VOLuntarilyConservative

My name has been floated as a possibility for the Knox County Election Administrator position. I know this, and I have spoken with several members of the Knox County GOP Caucus regarding the position.

The truth is that I am interested in the position. However, I have a tremendous amount of respect for Steve Hall, and I anticipate that if he would be a great Administrator.

I am aware that my friend, Rep. Stacey Campfield, will support Steve Hall if Steve does go through with the vetting process. That's fine with me, by the way; Stacey and Steve have helped each other with elections for many years.

I am also aware that Stacey is going to do what he has to do to get his man the position, as put forth by KNS columnist Georgiana Vines. I'm not sure if he will be successful, but that is the way to getting your man the job. Of course, if the other members of the Knox County GOP Caucus don't play along...

MORE:
KnoxViews
Post Politics (I and II)

Labels: Election Reform, Knox County GOP, Knox County Politics

One of the bad parts about working for candidates is that I rarely get to many of the Election Night parties. It's become worse as I tend to work (like other GOP attorneys such as Randy Stamps and John Ryder) on the voter fraud end of things as the votes are counted and reported.
I don't think that it will be an different this year. I'm staying in state, but I have a few rural counties that I will be working in and am unlikely to make it to Nashville in time. However, for those of you who are looking to watch the returns with a particular crowd, I thought I would leave some of the ones I know of here on VOLCon. I'm not sure if all of these are open to the public (invitations may be needed for some), so call ahead.

Tennessee Republican Party
Limelight
Nashville
Starts at 7:00 P.M. CT

Phil Roe & the Washington County GOP
Meadowview Convention Center
Kingsport
Starts at 7:30 P.M. ET

Lamar Alexander
Cabana
Nashville
Starts at 6:00 P.M. CT

Knox County GOP
Crowne Plaza
Knoxville
No Information on Start Time, as website has not been updated in months

Marsha Blackburn
Embassy Suites
Franklin
Starts at 7:00 P.M. CT

Blount County GOP
The Capitol Theater
Maryville
Starts at 7:30 P.M. ET

Mike Faulk
Clinchview Golf Clubhouse
Bean Station
Starts at 7:45 P.M. ET

Debra Maggert
Italian Grill
Hendersonville
Starts at 7:00 P.M. CT

If I hear of more, I will be sure to post them and bump this post.

Labels: Blackburn, First District, Knox County GOP, Lamar, TN GOP

Angela, Leo (the youngest of the Young Republicans), and I attended the Knox County Young Republican meeting yesterday at Amerigo in West Knoxville. There was high attendance, and candidates were there aplenty. Sherry Witt (Knox Co. Register of Deeds), Brad Anders (Knox Co. Commission Seat 6A, and the wives of Ron Leadbetter (18th District State House of Representatives, currently held by Stacey Campfield) and Phil Ballard (Knox Co. Property Assessor) were all present, as was sitting Knox County General Sessions Judge Andy Jackson.

The conversation was vibrant, as usual, with discussions ranging from the death of the Tennessee Plan to have unelected Democrats pick the appellate judges in the state to unconventional campaign tactics used by some of the local Democrats (including a focus on the goings on in Blount County) to Thursday night's unity dinner to how Bob Dole's 1996 presidential bid was actually more energizing to the grassroots than the current GOP nominee's and what could be done about that.



Brad Anders (pictured above) was the listed speaker for the evening. I do not live in the 6th District of Knox County, which comprises Karns, Hardin Valley, and a good potion of Powell, so I was only familiar with what Anders had said going into the primaries way back in February. It appears that Anders will win the seat in August. He is very likable, and his life is certainly a changin' with the expected birth of his first child in December. However, as a conservative, I had to admit that I saw too many warning signs regarding the fiscal condition of the county to fall in love with Anders' campaign. He sounds more than willing to endorse a hike in the sales tax. Having gone over last year's Knox County budget, there are plenty of cuts that need to be made before Knox County - which taxes the hell out of its residents in comparison to the rest of East Tennessee - even considers adding a sales tax hike or property tax hike onto the already ridiculous wheel tax that was implemented only a few years ago.

I especially enjoyed speaking at length with Judge Andy Jackson. He really is an engaging and intelligent man. (And, no. I'm not kissing up to him because of his position - I've never practiced in front of him.) When the Tennessee Plan has wound down and the Senate Republicans see to it that appellate judges are elected as set out in the Tennessee Constitution, wouldn't it be refreshing to refer to Chief Justice Andrew Jackson? Just a thought...

