The Scoop: Wanted – Republican to run for governor
It doesn’t take long to work your way through the list of legitimate Republican candidates for Tennessee governor. In fact, I just listed them all.
Three months away from the qualifying deadline, Gov. Phil Bredesen still doesn’t have a serious Republican challenger. State Rep. Beth Harwell was shaping up as the GOP’s best bet until she announced about two weeks ago she will not run for office.
That leaves Chattanooga real estate investor Mark Albertini and 2002 candidate Carl “Two Feathers” Whitaker as the two Republicans currently running for governor. Who?
Of course there’s always Steve Gill, the blowhard radio talk show host who says he’s still considering a run for governor. The scary part is if Arnold Schwarzennegar can be elected governor of California, it can be argued Gill actually stands a chance.
Even though I cringe at the thought of talking about Gov. Steve Gill, I’d rather see Gill enter the race than have Bredesen breeze by with no competition. For democracy to work, and for elected officials to be held accountable, a candidate must face opposition. Otherwise, they can do whatever they want and not worry about the consequences.
I was disappointed during the last election cycle when state Sen. Jerry Cooper was allowed to return to office without opposition. I said exactly that at the time and some folks misconstrued my statement.
It’s not that I was unhappy with the job Cooper had done in Nashville. That wasn’t the case at all. My point was, and it still is, that it’s not healthy for candidates to get a free ride back to Capitol Hill. Competition serves to make us all better.
Whether it’s two kids on the basketball court, two companies going head to head, or two political candidates, they are all forced to work harder if there’s competition. Eventually, that competition will create a better product, or in this case a better state government.
Finding a candidate is a problem usually associated with Democrats, especially on the national political scene. When it comes to finding a quality candidate for president, the Democrats have given themselves the tar-and-feather treatment. Any party that offers John Kerry and Michael Dukakis as its best options (just to name two) is not running on all cylinders.
That brings us to the Tennessee Republican Party, which should be given high marks for its efforts to convey a dazed and confused image. The GOP needs to find a candidate to push. Otherwise, as Gill says, it’s going to resemble a game of musical chairs where the last Republican standing gets to run for governor.
As for Bredesen, I generally approve of his job as governor, but firmly believe the man must answer to some serious questions. Chief of those is how state troopers who gave him campaign contributions miraculously worked their way up the Highway Patrol ladder ahead of other troopers who scored better on performance tests.
The current ethics session called by Bredesen is shaping up as a nightmare with the increasing likelihood nothing meaningful will be accomplished. And Bredesen continues to stand behind his deputy governor despite evidence of shady behavior.
As citizens, we deserve the right to vote an elected official ? especially our top elected official ? out of office if we so desire. That’s a difficult task indeed when that candidate doesn’t face any legitimate opposition. I don’t think any of us need to get used to saying Gov. Two Feathers.
James Clark is editor of the Standard. He can be reached at 473-2191 or by e-mail at editor@southernstandard.com.