Jay GreesonU.S. Sen. Bob Corker has said he is not interested in running for president.
The fact that he is willing to reach across the aisle in Congress makes him a refreshing outlier in a Washington so divided that the metaphoric "aisle" between Republicans and Democrats is more like a moat. Or an ocean.
Corker's star has never been brighter. The former Chattanooga mayor was lauded and applauded this week in a story in The New York Times. Corker and the praise he received from The Times, which was brought to prominence by long-ago Chattanooga Times owner Adolph Ochs, could very well be a talking point today when Corker speaks to our city's Rotary Club.
And while Republican presidential wannabes such as Rand Paul and Ted Cruz are already throwing hats so hollow they look like visors into the presidential ring, we offer this suggestion as Corker returns to town:
Bob, run for president. America needs you, and sooner rather than later.
There it is, and if you think that's my opinion because Corker is from Chattanooga or sees things from the political right, well, you'd be correct.
But, like so many things in today's political landscape, that is only part of the truth, and it comes with the twist and spin of a big-league curveball.
The fact is, Corker is the candidate our country needs now. He has already said he will not run, and we all can understand that thought.
The dream of being president is accompanied by the expensive, fundraising nightmare of running for president. It's obscenely, other-worldly pricey, like taking the space shuttle to Vegas for a long weekend. It's walking into the brightest spotlight and under the most powerful microscope on the planet.
But consider making that sacrifice, Bob, for a variety of reasons.
You are positioned to bridge gaps and actually get things done. That's a credit to your bipartisan approach and the realization from your small-market business days that the process of making deals is about finding reasons to say "yes" rather than looking for excuses to say "no."
That view has become as common as unicorns these days in our nation's Capitol. As Corker's political reach expands, let's hope more and more of your colleagues embrace that approach. You have the ear of the power brokers in D.C., regardless of the capital letter following his or her name, and the gridlock of communication is arguably the biggest hurdle before our leaders.
It's a place that can create enemies, be it from jealousy or pettiness, even within your party, but ignore that background noise.
Those who think compromise makes Corker a weaker Republican quite plainly are more worried about winning the argument than fixing the country.
Chattanoogans knew this when he left for Washington. He was a successful businessman and mayor here because he was a pragmatic problem-solver, willing to work in innovative ways and across different ideologies at different times to get things done.
Need proof? He is a clear conservative who fought the UAW but gained support of local unions during his campaign for mayor in Chattanooga.
He has fought excessive Obama-driven spending, but locally he supported higher hotel taxes to help to revitalize our downtown -- a move that we all appreciate almost daily.
Sure, he may be too blunt or too eager to tackle monster issues to get elected, but that's exactly why our country needs him to try.
Think of it this way: Corker was the only new Republican senator when he was first elected to Congress in 2006, making him the lowest-ranking member by seniority in the Senate's minority party. By the simplest of terms, that likely made him the least consequential member in the U.S. Senate that year.
Less than a decade later, he is being called one of the most influential and important by The New York Times.
Less than two years from now, we need him to ask voters for a promotion.
Jay Greeson's column will appear on Page A2 on Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays. His sports columns are scheduled for Tuesdays and Fridays. You can read his online column the 5-at-10 Monday through Friday at timesfreepress.com after 10 a.m. Contact him at jgreeson@timesfreepress.com and follow him on Twitter at @ jgreesontfp.