U.S. Rep. Chuck Fleischmann, R-Tenn.A top aide for U.S. Rep. Chuck Fleischmann, R-Tenn., declined to delve into whether the congressman would use negative advertising against a top challenger.
In a phone interview, Fleischmann chief of staff Chip Saltsman did not directly answer three yes-or-no questions about whether his boss intends to attack Weston Wamp, the 24-year-old son of the congressman's predecessor, Zach Wamp.
Instead Saltsman thrice repeated some version of the following quote: "Our ad campaign plan is to talk about Chuck and his accomplishments and the challenges ahead of us."
Asked if that meant not targeting Wamp, Saltsman said, "I didn't say that."
All other candidates to date, including the younger Wamp, said they wouldn't target Fleischmann in advertisements.
"Politicians have got to quit taking the focus off the things that matter," Wamp said. "That's what negative campaigning does."
Wamp later said he may approve commercials that deal with "points of contrast" between him and Fleischmann. He insisted there was a distinction between those and attack ads.
Fleischmann and Wamp have rather abrasive campaign histories. Fleischmann's first victory ended in a lawsuit in which an aide to his top rival, Robin Smith, sued Saltsman and Fleischmann for defamation. Wamp worked on his father's failed 2010 gubernatorial run and once quarreled with a staffer for the eventual winner, Gov. Bill Haslam, according to news accounts.
Hamilton County's airwaves and landscapes reflect that congressional primary elections for Democrats and Republicans aren't until Aug. 2 -- there aren't any Choose-Chuck television commercials or Send-Weston-to-Washington yard signs yet.
But Fleischmann and Wamp are developing six-figure campaign strategies that combine radio and TV spots with social media.
Saltsman predicted "the weather will be a lot warmer" before the congressman begins buying ads.
"The weather's warmer in April," he said.
Others aren't waiting until spring. Last year, Wamp commissioned a $2,500 minute-long online ad called "Generations," Jean Howard-Hill put $600 toward signs and businessman Ron Bhalla spent $700 on print advertisements.
"My message is giving power to voters," said Bhalla, a Republican. "That will be my message on every campaign sign."
GOP candidate Howard-Hill said she plans to spend about $25,000 on campaign advertising.
"There already is too much negativity in political races, which tends to distract from the real issues," Howard-Hill said in an email. "My personality as a candidate and as a person is positive, so I cannot see myself ever taking this route."
Democratic candidates also plan to go positive. Mary Headrick, a Union County physician vying for the Democratic nomination, said she hopes $15,000 does the trick in the primary.
"I plan to drive, walk and talk all over the district," she said in an email. "I measure the value of campaigning in time spent by myself, my volunteers and the constituents as more valuable than the dollars, but I recognize both must be spent."
Bill Taylor, the other Democrat in the race, has said he'll appeal to the "middle 70 percent" of 3rd District voters, emphasizing his centrist politics.
"There seems to be no effort to explore ideas, make compromise and develop solutions," he said. "That needs to change."