We'll have more on Republican gubernatorial candidate Bill Haslam's appearance at the University of Memphis Holiday Inn as part of his Monday fly-around "launching" his general election campaign, but am I the only person who found Haslam's use of the adjective "pragmatic" almost jarring after a Republican when "moderate" was a bad word?
By the way, Haslam had the same answers about whether he would release more detailed financial records, including his tax returns, as he did during the primary. In a word, uh, "No." In a few more words: "Folks are real clear. They understand where my money comes from. They understand that real well. They understand I've disclosed far more than is required and there is no great secret there. What they want to know is have you dealt with situations in the right way? Here's the thing. I have a track record there. I have been mayor of Knoxville for 6 1/2 years. It's not just a speculative situation of I wonder what he would do. Come check my track record and see what's happened for the last 6 1/2 years and I'm glad to stand on that track record."
That question got asked a lot during the primary, though not as often as U.S. Rep. Zach Wamp and his campaign wanted it asked. And before Wamp, it was Bill Gibbons, the man who introduced Haslam on Monday, who was frustrated the media did not apply more scrutiny to Haslam, who snubbed the request from newspapers in the Tennessee Newspaper Network to provide tax returns. In part, that was because it was a primary where party loyalists were choosing a nominee, in larger part because it was the Republican primary and financial transparency and the question of whether a rich guy can be trusted just don't have as much traction with Republican primary voters as it does with Independents and Democrats.
There is some circular logic to Haslam's answer. People know where his money comes from (most of it, anyway), he was mayor of Knoxville and handled "situations" appropriately (at least, those "situations" people knew were, in fact, "situations"). Interestingly, Gibbons continued to refer to his questioning of Haslam's financial transparency as a "difference of opinion" but did not back down from having raised the question.
"I agreed with Bill Haslam on the big challenges this state is facing and the approach we needed to take," Gibbons said. "We had some disagreements on issues and that's one of them."
Gibbons added: "Even for those newspapers who initially brought up this issue, they realized there were bigger issues that really determined who they were going to endorse."
Gibbons emphasized that "voters seem quite satisfied with Mayor Haslam's position on that issue."
I pointed out that REPUBLICAN voters seemed satisfied, but Haslam will be appealing to a broader electorate and media do apply more scrutiny to candidates in general elections where the winner takes office.
"He's going to have to articulate his position on this, convince the voters he is correct and I think he can do that," Gibbons said. "Did we have a difference of opinion on that? Sure. That's what primaries are all about."
By the way, Haslam had the same answers about whether he would release more detailed financial records, including his tax returns, as he did during the primary. In a word, uh, "No." In a few more words: "Folks are real clear. They understand where my money comes from. They understand that real well. They understand I've disclosed far more than is required and there is no great secret there. What they want to know is have you dealt with situations in the right way? Here's the thing. I have a track record there. I have been mayor of Knoxville for 6 1/2 years. It's not just a speculative situation of I wonder what he would do. Come check my track record and see what's happened for the last 6 1/2 years and I'm glad to stand on that track record."
That question got asked a lot during the primary, though not as often as U.S. Rep. Zach Wamp and his campaign wanted it asked. And before Wamp, it was Bill Gibbons, the man who introduced Haslam on Monday, who was frustrated the media did not apply more scrutiny to Haslam, who snubbed the request from newspapers in the Tennessee Newspaper Network to provide tax returns. In part, that was because it was a primary where party loyalists were choosing a nominee, in larger part because it was the Republican primary and financial transparency and the question of whether a rich guy can be trusted just don't have as much traction with Republican primary voters as it does with Independents and Democrats.
There is some circular logic to Haslam's answer. People know where his money comes from (most of it, anyway), he was mayor of Knoxville and handled "situations" appropriately (at least, those "situations" people knew were, in fact, "situations"). Interestingly, Gibbons continued to refer to his questioning of Haslam's financial transparency as a "difference of opinion" but did not back down from having raised the question.
"I agreed with Bill Haslam on the big challenges this state is facing and the approach we needed to take," Gibbons said. "We had some disagreements on issues and that's one of them."
Gibbons added: "Even for those newspapers who initially brought up this issue, they realized there were bigger issues that really determined who they were going to endorse."
Gibbons emphasized that "voters seem quite satisfied with Mayor Haslam's position on that issue."
I pointed out that REPUBLICAN voters seemed satisfied, but Haslam will be appealing to a broader electorate and media do apply more scrutiny to candidates in general elections where the winner takes office.
"He's going to have to articulate his position on this, convince the voters he is correct and I think he can do that," Gibbons said. "Did we have a difference of opinion on that? Sure. That's what primaries are all about."
Leave a comment