Like most places, Tennessee politics can be nuts. However, the past year has seen more drama and craziness than normal.
Perhaps the biggest shame and scandal was Mayor Megan Barry having to resign amidst a torrid sex scandal.
Well, that’s making it sound even more lurid than it was.
It wasn’t so much about her having sex with a man other than her husband. (She was busted having an affair with her security guard.) Not too terrible.
The fact they used tax payer money to fund their tryst via trips to places like Paris was what made it outrageous and shameful.
We were on vacation when that shit hit the fan. That was super disappointing news to hear.
I liked Megan Barry. I respected how she carried herself and how she answered questions. I felt she was a strong leader. Huge let down to see such a mega and career-ending lapse in judgement on her part.
Anyway, now we’ve got the primaries going on. Not for Mayor, but for Congress, Senate and Governor.
Luckily it’s almost over. Primaries will be decided this week.
Which I’d be thankful for, but then we’ll have to get through the general election. Meaning enduring all the mudslinging and distorted fact sharing that will come when it’s Dems vs. Reps.
Right now it’s been a toss up between being aggravating and amusing watching Republicans pitted against Republicans as they vie for a chance to run for their respective seats or positions.
Black vs. Boyd vs. Harwell vs. Lee
I’ve only listed four of the six last names of the candidates running for the right to represent the Republican party in Tennessee’s gubernatorial election. Haven’t seen nary a TV ad from the other two, so I’m not going to bother including them in this discussion.
But Diane Black, Randy Boyd, Beth Harwell, and Bill Lee? The infighting has been epic!
She’s a career politician, I’m an outsider, I’m the most conservative…they’re all really saying the same thing.
The same thing that Trump said, that is.
Talk about jumping on a bandwagon…and about zero creativity.
Except for one ad. I’ll get to that.
I don’t know how Republicans are going to decide between all these clones.
If I’d voted Republican in the primary, I would’ve picked Beth Harwell.
Even though I don’t like her because of how she handled the Jeremy Durham sexual harassment scandal. (You know how cops are accused of having a Thin Blue Line they don’t cross when it comes to calling out fellow officers for bad behavior? That’s what she did. She resisted crossing the Thin Red Line to oust a fellow Republican for his shameful, authority-abusing behavior. Another example of a woman not having other women’s backs and enabling men to act wrongly. Disgusting.)
However, she would’ve had my vote for two reasons:
- She supports the use of medical marijuana.
- One ad in particular that’s just ‘effing ingenious.
I’m including her ad because it’s unlike any I’ve ever seen before. (You’ll notice in the “Bob Corlew vs. John Rose” section below that one of them has something similar. Copy-catted from Harwell’s.)
All the others are typical ads really. (Although I may include them in another post asking if they all used the same ad agency. They’re that similar!)
But this one from Harwell? Well, even if you don’t live in Tennessee, you’ll maybe be able to appreciate how she separated herself with a unique message while schooling –literally– the other candidates.
Bob Corlew vs. John Rose
On the local front here in Nashville. it’s been fun watching John Rose and Bob Corlew slam each other for a chance to win a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives for District 6.
Here’s a couple of their ads:
They both have other ads attacking each other but at the end of the day they’re both saying the same thing. Or doing the same thing I should say, calling each other liars.
It’s going to be fun to see who wins in all the races and moves on to the General.