All three local TV newscasts were reminded of this opportunity, but none supplemented their Senate seat stories with a Mackler interview. If any had shown at the Blue Dots meeting that night, they would have seen a crowd roaring approval when he contrasted himself to Blackburn, presenting himself as a “servant leader who is not a career politician.”

The shiny object syndrome also can be seen in Knoxville’s District 4 City Council race. Lauren Rider secured 43.51 percent of the primary vote in a five-way contest. Her 889 votes were the most for any candidate in any district. Our system puts the first- and second-place finishers in a citywide runoff, but that distant second-place spot featured a tie. City Council broke that tie, but voters should ignore that distraction and stick with the district’s choice.