Yabba Dabba Doo!
Jim Henry, the Republican gubernatorial candidate who bears an uncanny resemblance to Fred Flintstone with gray hair, is coming out of the gates strong, justifiably chastising GOP opponent Van Hilleary last week as “irresponsible” and otherwise doing a pretty good job of convincing at least some of the GOP establishment that Hilleary is a weak link.
Henry, from East Tennessee's Roane County, is a former Kingston mayor who achieved a measure of statewide prominence beginning with his election to the state legislature in 1978. Partly because Republicans in the state House were less than dazzling in those days—not to mention numerically depleted—Henry rose quickly in the leadership ranks. Soon, he was House minority leader. In 1984, he became chairman of the Tennessee Republican Party.
The style of the legislature was a bit different then. Things were slower, more collegial, less combative. Henry wore it like a glove. Reasonable, mature, rational and unemotional, he worked closely with the Democrats in the legislature and Republican Gov. Lamar Alexander to help fashion landmark legislation involving better schools, road building, court reform and—yes—budget increases to pay for it all.
Fast-forwarding to today, Henry's arrival on the scene is refreshing. As a candidate, he's cutting no corners, saying the state is in an absolute mess. He's lobbed bombs at his primary opponent, saying Hilleary is avoiding any meaningful discussion about how to resolve Tennessee's budget impasse. He's launched challenges for debates with his primary opponent, but the silence from the opposing campaign is deafening. Hilleary's campaign knows the risk. The worst thing Hilleary could do is appear in the same room with Henry to have an exchange of ideas. As long as Hilleary can hide behind bad chicken dinners with rice at local yokel GOP events, he's alright.
Last week, Henry tarred and feathered Hilleary for his one-note campaign, that being “who's against an income tax more.” He also took a shot at Hilleary for having been in Congress for eight years, never saying a word against the income tax, which is the single largest revenue producer for the federal government.
Henry also ripped Democrat Phil Bredesen for avoiding any substantive talk about the state's perilous condition. Meanwhile, Henry is trying to come out on top of the argument by supporting a constitutional convention to resolve Tennessee's tax situation once and for all. By doing this, Henry sees us putting the issue behind us and achieving a measure of closure.
Henry is generally considered to be trailing Van Hilleary in the Republican contest. The truth is that Jim Henry is Van Hilleary's worst nightmare. The truth is also that Jim Henry is Phil Bredesen's worst nightmare.
Van Hilleary is an empty suit, Sundquist-lite, a middle-minded congressman who works hard but lacks the leadership skills to figure out where this state needs to go. Meanwhile, Jim Henry has got gravitas. He runs a 650-employee company (that does something worthwhile, incidentally, as it's a child placement agency and service for the mentally disabled). He knows how the state works. And from the tone of his rhetoric, he's not avoiding the ugly talk of fixing the state. He's relishing it. Hilleary has been the default choice of countless Republicans in Tennessee, but the wiser, elder statesman has stepped into the ring with him. Look for the GOP to begin feeling the tremors soon.
Meanwhile, Phil Bredesen would love to have Hilleary as his opponent this November, but Henry would give Bredesen fits. The Democratic frontrunner has been successful attracting hundreds of Republicans into his camp simply because Hilleary is so weak. But with Henry in the picture, those Republicans may well depart.
Jim Henry has one problem: He started late. But he could have much greater problems. At the moment, the race is for Hilleary to lose, and he very well might.
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