I've been on the road in colder climes, so I'm a bit behind. But tibdbits and updates are on the way. Here are some new or not so new items. It's financial disclosure season. So we get a temperature reading on all the mayoral contenders. As we can see below, some are doing far better than others.
-Buck Dozier filed his financial disclosure, and as of late January, he has raised only raised $100,000. Ouch! Bud better get cracking.
- At the other end of the spectrum, Bob Clement has been pulling in some of that business money. The Clement Campaign has great momentum and has raised more than $630,000 so far in this Mayor's campaign. Clement filed his disclosure on Wednesday morning. The report showed that Clement raised $300,949.59 this reporting period and has $475,881.00 cash on hand.
What will Bob do with that money? Well his new HQ is in all probability one result,
Camp Clement is not at 100 Oaks on second floor of AmSouth Bank Bldg. Signs on building should be easlly visible from I-65, I-440, Thompson Lane, Woodmont Blvd, Armory Drive, and Franklin Road.
Money talks in politics ... and I can barely hear Dozier.
Showing posts with label Clement. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Clement. Show all posts
Saturday, February 03, 2007
Thursday, January 04, 2007
King of the County - The Debates to Come
I was just musing over the talking points and not so polite questions, dirt, and mud that may be slung as the Nashville Mayor's race heats up. Also in this list are issues that the candidates may have to confront as the race goes on. Right or wrong, these topics are likely to be aired as the candidates get running.
Karl Dean - As public defender, he represented hundreds of alleged criminals such as drug dealers, murderers, rapists, robbers and child molesters; there are questions under state law about the legality of his using his wife's money, just like the John Kerry wife money issue; he has zero name recognition(or maybe 3%).
David Briley- Briley is a Trial Lawyer (I capitalize those words to refer to the media caricature of a trial lawyer) and brags about it (see his "witty" commerical "delicately" emphasizing just this - YouTube; he is too green and/or not experienced enough; a strong advocate for immigrant and gay rights under the law; he can't raise the necessary money; he plans heavy use of internet but so will the other candidates.
Buck Dozier - Nashville Christian School closed under his supervision; he was $3 million dollars over budget when he was in charge of the Metro Fire Dept. and used equipment money to paint the fire trucks instead; very right wing.
Howard Gentry - unstable job history; lacks management ability to the point where council meetings run until 2am; his 2003 tie-breaking Metro Council vote on gay rights; he can't raise the money.
Bob Clement - Lifetime in politics; strong partisan Democrat; "old politics"; talks slow and Southern (not slick-sounding).
The list is by no means comprehensive. Just some musings as lunchtime slips away.
Karl Dean - As public defender, he represented hundreds of alleged criminals such as drug dealers, murderers, rapists, robbers and child molesters; there are questions under state law about the legality of his using his wife's money, just like the John Kerry wife money issue; he has zero name recognition(or maybe 3%).
David Briley- Briley is a Trial Lawyer (I capitalize those words to refer to the media caricature of a trial lawyer) and brags about it (see his "witty" commerical "delicately" emphasizing just this - YouTube; he is too green and/or not experienced enough; a strong advocate for immigrant and gay rights under the law; he can't raise the necessary money; he plans heavy use of internet but so will the other candidates.
Buck Dozier - Nashville Christian School closed under his supervision; he was $3 million dollars over budget when he was in charge of the Metro Fire Dept. and used equipment money to paint the fire trucks instead; very right wing.
Howard Gentry - unstable job history; lacks management ability to the point where council meetings run until 2am; his 2003 tie-breaking Metro Council vote on gay rights; he can't raise the money.
Bob Clement - Lifetime in politics; strong partisan Democrat; "old politics"; talks slow and Southern (not slick-sounding).
The list is by no means comprehensive. Just some musings as lunchtime slips away.
Wednesday, January 03, 2007
King of the County - Big Bucks and a New Face
Aah, the new year, time for the Nashville Mayoral race to get serious. Two interesting tibdits.
-Clement winning over Republicans? The City Paper is reporting today on the electoral importance of winning over Davidson County Republicans. Clement is apprently taking this advice seriously, having had a sit-down with State Rep. Beth Harwell. Also of interest is Davidson County Republican Chariman Jon Crisp's comment that Republicans are leaning toward Bob Clement. An early trend but significant. If you combine Clement's apparent growing Republican support with his Democratic base and that does not leave much room for other candidates. It's shaping up to be a $2 million race for Mayor. It's highly doubtful that anyone but Clement can raise that amount.
-The crucial issues facing Mayoral candidates are shaping up to be Education and Crime. Bob Clement has emphasized these issues for a year now. Today, the City Paper editorial has agreed, pointing to them as the key issues for the race. There seems to be lots of agreement. David Briley, Karl Dean, and Buck Dozier all echoed same two issues in their announcements. So, no disagreement on issues. Everyone is moving to ground that Clement has cultivated for some time now. Winning is all about shaping the debate. Clement's team has done it's job well.
