Tuesday, January 27, 2009
For the Record on the Governor's Race...
I wanted to address some rumors and questions that I have faced here recently regarding the 2010 race for the Governor's Mansion.
Zach Wamp, Bill Haslam, and Ron Ramsey are my friends. As I discussed with several other young conservatives at the Republican National Convention last September, I did not want to see a primary that involves all three of them, but it is obvious that I did not get my wish. The reason I did not want to see this primary is that I don't want to see the bloodbath that could result from a primary which causes a schism in the Republican Party. Let's face it - we got lucky in 2006. It was a brutal campaign, no doubt, and it took a great deal of fence mending by Bob Corker to keep the party together. I see this one being worse - not because of the men in the primary, but because of external conditions that have our party playing defense on the national level.
As of today, January 27, 2009, I am not on anyone's campaign team. I want to be very clear about that. I did attend Bill Haslam's event back on the morning of January 8th, and I enjoyed speaking with Bill, Jim, and the rest of the attendees. However, I am not a member of Bill's campaign. I say this because several of Zach Wamp's supporters and others have spoken to me going under the assumption that because I attended one meeting that I am on board with Bill Haslam. (Most notably, at the State Capitol on the day that Kent Williams committed political suicide, several Wamp supporters started working on me to change allegiances.) I want to be clear that I don't have an allegiance to change.
Will I jump into this fray? Perhaps. Like I said, I consider all three men to be friends. I am familiar with Bill's record as an executive, having lived in Knoxville during his terms as mayor. Ron is from my neck of the woods, and I remember him even before he was in the legislature. I was privileged enough to spend some fun moments with Zach in Minneapolis, one of which was not so fun when we watched our Vols go down to defeat at the hands of UCLA.
All three men have my phone number. None of them have, to this date, asked me to join their campaign team in a specific capacity. Therefore, I remain neutral as of today. That's probably not a bad thing right now as I offer my assistance on the Kent Williams matter. (And, without going into specifics, I am worried about how that particular matter is playing out.) It's early, too. Like most of us here in Tennessee, I have not embraced the two-year campaign quite as easily as others.
I hope that clears things up. If it doesn't, I'm sure I'll get plenty of feedback...
Zach Wamp, Bill Haslam, and Ron Ramsey are my friends. As I discussed with several other young conservatives at the Republican National Convention last September, I did not want to see a primary that involves all three of them, but it is obvious that I did not get my wish. The reason I did not want to see this primary is that I don't want to see the bloodbath that could result from a primary which causes a schism in the Republican Party. Let's face it - we got lucky in 2006. It was a brutal campaign, no doubt, and it took a great deal of fence mending by Bob Corker to keep the party together. I see this one being worse - not because of the men in the primary, but because of external conditions that have our party playing defense on the national level.
As of today, January 27, 2009, I am not on anyone's campaign team. I want to be very clear about that. I did attend Bill Haslam's event back on the morning of January 8th, and I enjoyed speaking with Bill, Jim, and the rest of the attendees. However, I am not a member of Bill's campaign. I say this because several of Zach Wamp's supporters and others have spoken to me going under the assumption that because I attended one meeting that I am on board with Bill Haslam. (Most notably, at the State Capitol on the day that Kent Williams committed political suicide, several Wamp supporters started working on me to change allegiances.) I want to be clear that I don't have an allegiance to change.
Will I jump into this fray? Perhaps. Like I said, I consider all three men to be friends. I am familiar with Bill's record as an executive, having lived in Knoxville during his terms as mayor. Ron is from my neck of the woods, and I remember him even before he was in the legislature. I was privileged enough to spend some fun moments with Zach in Minneapolis, one of which was not so fun when we watched our Vols go down to defeat at the hands of UCLA.
All three men have my phone number. None of them have, to this date, asked me to join their campaign team in a specific capacity. Therefore, I remain neutral as of today. That's probably not a bad thing right now as I offer my assistance on the Kent Williams matter. (And, without going into specifics, I am worried about how that particular matter is playing out.) It's early, too. Like most of us here in Tennessee, I have not embraced the two-year campaign quite as easily as others.
I hope that clears things up. If it doesn't, I'm sure I'll get plenty of feedback...
Labels: 2010 Tennessee Governor's Race, Bill Haslam, Campaigning, Ron Ramsey, Zach Wamp
Permalink posted by Rob Huddleston @ 6:13 AM 
