Monday, July 26, 2010
Politics Henry Goes Negative Against Upstart Rival
Posted by Jeff Woods on Mon, Jul 26, 2010 at 8:07 AM
“I’m sad and disappointed that Sen. Henry—or at least Sen. Henry’s campaign—has resorted to personal attacks and distortion rather than focusing on the issues facing Tennessee families. This is exactly what’s wrong with the legislature today. From the outset, Sen. Henry has promised that he would not engage in personal attack politics, a promise he affirmed just last Tuesday. Either he broke his word or he didn’t know what was happening in his own campaign, and I’m not sure which is more troubling.“It’s disappointing to me because over his 40 years in the Senate, Sen. Henry has developed a reputation for putting principles ahead of politics, but this campaign tactic is just the opposite. Now is the time to turn our focus to what’s important for our state and the people of the 21st District."
Update: Sean Braisted comments. "Sen. Henry should ask himself, if he has to run a campaign he can't be proud of to win re-election, is it worth it? To ruin the reputation he's built over these past 40 years would be a shame, and its unfortunate to hear his campaign is pushing him to do it."
Yarbro is trying to turn the attack into cash. His fund-raising appeal:
"As I was walking door-to-door with volunteers this weekend, I received a troubling phone call reporting that Sen. Henry had launched a negative and misleading personal attack ad against me. Recognizing our campaign’s momentum, the Henry Campaign has moved their focus away from the issues and chosen to go negative in their quest to win an 11th four-year term."It’s disappointing that in the last days of his final campaign, Sen. Henry—or at least the Henry Campaign—would resort to negative politics instead of focusing on the real challenges facing our state. From the outset, Sen. Henry has promised that he would not engage in personal attacks, a promise he affirmed just last week. Either he broke his word or he didn’t know what was happening in his own campaign, and I’m not sure which is more troubling.
"Sen. Henry knows that I’ve never been a lobbyist and that I don’t work at a lobbying firm. He also knows that no one in my law firm lobbies for BP, but that didn’t stop his campaign from desperately exploiting the tragedy in the Gulf for political gain.
"We need your help because we cannot allow these distortions to go unanswered. We need to raise $15,000 online in the next 3 days to get our positive message to the voters and our supporters to the polls. ..."
Comments (8)
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kudos to Yarbro for calling Henry out on his shenanigans. it appears the Henry campaign is getting nervous...
Bass Berry has two lobbyists out of 214 lawyers, and Jeff Yarbro isn't one of the two. Yarbro didn't say that Bass Berry didn't have lobbyists on staff, simply that it isn't a lobbying firm...which would seem to be accurate if less than 1% of the lawyers are registered lobbyists.
What an insightful comment Rich...related to John?
Who is running Senator Henry's campaign? I've always known him to be a gentleman and can't imagine he suggested this, though as Yarbro points out--which is more troubling, that he did it, or that he doesn't know that his people are? Who might be calling the shots then? Curious who his campaign manager is.
The Henry "attack ad" is a prime example of the kind of tired, old politics that this voter from the 21st District is exhausted of. It is truly unbecoming of Senator Henry - and rather ham-handed and ineffective to boot.