-As for the new face, Karl Dean's entry to mayoral race is big news. But it seems to be bad news for David Briley. They both draw from the same young trial lawyer base of support. One big difference is that Dean's wife has a significant family coal-mining fortune. Dean will probably follow Bredesen's model and self-finance to take advantage of that pot of money. While the money will flow, Dean may be forgetting that Bredesen lost his first two elections (agianst Bill Boner for Mayor and against Bob Clement for Congress in late 1980's). Money aside, Dean may have other problems. Dean also is viewed as the candidate who will keep the incumbents like David Manning (widely unpopular) in office. Despite all this, Dean is getting serious. He is offering staff jobs at up to $10,000 per month already and hired Jim Hester at a reported $8,000 per month. Hester ran Ford campaign up to June 2006 when he was forced out and moved over to Democratic Coordinated Campaign (not a good sign).
-Clement winning over Republicans? The City Paper is reporting today on the electoral importance of winning over Davidson County Republicans. Clement is apprently taking this advice seriously, having had a sit-down with State Rep. Beth Harwell. Also of interest is Davidson County Republican Chariman Jon Crisp's comment that Republicans are leaning toward Bob Clement. An early trend but significant. If you combine Clement's apparent growing Republican support with his Democratic base and that does not leave much room for other candidates. It's shaping up to be a $2 million race for Mayor. It's highly doubtful that anyone but Clement can raise that amount.
-The crucial issues facing Mayoral candidates are shaping up to be Education and Crime. Bob Clement has emphasized these issues for a year now. Today, the City Paper editorial has agreed, pointing to them as the key issues for the race. There seems to be lots of agreement. David Briley, Karl Dean, and Buck Dozier all echoed same two issues in their announcements. So, no disagreement on issues. Everyone is moving to ground that Clement has cultivated for some time now. Winning is all about shaping the debate. Clement's team has done it's job well.
-As for the new face, Karl Dean's entry to mayoral race is big news. But it seems to be bad news for David Briley. They both draw from the same young trial lawyer base of support. One big difference is that Dean's wife has a significant family coal-mining fortune. Dean will probably follow Bredesen's model and self-finance to take advantage of that pot of money. While the money will flow, Dean may be forgetting that Bredesen lost his first two elections (agianst Bill Boner for Mayor and against Bob Clement for Congress in late 1980's). Money aside, Dean may have other problems. Dean also is viewed as the candidate who will keep the incumbents like David Manning (widely unpopular) in office. Despite all this, Dean is getting serious. He is offering staff jobs at up to $10,000 per month already and hired Jim Hester at a reported $8,000 per month. Hester ran Ford campaign up to June 2006 when he was forced out and moved over to Democratic Coordinated Campaign (not a good sign).
Thursday, October 26, 2006
King of the County - The 2007 Nashville Mayor's Race
This 2007 election is already bloody.
The Contenders:
Clear favorite in both votes and money is former Congressman Bob Clement. Chasing the leader is Vice Mayor Howard Gentry and Councilman Buck Dozier, trying to catch up. Now Councilman-at-large David Briley is about to jump in this race as well.
The Match-up:
So it will be Clement versus three guys from the Nashville Metro Council ... a group that has lower approval ratings than President Bush and Congress, if you can imagine; whose new Courthouse building, not yet completed, is already the source of rumors about cost overruns (link - The Tennessean) and the kind of luxury carpeting and baubles that got the President of UT run off a couple of years ago.
Clement is challenging his opponents with an aggressive plan for a neighborhood advisory council, infrastructure repairs (storm water problems, street repairs, etc), and reducing crime by cracking down on drug dealers and cracking down on gangs.
Clement's opponents don't seem to understand or feel the pain of everyday people on these issues. Gentry was recently quoted that crime is important because we need to worry about artists who might not play at the new Symphony Hall because of their fear of crime. Clement's opponents were described by the Republican Party County Chairman as being soft on crime when Clement called for a crackdown on drugs and gangs to improve the quality of life in a recent mayor's debate. (link - City Paper).
With this sort of matchup, I might return to watching the Titans for some suspense.
The Contenders:
Clear favorite in both votes and money is former Congressman Bob Clement. Chasing the leader is Vice Mayor Howard Gentry and Councilman Buck Dozier, trying to catch up. Now Councilman-at-large David Briley is about to jump in this race as well.
The Match-up:
So it will be Clement versus three guys from the Nashville Metro Council ... a group that has lower approval ratings than President Bush and Congress, if you can imagine; whose new Courthouse building, not yet completed, is already the source of rumors about cost overruns (link - The Tennessean) and the kind of luxury carpeting and baubles that got the President of UT run off a couple of years ago.
Clement is challenging his opponents with an aggressive plan for a neighborhood advisory council, infrastructure repairs (storm water problems, street repairs, etc), and reducing crime by cracking down on drug dealers and cracking down on gangs.
Clement's opponents don't seem to understand or feel the pain of everyday people on these issues. Gentry was recently quoted that crime is important because we need to worry about artists who might not play at the new Symphony Hall because of their fear of crime. Clement's opponents were described by the Republican Party County Chairman as being soft on crime when Clement called for a crackdown on drugs and gangs to improve the quality of life in a recent mayor's debate. (link - City Paper).
With this sort of matchup, I might return to watching the Titans for some suspense.
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