Yabba Dabba Doo
Republicans will get a choice in the gubernatorial primary after all
by Phil Ashford
It has been said in Republican Party circles for years that former party chairman Jim Henry bears a striking resemblance to Fred Flintstone, but his current halting first steps into the gubernatorial race are no quest for the troglodyte vote. He’ll probably cede those to Congressman Van Hilleary, a much narrower, more partisan Republican.
Henry, a moderate of the same stripe as former Gov. Lamar Alexander, gained considerable respect in the early 1980s as state House Republican leader, a job that required him to carry Alexander’s most important legislation. Fortunately for GOP voters looking for an alternative to the Bible-signing Hilleary, Henry is now definitively in the race.
He’s already got his first gubernatorial billboard up near his home in Kingston—a gift from a friend—and has started hiring staff, including former congressional candidate John Davis, whose appearance on the scene represents a bit of a blast from the past. He is a veteran Republican operative who ran for Congress in the Chattanooga area and nearly caught incumbent Marilyn Lloyd flat-footed in 1984. Encouraged by the showing, he took a second run in 1986 but never got out of the Republican primary, in part because the party instead embraced the quixotic race of Christian conservative John Golden. Lloyd thumped him. Davis went back to doing staff work, including a stint with Bob Dole’s limp 1988 presidential campaign.
Not only does Henry’s entry into the gubernatorial race signal a choice for Republicans, it also could make life much more difficult for Phil Bredesen, the presumed Democratic nominee, assuming—and it’s a big if—Henry could survive the GOP primary. Unlike Bredesen, who sometimes can come off as chilly and withdrawn even to those who know him, Henry assumes an almost Ned McWherterish accessibility.
Talking to the middle
When talk radio first made itself felt in the state legislative process with the birth of the horn-honker movement in 2000, there were three radio personalities leading the charge: Phil Valentine, Steve Gill, and Dave Ramsey.
When the second round of honkerism continued this year, Ramsey was conspicuously absent. Ramsey’s radio program is different from the others. He gently dispenses personal financial advice with a Christian undertone. Ramsey’s main focus is encouraging people to spend their money conservatively, stay out of debt, and build a financial future based on steady, smart investments. From the standpoint of pure finance, some of what Ramsey says is bad advice, but it’s generally pretty sensible guidance for his audience. After all, the investment bankers at Morgan Stanley don’t exactly rely on AM radio guys to figure out money management.
Ramsey’s participation in the first round of naysayer rallying always seemed a little incongruous, so it’s not surprising that he dropped by the wayside. One possible reason: Ramsey recently completed a four-week guest slot on CNN that might signal even bigger things for him as a mainstream financial commentator. His audience already reaches beyond the Nashville market, and getting tabbed as just another right-winger won’t help him build a mainstream following.
Shameless self-promotion
Having twice been rebuffed by the voters in his generous offer to be one of their congressional leaders, radio personality Steve Gill continues to focus on low-bar triumphs. He was busily letting everyone know last week that he had been chosen, along with fellow radio talking neck Phil Valentine, as a “Hero of the Taxpayer” by the Americans for Tax Reform for drumming up opposition to the state income tax.
One supposes that the organization especially liked the way the two responded to Republican Sen. Marsha Blackburn’s plea—send “troops”—at the pre-Bastille Day event at the Capitol.
“This is only one of the many instances where the two radio personalities have contributed to helping the Tennessee people avoid government taxation,” read the praiseful e-mail announcement about the two men being honored. “However, neither Gill nor Valentine will take all the credit. ‘We’re the voice,’ Gill said. ‘But the people are the volume.’ ”
Of course, Americans for Tax Reform shouldn’t be confused with a real organization. Its president is Grover Norquist, a conservative political operative who has organized an array of shell organizations to give him the credibility for talking-head duties on a range of topics. Norquist aide Damon Ansell says the award is given every month based on “general” criteria and citizen nominations.
While there’s no smoking gun to prove it, the diligence with which Gill sent out the announcements makes one suspect he nominated himself. He must have plenty of time on his hands. Then again, the sender field of the e-mail announcement sent to the Scene was spoofed with an evocative “Some Bozo.”
Indeed.
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