Subject: Nathan Vaughn

• GOP Denies Appealing to Racial Prejudice

  November 12, 2008

• Vaughn Decries 'Blackbird Mailer'

  November 13, 2008

• Campfield: 'I Just Don't See the Racism'

  OK, I guess I was wrong. I thought Republicans were appealing to racial prejudice with their "blackbird mailer" against Nathan Vaughn. But now, Stacey Campfield has set me straight. Those are vultures, not blackbirds, on the front side of the mailer, he points out. That makes a big difference. "... I just don't see the racism," he says. What was I thinking? Update: Blackbirds seem to have been a GOP theme in mailouts this year. Wonder why? Of course, the blackbirds in this Texas mailer aren't

  November 14, 2008

• The 'Real Reasons' Republicans Won in Tennessee

  To newspapers, the state GOP is peddling a stupid little oped by party chair Robin Smith that purports to give the "real reasons" Republicans won majorities in the legislature. You guessed it. It's the power of all those wonderful Republican ideas. From the oped:Taxes and spending: the government should live within its means and oppose higher tax bills to fund a bloated budget; the voters know government needs to cut spending.  Gun Rights: voters want commonsense carry laws making it easier

  December 11, 2008

• Forrester Calls Out Republicans for 'Racist Smear Tactics'

  Demoralized and in disarray, Tennessee Democrats met at the Capitol over the weekend to elect a new chairman and proceeded to make their party's future even shakier by giving the finger to their entire senior leadership. Charles Robert Bone, son of a long-time party money guy, enjoyed the backing of Gov. Phil Bredesen, and Congressmen Jim Cooper, Lincoln Davis, Bart Gordon and John Tanner, plus Harold Ford Jr. and a bunch of former party chairs--Doug Horne, Bob Thomas, Dick Lodge, Randy Button,

  January 26, 2009

• Democrats Ridicule Lawmaker for Demanding Obama's Birth Certificate

  This year's session has only just begun and already a lawmaker is making Tennessee a laughingstock. This time, it's Republican Rep. Eric Swafford who's slipping on the banana peel. He's proudly become America's first state legislator to join the wacky legal action by the weird Russian dentist Orly Taitz demanding Barack Obama's birth certificate. When reporters asked House Democrats for their reaction this morning during a press conference, Rep. Larry Miller was incredulous. "He did what? Who'

  February 12, 2009

• Morning Roundup: Nathan Vaughn Revved Up to Run Again and Other Astonishing News

  Democrats traveled to Kingsport to stroke Nathan Vaughn and persuade him to run for his old House seat in 2010. It sounds like they succeeded: "I will stop serving you when they throw the last bit of dirt on my coffin and say 'It is done,'" Vaughn says. Vaughn casts himself as the victim of racist attacks. No mention of that $100,000 he left on the table in his campaign account. But hey, he can spend it next time! Finally, everyone now admits there's no DNA evidence pointing to Paul House's gui

  February 23, 2009

• The 2008 Boner Awards: Lowlights from Music City's year of clumsy crooks, posturing politicians and all-around bad news

  December 25, 2008

• The Republicans Take Control of the Tennessee Capitol

  November 20, 2008

• Confederacy of Dunces

  March 6, 2008

• News Briefly

  Lots of wheezing and hacking

  March 18, 2004

• Forrester Slaps Campfield, Casada for 'Dirty Tricks'

  Tennessee Democratic Party chair Chip Forrester has just put out a press release accusing Republican Reps. Stacey Campfield and Glen Casada of dirty tricks in the '08 election. Campfield is the subject of a libel suit by Roger Byrge, a Democratic candidate for the House. Campfield wrote on his personal blog that Byrge had "multiple separate drug arrests. Including arrests for possession and drug dealing." Byrge, who's never been convicted of a drug crime, lost the race by 391 votes. He's sued C

  April 29, 2009

• Tony Shipley to the Devil Democrats: 'I Will Fight Them Until I Have No Air Left in My Body'

  Rep. Tony ShipleyHouse Democrats are showing signs of life, sending a press release attacking Rep. Tony Shipley, R-Kingsport, over his Christian Right-backed bill denying patient-doctor confidentiality to teens. We guess conservatives are trying to stop kids from keeping secrets from their parents (like the fact that they're sexually active). But as the state Health Department and the Tennessee Medical Association points out, it'll probably also stop some teens from seeking treatment for STDs or

  May 18, 2009

• What? Michael Steele Comes to Tennessee But Fails to Bring 'Hip Hop' Makeover to Rich White Audience

  Michael Steele came to Tennessee to speak to a roomful of rich white people over the weekend at the Sullivan County Republican Party fund-raiser. Pith wasn't there, but we feel 100 percent confident in our description of the demographic makeup of his audience. From reading the news reports, it looks as if the RNC chairman escaped without a committing a major gaffe, which is unusual for Steele. He stuck to a sure-fire script, calling out the Tennessee GOP's Public Enemy No. 1--House Speaker Kent

  May 26, 2009

• State Rep. Tony Shipley Stands Tall on the Campaign Trail

  We miss you, Tony.​Just when Pith was about to nod off over his morning bowl of Cocoa Puffs, Tony Shipley saved the day by bursting back into the headlines. At some Republican women's event, our hero was laughing in the face of political danger. Democrats think they can toss Shipley out of the state House after only one term, and they're gearing up to run former Rep. Nathan Vaughn again in 2010. You recall Shipley beat Vaughn by only a couple hundred votes last time, and that was mainly becau

  September 9, 2009