3rd District hopefuls weigh in on Obama Afghanistan speech

In news releases sent out this week, Chattanooga attorney Chuck Fleischmann and former Tennessee Republican Party Chairwoman Robin Smith issued statements on President Barack Obama's decision to send 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan.

"Although his path to this decision was long and meandering, I believe that President Obama has, for the most part, arrived at the correct conclusion on providing our military professionals the resources they need to achieve mission success in Afghanistan," Ms. Smith wrote in her statement.

Mr. Fleischmann ex-pressed a similar opinion.

"While I wish the president would have come to this conclusion sooner, I am pleased that he is taking strong steps toward stabilizing Afghanistan and continuing to deny safe havens to terrorists around the world," he said.

Another candidate in the race, Cleveland, Tenn., businessman Art Rhodes weighed in on Twitter.

"Mr. Obama, don't let Afghanistan become a Vietnam. Enough troops to win, then bring troops home," he wrote.

Haslam unveils local leadership

Knoxville Mayor Bill Haslam, a Republican candidate for Tennessee governor, released a list Tuesday of local leaders in his campaign. More than 1,000 "grass-roots leaders" from all 95 counties were on the list.

Among the Hamilton County names on the list were Joe Decosimo, Robin Derryberry, Scotty Probasco, Jack McGill and Mike Walden. Ms. Derryberry is a former assistant chief of staff for U.S. Rep. Zach Wamp, R-Tenn., who is also running for governor.

setpac founders get nicknames

While he introduced Rep. Wamp at Friday's meeting of the Southeast Tennessee Political Action Committee, Bubba Ricketts, one of the founders of the committee, took a moment to mention that its fourth anniversary was approaching.

Mr. Ricketts recognized SETPAC's four other founders, with some irreverent additions to their names.

First, he called out Bill "High Tax" Bennett, Hamilton County's property assessor.

"I'm gonna get you, Bubba," Mr. Bennett joked.

He then named state Rep. Gerald "Guns" McCormick and Charlie "Big Haul" Hunt.

Finally, Mr. Ricketts named Hayes "Need a Job" Ledford, the nickname that got the biggest laugh from the crowd, including Mr. Ledford himself.

Mr. Ledford resigned from his position as the lobbyist for the Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce earlier this year after taking criticism for comments made on his Facebook page.

franken vs. corker

A story on Politico.com this week calls a Senate-floor exchange between U.S. Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., and Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., "particularly angry."

The story relates how several GOP senators feel that they've been unfairly maligned for their votes against an amendment sponsored by Sen. Franken which bars federal contractors from forcing employees to go through company-mandated arbitration, including in rape cases. Some GOP senators say they've been painted as sympathizing with rapists.

"Soon after Tennessee GOP Sens. Bob Corker and Lamar Alexander co-wrote an op-ed in a local newspaper defending their votes against the Franken measure, the Minnesota Democrat confronted each senator separately to dispute their column -- and grew particularly angry in a tense exchange with Corker," the story states.

In an interview with Politico, Sen. Corker said he only disagreed with Sen. Franken's argument.

"We serve together on an Aging Committee -- I say hello when we see each other," he told the political news Web site.

twitter updates

Twitter is a social networking tool politicians often use to send updates to supporters. Here's what some local and state candidates and officials were saying this week:

* Bradley County Sheriff Tim Gobble, GOP candidate for Tennessee's 3rd Congressional District, Monday: "Enjoyed annual Christmas lunch hosted by Dale Hughes today. Thanks for all those who expressed support for my campaign. Go OMS basketball!"

* Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey, R-Blountville, candidate for Tennessee governor, Wednesday: "Will be sleeping in my own bed tonight. That will be two nights in a row. Wow! Looking forward to another good day in NE Tennessee tomorrow!"

* Jim Kyle, Democratic candidate for Tennessee governor, Friday: "Excited to be endorsed statewide by the Carpenters Union. Together, we will 'nail it down' in 2010."