NASHVILLE - GOP challenger Grant Starrett says he's "gone out of my way" to avoid discussing U.S. Rep. Scott DesJarlais' personal life and wants a pledge from the Republican congressman to make their primary race "a battle of ideas" instead of personal attacks.
But DesJarlais, seeking a fourth term in the 4th Congressional District, is in no mood to agree to the deal. His campaign coordinator, Tyler Privette, calls Starrett "a 28-year old trust fund kid from California who disingenuously wants a pledge that he has already broken on numerous occasions."
Grant StarrettStarrett pledged last week in a statement and a video on his campaign's Facebook page that "I will not attack Scott DesJarlais' personal life because we should make this election about helping Tennessee families, not tearing down each other's families."
The 28-year-old attorney added, "We will have a vigorous debate over policy." That includes abortion, he said, charging that DesJarlais "continuously refuses to define when life begins" while he himself believes it "begins at conception."
It's a subtle reminder of how DesJarlais' primary challenger two years ago, state Sen. Jim Tracy, hammered him over divorce documents from his first marriage.
They revealed DesJarlais, who first ran in 2010 as a staunch abortion opponent, had urged a former patient with whom he'd had an affair to get an abortion, and also approved of his former wife's two abortions. DesJarlais scraped out a win by just 38 votes in the 16-county district.
Since then, DesJarlais has said, he has found religion and happily remarried.
Unlike Tracy, Starret has not launched a full-on frontal assault on DesJarlais, but he repeatedly brings up abortion in the context of policy, action and belief, Republican strategists unaffiliated with either campaign note privately.
Starrett's ads and stump speeches thump DesJarlais for passing up the opportunity to grill Planned Parenthood's chief in 2015. The occasion was a House Government Reform Oversight Committee hearing on allegations the nonprofit abortion provider sold parts of aborted fetuses to medical companies.
DesJarlais sits on the committee but gave his time to a Republican congresswoman. DesJarlais staffers said it was part of an orchestrated push to give women a more prominent role in questioning Planned Parenthood's chief, also a woman.
In late May, Starrett hit DesJarlais for declining to say at a McMinnville candidate forum when he believes life begins.
A video showed moderator Joe Carr asking asked DesJarlais the question twice. The second time, the congressman answered that "I have a 100 percent pro-life voting record, and that's how I'll continue to vote."
He added: "The courts make decisions on this. And I believe that there's exceptions for rape, incest and life of the mother, and so that would be my definition."
Asked later by The Murfreesboro Post when he believes life begins, the South Pittsburg physician said: "That's a question, it's kind of like when does life end? Is it when a heartbeat starts and stops? [F]or some people, when a heartbeat stops, then life begins in the afterlife."
"I know my district favors pro-life, and I voted 100 percent pro-life with my district. As far as when life begins, I don't know that I have the answer. So I don't know if that's a sidestep. I don't really know," DesJarlais said.
Starrett said at the same forum he believes "life begins at conception," and he hits that hard at every opportunity.
One Republican strategist, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Starrett is cleverly "hinting" at DesJarlais' past controversies.
Another Republican, who also asked for anonymity, said the strategy helps Starrett "avoid being tagged with running a negative campaign."
DesJarlais had a 100 percent rating from National Right to Life in the 2015-2016 session of Congress. Tennessee Right to Life, meanwhile, did not include DesJarlais last week in its list of endorsements.
The Tennessee group also did not endorse U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., who assumed a high profile in the Planned Parenthood probe. Blackburn has said that's because she favors exceptions in cases of rape, incest or if the mother's life is endangered.
Tennessee Right to Life didn't endorse Starrett either.
Seeing red over 'Grey'
DesJarlais' camp also is incensed over another Starrett dig.
After DesJarlais disparaged nationally syndicated conservative talk radio host Mark Levin, who has supported Starrett, the challenger was invited onto Levin's show.
"[DesJarlais] has a very poor rating from Conservative Review, of which I am the editor in chief, and for good reason he has a very poor rating," Levin said. "He has personally attacked me. That I am 'bought and paid for' by the RINOs. But even more than that. he's got a very sleazy character issue there, doesn't he?"
Starrett said: "Well I try not to get into the 50 shades of DesJarlais myself, but it is completely outrageous that he has attacked you."
That was a reference to the erotic romance novel and movie, "Fifty Shades of Grey," with its themes of bondage, dominance, submission and sadomasochism.
Starrett used the same reference in an interview posted in April by Jennifer Rubin, who writes The Washington Post's Right Turn blog.
Last week the DesJarlais campaign struck back with a direct-mail piece attacking Starrett as "Mr. California," featuring a black-and-white photo of the candidate against a background that includes pink palm trees.
"Grant Starrett should be running for Congress in California, not Tennessee," the mailer says. It charges Starrett moved to Tennessee "to buy his way into Congress," that he "only moved into our district a year ago" and he "doesn't represent us or our small town values."
Privette said the congressman "has made this race about policy issues."
"Congressman DesJarlais feels that Grant Starrett's support of giving President Obama a two trillion dollar debt limit increase is bad policy. He feels that Grant Starrett's support of Democrats' efforts to prevent cuts to the runaway food stamp spending is also bad policy."
Tommy Schultz, Starrett's campaign manager, said, "Grant has gone out of his way not to attack Scott DesJarlais on personal issues. Scott DesJarlais has made personal attacks the center of his campaign in 2016."
Schultz said the congressman "should explain why personal issues matter in 2016, but were 'disgusting' and 'gutter politics' in 2014.
"I'm disappointed DesJarlais has continued to make his campaign about personal attacks and not the issues," Schultz added, "but apparently he can't run on his record."
Contact Andy Sher at asher@timesfreepress.com or 615-255-0550. Follow on Twitter @AndySher1.