It was a fun meeting. Any time that we have to pull even more chairs into the room for seating purposes, the meeting promises to be enjoyable.

Labels: Knox County GOP

A few of the ones about which I have received press releases over the past week:

Tennessee Friends of NRA
State Conference & Shotgun Shoot
Saturday, July 26th
8:30 A.M.-4:00 P.M.
Tennessee Clay Targets Complex in Nashville
For details, agenda, or to register go to: http://www.friendsofnra.org/tn

Knox County Young Republicans
Monthly Meeting
Amerigo (NOTE NEW LOCATION!!!)
Tuesday, July 8th - 6:30 P.M.
Speaker: Brad Anders, Republican nominee for Knox County Commission, Seat 6A

Tennessee Republican Party Statesman's Dinner
July 27th
Nashville Convention Center
Keynote: Karl Rove
For more information and tickets, contact the TN GOP at (615) 269-4260.

Labels: Knox County GOP, NRA

First, you need to understand where this post is coming from. Yesterday, I asked a simple, honest question - I wanted to know why Brian Hornback was so critical of Republican nominees in Knox County. Quite frankly, I'm not sure why he is doing so, so I thought I would see if anyone else had any ideas. This wasn't any subtle dig or attempt to stir the pot. I just thought it odd to see the former head of Knox County Republican Party attacking Republican nominees Ruthie Kuhlman and Foster Arnett, Jr.

Now, I suspect that Brian probably holds a grudge against Arnett for taking his boy Scott Moore behind the woodshed in the GOP primary for County Clerk, but I don't know that for a fact. That's why I asked. Maybe Brian has some built up guile against Arnett reaching back to the days of Victor Ashe or even earlier. I certainly don't know.

The same goes for Ruthie Kuhlman. As Brian pointed out, Ruthie has supported Democratic candidates recently. However, that's not the reason for Brian's hate of Kuhlman, as his posts against her span back to hours after her primary victory, and knowledge of her support of Democratic candidates is only a few days old. There's something else there. Maybe Brian likes lawyers? Nope, not from his reaction...

So Brian Hornback lets loose with the poison that he normally saves for private conversations. He calls me a liar, but doesn't say what I am lying about. He calls me a lawyer, as if that is going to hurt my feelings. He says that I support either Clinton or Obama, but he can't point to anywhere that I have endorsed either of the Democratic candidates. He says something about Tyler Harber, but I have no clue what the heck he is talking about. He comments on Randy Neal's site that I'm not "from around here," as if being tied with Knox County politics somehow makes one wiser to the ways of the world.

Brian's right - I'm not from around here. And I'm damn proud of it. I'm from the 1st District of the Great State of Tennessee, where people support candidates that believe what they believe. We sat with Jimmy Quillen and Bill Jenkins at church socials and pancake breakfasts, talking about what we could do to make this world a better place through the vehicles of limited government, lower taxes, religious and civil liberties, protection of the right to bear arms, and a strong military to defend our borders.

The bond we felt has to do with belief and ideology, not party loyalty. This is more of an Appalachian trait, it seems, than a Tennessean one or a Southern one. I suppose that one could expand voting for a common ideology instead of with party affiliation to many parts of the South, and Zell Miller of Georgia would be an example of this phenomenon. In fact, those Republicans who cheered Zell's loyalty to his ideology at the expense of his party and then deride those of us who do the same thing as the party of McCain drifts Left are nothing more than hypocrites and opportunists.

I am not supporting John McCain. I will not vote for John McCain. I have not been shy about those statements. If given the choice of candidates who have not supported tax cuts, a limited government, the right to bear arms, closing our borders to the flow of criminals crossing them, and only serve to feed their own insatiable thirst for power, I will vote for none of them. I had hoped to vote for the Constitution Party's Alan Keyes (who I previously worked for in my second presidential campaign), but he recently lost his bid to be placed on the ballot to Chuck Baldwin.

If I were to vote today, I would vote for Chuck Baldwin. Unlike many of his predecessors, he is getting some genuine press, as demonstrated here in this piece in WorldNetDaily. And no one should be surprised, as I said that I might support the Constitution Party nominee over a year ago. (Also, check out Baldwin's speech linked to in the April, 2007 post.)

