Tennessee Republicans who recently received a fund-raising come-on for an upcoming GOP gathering may not have noticed Gov. Don Sundquist’s name on the invitation. It was there all right, but in what looked like an unveiled and petty display of we’re-still-pissed-that-you-backed-an-income-tax, the event planners seemed all but to lift their legs on the governor, listing Sundquist’s name dead last on the invite, noting he’ll be offering remarks “via video.” The gathering will honor former Gov. Winfield Dunn and will feature U.S. Sens. Bill Frist and Fred Thompson.
Event chairman Scooter Clippard says he genuinely tried to accommodate the state’s top Republican in planning the Aug. 26 event at the Gaylord Entertainment Center—sponsored by the Davidson County Republican Party and titled “Tennessee Convention 2000.” (The governor returns from Scandinavia the night before the event and is scheduled to be in East Tennessee on the day of the convention.) Clippard says that he could have booked the arena for a date in September when Sundquist would have been available but chose the August date instead to capitalize on the excitement that the GOP convention in Philadelphia generated within the party ranks.
Clippard acknowledges that the invitation, which is expected to attract more than 1,000 attendees who will pay anywhere from $50 to $1,000, has provoked some furrowed brows and some questions about whether it was a conspicuous diss of the governor. “You’re about the fifth person who’s asked me that,” he says, conceding there is continued grousing within party ranks about the governor’s support of an income tax. “I’m really sorry that that is occurring, because he’s trying so hard to do what he believes is the right thing, and many people, obviously—both Democrats and Republicans—feel like it’s not the right thing. There’s nothing wrong with disagreeing, but no one in the Republican Party should exclude Gov. Sundquist from any event.”
Still, Clippard’s initial explanation for planning this first-time event excluded any mention of Sundquist. “The idea behind it is to have a function that showcases our state legislative and state senate candidates and then to honor someone who has meant a great deal to the state of Tennessee over the years. And I think it’s just an outstanding selection to have Winfield Dunn as our first honoree,” he told the Scene.
“I guess we also wanted to excite our grassroots people on the heels of the national convention. We wanted people to be fired up, and we wanted to do an event where we could showcase our leaders like Sen. Frist and Sen. Thompson.”
While Sundquist himself has had a few lapses in tact during the past political year, no behavior has been more contemptible than that of the Party of the Pigs. The rancor that escalated over Sundquist’s continued support of a state income tax during the recent legislative session degenerated into a season of lowbrow name calling and personal attacks.
There was nothing offensive about any of the rational disagreement over Sundquist’s various tax reform plans—but there was about the seething, hateful, knee-jerk, and factually deficient propaganda being peddled by some of even the most respected Republicans in the state. At one point during what can be termed only loosely as the “income tax debate,” conservative picketers paraded around the state Capitol carrying placards that compared Sundquist to Adolf Hitler.
State Republican Party Chairman Chip Saltsman, who’d probably be flipping burgers if Sundquist hadn’t given him an early job as a driver, was a flagrant turncoat early on in the tax-reform debate. And it’s worth noting that the play he gets on the Tennessee Convention 2000 invitation as a “special guest” is far better than what event planners gave the governor.
Given that Sundquist’s son Deke is on the event’s host committee, it’s surprising that the treatment of the governor—regarded by even the most vicious members of the media as a decent, likable man—is less than respectful. Then again, perhaps Sundquist is happy to be absent.
Talking points
Tennessee delegates to this week’s Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles have traveled to the City of Angels, talking points in hand, courtesy of the state Democratic Party. According to a memo to delegates from Greg Wanderman, the party’s executive director, “It will be our job to expose the hypocrisy of the GOP.” Wanderman characterizes the GOP convention in Philadelphia as peddling “a kinder, gentler side, copying the Democratic platform, in an effort to out-Democrat the Democrats.”
Noting that one out of every five GOP delegates to the GOP convention was a millionaire, that over 60 percent were male, and that black representation totaled less than 4 percent, Wanderman points out that the Tennessee Democratic delegation is balanced “in both women and men” and that “our delegation’s African American representation is 24 of 81 delegates and 2 of 11 alternates. There will be no false faces put on by the Democratic Party. We don’t need to reinvent our image.”
To reach Liz, call 244-7989, ext. 406, or e-mail liz@nashvillscene.com.
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