Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Politics The Morning After: Attack, Attack, Attack
Posted by Jeff Woods on Tue, Jul 13, 2010 at 11:47 AM
It’s fun to slap Haslam, but even that grows a little boring after a while. So then Wamp and Ramsey turned on each other in a testy exchange that saw Wamp accusing Ramsey of lying about his record in Congress. “I did not vote for the Bridge to Nowhere,” a frustrated Wamp insisted in one memorable moment. Here are excerpts:
Wamp: Ron and I have agreed on a whole lot of things in this campaign. He also has an 18-year record of votes that I could pick at or votes that he could pick at and we could pick at those things. But the truth is we do have two conservative alternatives. I would say respectfully that it would be very helpful for our state for someone to step in with a vision. And that’s difference between me and the other candidates is a specific 20/20 vision laid out 10 pages long on my website … The vision thing separates us and it would good for an executive to step into the role and bring this very strong legislature to an agenda to make Tennessee all that it can be.
Ramsey: I’m proud of my record of 18 years in the state Senate. We could pick at those. But I’m going to tell ya last night I mentioned that Zach in Congress voted for TARP. I don’t see how you do that and say I’m a conservative. Then he tried to justify it on the air last night. He voted for the Bridge to Nowhere. They vote for money over and over again to expand stuff.
Wamp: Stop.
Ramsey: No, I’m not going to stop. You’re the king of earmarks.
Wamp: That’s a lie. That’s a lie.
Ramsey: You’re saying you didn’t vote for TARP?
Wamp: I did not vote for the Bridge to Nowhere. … I voted for the Sarah Palin alternative that said thanks but no thanks, put that money in the state. I did not vote for the Bridge to Nowhere.
Ramsey: Well, that’s not the information that I have. You did vote for TARP and you did vote for cash for clunkers?
Wamp: Let me explain that. The first two times it came up I voted no because it was borrowed money. The third time was simply are we going to finish it for the final 30 days with stimulus money that had already been dedicated for wasteful projects that we were pulling back in just to finish it. That fact needs to be set straight as well. … I voted against all eight bailouts. I voted yes on TARP the final time and here’s why. The stock market fell 800 points. We lost a trillion dollars in one day. We were at the cliff and let me just say, all but $89 billion of that money has been repaid. Wall Street reported last week that it’s all going to be repaid. It is coming back. …
Mike McWherter came up only once in the debate when Wamp decided to punch the Democrat for failing to support a lawsuit challenging federal health care reform.
“Don’t back off,” Wamp said. “This is where Mike McWherter, by the way, and he is the target here because he cannot be governor of Tennessee. He says, ‘oh you should just get with it. It’s already been signed into law. Basically just roll over you know and give in.’ Nooooo. We’re red-blooded Tennesseans. We don’t have to accept this.”
On Haslam, his two rivals said:
Wamp: How disappointed the business leadership was in Knoxville when his very first year before they cut a dime of spending, 15 percent tax increase. And then frankly, he blamed his predecessor, you know, that there wasn’t a large enough debt fund, reserve fund. That’s not the model we need from the governor. Actually next year, he’s going to inherit the difficult situation. Is he going to come up then as the new governor with some lame excuse, well, I just didn’t have any choice. Because that’s what he did as the mayor of Knoxville. That is not a conservative. A conservative does not give Al Gore money for president. Explain that one to me. And then he said, oh well, I give to all the Republican candidates. Al Gore is not a Republican.
Ramsey: What bothers me in politics is somebody trying to be somebody that they’re not. And then trying to spend $8 million so far on trying to sell the people that they’re somebody they’re not. That’s the reason he’s not put this race away. Let me assure you, if I had $8 million, I would have had this race put away by now. But people haven’t bought into that because it’s not the real deal. Now, when you try to say I’m not pro-Second Amendment. He joined Bloomberg. I’m anti-tax. He raised taxes. He can’t even talk on the life issue. When he tries to talk, he gets all flustered on that. What does he say on his message on television? … All we know there is that he knows how to stock shelves, he steals a piece of pie every once in a while and he knows some lady named Kempie in Memphis.
Comments (9)
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Haslam has been seriously wounded and is losing ground fast. He is going ot have to self fund from here on out.....
The more Wamp is exposed the more people realize that he does know what he is talking about, he HAS been a true conservative his entire time in Congress and he actually is quite a nice guy. He seems to be gaining ground fast.
For Ramsey its just too little too late. I doubt if he will pull even pull 10% of the vote. As a a candidate he is just too one dimensional.
I looks like its Wamp Haslam with Wamp gaining on him very fast. Once Hasalm has to stand in the heat all his flaws come into clear focus. Biggest one being ..whats he hiding..what doesnt he release his financials...whats he afraid of?
Ummm, What about Wamp campaign loans, loans or cash Wamp no other candidate has self funded more that Wamp. My news and research addiction requires that I read everything, including last two quarters of Wamps financial reports to state. Of course that would be consistent with Wamp TARP. If ya ain't got it, Borrow it.
funny to me that if people dig into the "real candidates" .....Mr. Ramsey has soiled his record terribly in his home spot of northeast tn.....ask him about his involvement and profit from the botched "hobbs" auction.......lawsuits and complaints to the state have resulted.
Wamp is easily the most conservative candidate with the best record clearly. I do not live in TN-but a friend who lives there asked me to research them all from an objective point of view. There is no contest, we need strong conservative Governors. Who TN elects is our business in that our southern Governors need to stand together against the federal government we have to work together & after research Wamp is clearly the very best choice.
This is a pathetic statement about politics in TN. Three republicans trying to scoot farther than the other to appeal to the uninformed. And one Democrat? that doesn't seem to want the job. We don't have far to go to be more wacked than South Carolina.
John
I sincerely hope Tennesseans not be lazy and persuaded by big money from the unworthy Haslam campaign and see the experience, knowledge, passion, and TRUTH behind Zach Wamp. He could easily have been re-elected to Congress but chose to come home and use what he's learned (good and bad) in Washington to make Tennessee a better state in which to live, learn, work and enjoy. He researched issues early, talked with people all over Tennessee, and then develped a 20/20 Vision to help lead a stronger Tennessee into the next decade. He's never tried to hide anything and CAN be trusted to do what he says. We need to elect as our next governor the man who works hard, never tires, and has earned the respect of those who know him. Back Zach!!!
What are Haslam's financials going to prove, other than he's got more money than 99.9% of Tennesseans?
The fact is, he's a solid guy and has executive experience in business and larger local government. He's the only republican to stand against mountaintop removal coal mining. He will leave Knoxville better than it was before he was in charge of their government.