And this is the difference between Brian Hornback and myself. As I have said many times on this blog and off, Brian Hornback was perfect for being Chairman of the Knox County GOP. That job is all about being for the party - even when the party is flat-out wrong. Brian kept the peace (as good as it could be in Knox County) and supported Republicans at all times. That is why I was taken aback that he was so negative towards Kuhlman and Arnett.

I'm not saying that Brian is wrong to be against them. I don't live in the 4th District, so I won't be voting for Kuhlman, but I certainly will be voting for Arnett, just as I did in the primary. Brian's actions just struck me as odd, so I asked an open question to see if anyone knew why. Brian took offense, and he acted out. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised.

But, then again, I'm not from around here. My conservatism is based on the writings of Kuyper, Burke, Chesterton, Buckley, Nash, and Reagan. I seriously doubt they would know what to do with Knox County politics, either.

Labels: 2008 General Election, Knox County GOP, Knox County Politics

It's no secret that I am not supporting the GOP nominee for the White House, John McCain. I have been consistent in that viewpoint, and my convictions are based on the moderate McCain's views that support criminals entering the United States, his lack of support for previous tax cuts, his treachery against Republican social conservatives, and what I perceived during my time on Capitol Hill as his general lack of sanity.

However, I'm curious about what is going on in Knox County. Someone answer me this:

Why is the previous Knox County GOP Chairman openly supporting Democrats?

I routinely read my friend Brian Hornback's blog, and it is apparent that he is solidly against Republican nominee for County Clerk Foster Arnett, Jr., as well as Republican nominee for County Commission, Seat 4A Ruthie Kuhlman.

Is it a grudge? Is it an ideological difference? Anyone care to speculate?

Labels: Knox County GOP, Knox County Politics

Things have simply been too busy to focus on VOLuntarilyConservative recently. I'm referring to the following:

• A new (old) partner at The Huddleston Law Firm. After some blatant (and even admitted) discriminatory actions by Phil Bredesen's Department of Children's Services - all of which run afoul of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 - Republican State Executive Committeewoman Angela Huddleston has rejoined the firm. Her focus will be on juvenile matters and child support petitions. There is always a great deal of work on the front end of bringing anyone into a small firm, and I have been reminded of that over the past month. (I can't really go into any further details on the actions of DCS, as it hasn't been decided whether or not Angela will pursue this through litigation. I will say that the irony is not lost on me that the State's agency that is statutorily charged with the protection of children is so blatantly against them in specific situations. I'm sure there will be more to come on this at a later date.)
• A growing boy. Little Leo ain't so little anymore. He's gone through another growth spurt, and he's probably pushing 15.5 lbs - at least. Leo also has the two earliest endorsements ever, too - both Mike Faulk and Lamar Alexander have endorsed him for Governor! No word on when Leo will start raising funds for his campaign (although he does have quite a bit of Dad's change in his piggy bank)...
• Hearings, trials, and prelims. Work has been nuts lately. My New Year's resolution was to work less this year. I did the math yesterday after court, and I am actually marginally ahead of my pace for 2007. Oh well. Just another New Year's resolution that I wasn't able to keep...
• Political disillusionment. Although this blog was founded with a multidimensional focus on politics, sports, religion, and the like, it has become primarily a political and policy blog. While I love writing about sports, I simply had too many people (mostly female readers) who told me all over the state that they wanted more policy and family posts and fewer sports posts. Over the past year, I have tried to accommodate that. The problem becomes when the politics dries up. I have made no secret about my disdain for the three remaining presidential choices. I won't vote for any of them. Lamar's future dismantling of the Democratic sacrificial lamb will spawn a few posts later on in the year, but there's not much there now. The only real race that has me fired up is Mike Faulk's return of Mountain 'publican ideals against the charlatan Mike Williams in the 4th District. Which leads me to...
• Not liking being in Knox County that much. Angela and I have attended many Lincoln Days and other political events throughout Tennessee this year, and we have come to the conclusion that we are certainly loved everywhere in Tennessee - with the exception of Knox County. And that doesn't really both me that much. It has become apparent to me that the ills that have afflicted Knox County politics will not be cured this year, or any other time in the near future. The culture of corruption runs too deep. Even those who you believe to be your friends are involved in some way that helps out their individual interests, and all will put themselves above conservative ideology. Take the most recent kangaroo court meeting of the Knox County GOP Executive Committee. Technically, this group is supposed to meet every quarter, but they haven't met since Irene McCrary took over as Chairman in early 2007. An emergency meeting of the committee was called with an eye towards rejecting the charter amendments. Some members were not able to attend due to the sloppy nature in which the meeting was called, and it appears that some members weren't even notified. However, all of those who wanted to keep the size of Knox County government big and bloated were there. A quorum was declared present, although no one has ever been able to provide a copy of the Knox County GOP by-laws to me or Angela. The rejection of the charter amendments was ramrodded through (although not unanimously - Angela voted against it). But this is the Knox County GOP - it stands for big government and personal gain over smaller government and liberty for Tennesseans everywhere. Heck, at a recent gathering, it was actually discussed that candidates should pay into the Knox County GOP coffers, as the county party is looking at bankruptcy due to its lack of a fundraiser (other counties hold Lincoln Days to raise money- the Knox County version has nothing to do with the county party, as per the Tennessee Republican Party and my own investigation). Given its failures, I am strongly considering bringing the matter to the State Executive Committee at its next meeting in July, as the local party needs to be demolished and rebuilt from the ground up.
• The wettest drought I have ever seen. I've never had to mow my grass every 5 days during any other droughts. I wish the National Weather Service would quit talking about this drought, because it seems to rain every day after they do so.

