Billing Bush

For a change, political junkies in Nashville can look forward to a presidential campaign event here without PETA protesters.

That’s because this appearance—a fund-raiser at downtown’s Western-themed Wild Horse Saloon—is not one for the ethically challenged Vice President Al Gore, but rather one to boost the already robust Republican candidacy of Texas Gov. George W. Bush.

The $1,000-a-head event on Dec. 16 probably will be the only Bush presidential fundraiser in Tennessee, says event chairman Jim Haslam. Why? “The availability of the candidate.”

Haslam reports it’s difficult for supporters and GOP leaders to book Bush even when they’re throwing money at him. “When you’re going to 40 or 50 states and have the appeal of George W. Bush,” he says, there are more requests for appearances than time allows.

Life after Clement

Mayor Bill Purcell told the Scene he’s ruled out running for Congressman Bob Clement’s seat in 2002 if Clement runs for governor. But 30-year-old Metro Council member Chris Ferrell, who just 10 weeks ago was re-elected to a second four-year term, says he’s in the race for sure should Clement seek higher office.

Ferrell is talking openly about his possible candidacy, and he phoned the Scene to make sure we knew it. “Purcell’s not going to run, but I am,” he says, noting that he would run only if the seat were open.

It’s not clear just what the six-term congressman will do. Clement has a well-earned reputation as a sort of Tennessee tease who has flirted with running for governor, only to rule it out in favor of the safety of his House seat.

“I think he’s talking seriously about it, but we’ve been there before,” says Metro Vice Mayor Ronnie Steine, who has considered the seat during times of Clement’s gubernatorial deliberations. Steine says, too, that he wouldn’t rule out a congressional bid in 2002, although it’s too early to plan such a move.

“Until he [Clement] really does it, it makes for fun speculation, but it’s certainly a waste of time for any of us who might ever be serious about it to plan for it.”

Former Gore aide Chip Forrester, who ran for the seat in 1992, says he would consider a candidacy if the seat were open. And other candidates are sure to join Ferrell in the Democratic field if Clement abandons Congress, both Forrester and Steine say. “I think Chris will be surprised,” Forrester says. “He’s done an admirable job as a Council person, but I think there are a number of other players who will belly up to the bar.”

Names such as state Sen. Thelma Harper, state Sen. Joe Haynes, Davidson County Sheriff Gayle Ray, former Vice Mayor Jay West, state Rep. Ben West, and many others have been floated as possible Clement successors. “I suspect you’ll have the Army, the Navy, and the Air Force,” Steine says.

The Bill mobile

Former Mayor Phil Bredesen took his share of vacation allowance, but he never did cash in on one of the perks other mayors have taken for granted—the “company” car.

Even while the city’s top officer is chauffeured from public appearance to public appearance by a driver, the mayor is entitled to a publicly financed take-home car.

While Bredesen came to work in his own vehicle, all of his predecessors have driven Metro-financed cars—former Mayor Bill Boner drove a gray Ford Crown Victoria, Dick Fulton drove a Mercury Marquis, and Metro’s first mayor, Beverly Briley, drove a black Chrysler Imperial.

Such cars tend to look very mayoral. But Mayor Bill Purcell has broken the mold. Told he could have pretty much any of a variety of cars that look like they could lead a funeral procession, he told his minions that instead, “I was thinking a Saturn.”

And that’s what Purcell got. Metro has signed a 39-month lease agreement at $413.76 a month with Saturn of Rivergate for Purcell’s mayoral ride. Sam McPherson, director of Metro’s General Services Department, says Purcell wanted a Saturn, in part, because the cars are made in Tennessee. The $16,136 cost over the life of the lease is significantly less than, say, a loaded Crown Victoria. But it would also buy 547 geometry textbooks for Metro schools.

North of the border

Still withholding a decision on whether to challenge Republican U.S. Sen. Bill Frist next year, Congressman Harold Ford Jr. is meanwhile being heralded from places far beyond his Memphis home.

The 29-year-old, second term congressman is the only politician profiled in the current issue of The New Yorker, which is devoted to “the next generation.” Ford, the youngest member of the House, has missed two self-imposed deadlines for deciding about a bid against the well-financed Frist. But The New Yorker piece waxes optimistic about the possibilities, saying Ford has “made it clear that he is planning to make a go for the Senate next year.”