GOP gubernatorial candidates showed at Trump rally; only Black got presidential mention
While President Trump’s Nashville rally was held to support Marsha Blackburn’s run for the U.S. Senate, four Republican gubernatorial candidates were on hand as well to show support for the president and look for votes, reports WKRN TV. U.S. Rep. Diane Black got a presidential mention.
Philbert? New Trump nickname for Bredesen, or a slip of the tongue?
President Donald Trump’s rally for Republican Senate candidate Marsha Blackburn in Nashville included a series of attacks on her Democratic opponent, former Gov. Phil Bredesen. The main themes were that the president had never heard of him, that Bredesen would vote with Democratic leadership in Congress if he were elected, and that he had previously supported Barack Obama and “Crooked” Hillary Clinton.
Oh, and he called him “Philbert.”
Black campaign asks TV stations to stop airing PAC-sponsored attack ad
The front page of The Tenenssean the day the driver’s license bill passed the General Assembly in April 2001.
An attorney for Diane Black’s gubernatorial campaign is asking TV stations to stop airing a TV ad that declares “Dishonest Diane Black” is “good for illegal immigrants, bad for Tennessee.” So reports The Tennessean, which obtained a copy of a letter sent to Knoxville TV station WVLT.
The ad was paid for by a political action committee, known as Tennessee Jobs Now, which supports one of Black’s GOP competitors — Knoxville entrepreneur Randy Boyd. (Previous post with video and text of the ad, HERE.)
TN Kratom confusion moves from legislature to law enforcement
A provision in Gov. Bill Haslam’s legislation dealing with opioid abuse caused considerable argument in the General Assembly over whether Kratom should be made illegal in Tennessee – and considerable confusion among law enforcement officers remains after the House and Senate finally reached a compromise in passing the measure, reports WSMV.
The Senate at one point voted for a total ban while the House voted to leave Kratom unrestricted under state law. Under the final version, Kratom remains legal to purchase and possess in its “natural form” for persons over the age of 21.
PolitiFact rates TNGOP Bredesen-bashing press release as ‘half true’
PolitiFact has deemed “half true” a Tennessee Republican Party press release denouncing Democrat Phil Bredesen TV ad that boasts of his record in recruiting economic development while governor, including creation of 200,000 new jobs. It’s a bit of an oddity in that the ad itself is not given a truth rating, as PolitiFact often does on political advertising claims.
Trump bashes Bredesen, embraces Blackburn at Nashville rally
In a Nashville rally Tuesday, President Donald Trump declared former Gov. Phil Bredesen “an absolute total tool” of Democratic Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and urged Tennessee Republican voters not to become complacent in backing Republican Marsha Blackburn for the U.S. Senate.
Black cites violent films, porn as ‘root causes’ for school shootings
U.S. Rep. Diane Black (R-Gallatin) speaks at a Republican event in Nashville on May 7, 2018. (Erik Schelzig, Tennessee Journal)
Violent movies and pornography are causes for school shootings, Republican gubernatorial candidate Diane Black told ministers last week.
“Pornography. It’s available. It’s available on the shelf when you walk in the grocery store. Yeah, you have to reach up to get it, but there’s pornography there,” Black said according to an audio recording obtained by the Huffington Post. “All of this is available without parental guidance, and I think that is a big part of the root cause that we see so many young people that have mental illness caught in these places.”
The congresswoman from Gallatin was speaking to ministers at Safe Harbor in Clarksville. She said the “deterioration of the family” and and the lack of a good support system was causing children go go astray.
“What do they say about idle hands?” she said. “The devil’s workshop.”
Corker comment featured in Senate ad – for North Dakota Democrat
Retiring Sen. Bob Corker has caused a lot of heartburn for Marsha Blackburn’s Senate campaign for his lukewarm endorsement of her bid to succeed him and for his refusal to saying he won’t campaign against his old friend Phil Bredesen in the race. Now some other Corker comments are appearing in another Democrat’s campaign ads in North Dakota.
The ad for Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.) cites statements made about her by Republican colleagues, highlighted by one made by Corker in 2013 that she was “stronger than battery acid.”
“When it comes to fighting for North Dakota, I take battery acid as a compliment,” Heitkamp says in the ad.
Sheriff’s deputies disciplined for cuffing, cussing and threatening man recording a traffic stop
A man who was cuffed, cussed and curtailed from recording a Bradley County Sheriff’s Office traffic stop in April says he’s glad to hear two officers involved in the incident have been disciplined, reports the Times Free Press.
Former US Rep. Bob Clement endorses Karl Dean
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Karl Dean speaks to a business group in Nashville on March 20, 2018. (Erik Schelzig, Tennessee Journal)
Former U.S. Rep. Bob Clement is endorsing Karl Dean, the man who beat him to become Nashville mayor in 2007, in his Democratic bid for governor over House Minority Leader Craig Fitzhugh of Ripley.
It’s the second recent endorsement from Clement, who earlier this month gave his nod to the 7th District congressional bid of Democrat Justin Kanew, a film writer and producer who lives in College Grove in Williamson County. That endorsement was at odds with fellow former Democratic U.S. Rep. Lincoln Davis, who is supporting former aide Matt Reel of Primm Springs in Hickman County, in that race. State Sen. Mark Green (R-Ashland City) is unopposed for the Republican nomination for the seat being vacated by U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-Brentwood) to run for the Senate.