So, yeah, it's been busy around here...

Labels: 2008 General Election, 2008 Tennessee General Assembly Campaigns, Baby, Firm Life, Knox County GOP, Knox County Politics, Weather

Sorry, folks, but I needed some time off for a few weeks to tend to several outstanding issues, including:

• widespread corruption and selling out of ideology within the Knox County Republican Party;
• Angela's parting of the ways with the Department of Children's Services, a State agency which proved to be severely anti-family and discriminatory when the chickens came home to roost;
• Angela's reintroduction to The Huddleston Law Firm;
• stomach flu that swept through the family and caused me to miss my first day from work for illness in nearly a year;
• a trip to Bristol Motor Speedway for the Food City 500;
• many, many wonderful moments with my son.

I've been busy, just not with blogging. Of course, I wondered if I even needed to come back after the unfortunate demise of Volunteer Voters. After BillHobbs.com underwent its facelift several years ago, VV at first filled a void, and then expanded as the functional clearinghouse of blogging information for Tennessee. It will be interesting to see if something else fills the void left by VV, or if we will have to work even harder as bloggers to remain connected as a statewide community.

Labels: Blogging, Firm Life, Knox County GOP, Leonidas, NASCAR

Just a reminder - the Knox County Young Republicans are holding elections for the 2008 term today at 6:30 P.M. The monthly meetings take place at the Green Hills Grille on Kingston Pike, and tonight's speaker is Knox County Law Director John Owings.

Labels: Knox County GOP

The Knox County Young Republicans are meeting Tuesday night at the Green Hills Grille. The meeting is set for 6:30. If you plan to eat there, I suggest one of their large salads or the hickory grilled chicken sandwich.

Speaking at the meeting will be Bill Lockett, candidate for Knox County Law Director.

Labels: Knox County GOP

Anyone know how long the Knox County GOP's website has been down?

It seems that the Knoxville Young Republicans are still going strong, but http://www.knoxgop.org/ was not responding as of Monday morning.

Labels: Knox County GOP

Congressman Jimmy Duncan converses with constituents

Brian's Blog has an excellent blow-by-blow of Saturday night's Knox County Lincoln Day Dinner.

I would like to add a few snippets of my own:

• The crowd was reported to be around 400, and that's probably pretty accurate. And disappointing. Blount County drew 400 in this non-election year, and its nowhere near the size of Knox County. Of the few elected officials who bothered to show up, nearly everyone mentioned that the size of the audience was rather dismal.
• Brian was right about one thing in particular - the food at Rothchild's was excellent.
• Senator Burr is a man of distinction, but his speech was poorly delivered. At least a dozen people mentioned that to me after the program ended, so I wasn't the only one who had witnessed better orations. As one attendee stated, they probably would have been better off letting Lamar or Jimmy Duncan give the keynote. Their stories are better.
• Several key officials were in attendance. As always, it was wonderful to see Tennessee Republican Party Vice Chairman Robin Smith in Knox County. It was also a pleasure to speak at length with the future State Senator from Tennessee's 4th District, Mike Faulk, as well as Knoxville's newest celebrity, Representative Stacey Campfield. Fred Thompson was also well-represented, as several of his netroots volunteers were in attendance.
• Probably of bigger consequence were the names who weren't there. Knox County Commission Chairman Scott Moore was there, but few of his brethren on the County Commission decided to come out and make themselves accountable for their treachery. That was especially noticeable with South Knox County, where Paul Pinkston and the recluse Tim Greene were absent at well. Lumpy Lambert didn't show (probably preparing for the skewering he took on "Inside Tennessee" the following morning, no doubt). Neither did County Mayor Mike Ragsdale. That was shocking. Ragsdale can make his way down to Blount County to speak but can't be bothered to face his own constituents in Knox County. Senator Jamie Woodson didn't attend (the rumor being that she may have been hanging with Governor Bredesen, as the two have become quite the horsetraders lately with the BEP revisions and Knox County suddenly getting $26.6 million more dollars in funding). I didn't see Frank Nicely, either. Which leads me to the main theme of the evening...
• The fractures in the Knox County GOP are beyond obvious. They are real and they will create problems for candidates at some point in the near future, potentially as early as 2008. Maybe I am wrong here. Several of the panelists (including Terry Frank) from Sunday morning's "Inside Tennessee" believe that all 12 of the Knox County Commissioners who are up for re-election will lose. That would be a start towards fixing the problem, but you still would have the Hutchison/Ragsdale feud, the Tindell/Hornback dust-up, the Tyler Harber debacle, and the ambitions of so many elected officials (Ragsdale, Woodson, Bill Haslam, Hutchison - to name a few) who are jockeying for higher office.

As I have said previously, the political environment here in Knox County is toxic. The poor turnout at the Knox County Lincoln Day is just a sign of the mounting problems in this county. Lincoln Day attendances have been strong in other counties (except for Washington County, which inexplicably had its Lincoln Day on Easter weekend) thus far this non-election year. Knox County has problems, and it remains to be seen if a group of people will take the reigns of leadership, drive out the corruption that permeates every corner of our county, and restore the people's faith in their government.

Only time will tell.

UPDATE: A reader opines:

"I was told by more than one person that Mike Ragsdale wasn't in attendance due to his wife being very sick from her cancer treatments. Also, as the dinner was getting started, I saw Lumpy come in and sit down at a table in the back (front of the stage, very back). Oddly, I didn't seem him afterwards. Maybe he was looking for a county commissioner to confer with in private? We may never know."

As for the part about Lumpy, I would wager that the only circumstance under which he would have been looking for a fellow County Commissioner to confer with would have been if there was a great possibility of the Sunshine Law being violated. Apparently, Neyland Stadium casts such a huge shadow over Knox County that we don't even recognize the Sunshine Law here. (Or maybe the Sunsphere is supposed to be our equivalent of the Sunshine Law?)

Labels: Knox County GOP, Knox County Politics, Lincoln Day

Just a reminder that the Knox County Lincoln Day Dinner is set for next Saturday, May 5th. The keynote speaker is Senator Richard Burr (which, in the run-up to 2008, is a bit disappointing, but more on that later). I predict a great time and a great turnout.

Tickets are $30 apiece, which is a bit high but not bad when compared to the Statesmen Dinner in Nashville in June. The $280 per head that the TN GOP is asking for that is too steep for me, and I've had three Republican lawyers (yes, there are at least three of us) tell me the same thing this week. But I digress...

You can pick up your tickets for the Knox County Lincoln Day from GOP Headquarters, or, if you want to help out the gals down at the 4th Circuit Clerk's office in the City-County Building, you can purchase your tickets at their office (enter through the main door, travel over the walkway, take a left and they are on the left). See Jennifer - she's the one I bought my tickets from.

Labels: Knox County GOP, TN GOP

I received word this afternoon that the Knox County Young Republicans will be meeting at the Calhoun's on Bearden Hill this evening and not at the Green Hill's Grill as previously announced. Apparently, there's a busted water line over at Green Hill's, and that necessitated the move west.

I probably won't be there (as per norm), as I have had one long day in court and have to continue discovery in an infamous Blount County case that may or may not be heading to trial.

Just thought I would pass along the info.

Labels: Knox County GOP