As he scours Middle Tennessee for Aug. 5 GOP gubernatorial primary votes, Republican Zach Wamp has picked up a powerful critic in the form of Phil Valentine, a well-known conservative talk radio host.
Mr. Valentine recently described to listeners what he called a “weird” encounter with the Chattanooga congressman after pointing out to a prominent Wamp supporter that Rep. Wamp had voted for last year’s federal bank “bailout.”
The radio gabber said the congressman approached him at a recent Lincoln Day Dinner in Sumner County.
“He (Wamp) said, ‘I just wanted to come over here. I know that you’re the most influential man on the radio in Tennessee, but I wanted to come over here and look you in the eye and tell you right straight to your face that I will be your next governor of Tennessee,'” Mr. Valentine said.
“And I said, ‘Great.’ – Man, he’s intense, isn’t he?” Mr. Valentine continued. “And then he walked off. And I’m going, OK, fine, but it doesn’t change the fact that you voted for the bailout, Zach.”
Mr. Valentine said that while he first thought Rep. Wamp was praising him, “I realized he was coming over there as a confrontation. I’m going, ‘Dude, just take some decaf or something and calm down, man.'”
Wamp spokesman Sam Edelen said in an e-mail that although the incident “may have been an interesting story on the radio, it was definitely not a big deal.” He also noted there was a little bit more of a back story to the incident as well.
“Zach thinks this campaign needs to be about vision, ideas and real solutions to move our state forward, and even though Phil has said he supports (Wamp opponent) Ron Ramsey, he wants Phil to know he is working harder than anyone else to earn the support of the voters.”
But the question now is this: If Rep. Wamp indeed called Mr. Valentine “the most influential man on radio in Tennessee,” has he risked alienating fellow conservative talk radio host Steve Gill, who surely would argue he deserves at least equal billing with Mr. Valentine?
Cates brings weighty prop to forum
With two giant binders containing the federal health-reform law, Republican Chris Cates was the only candidate to bring a prop on stage at Thursday’s League of Women Voters forum in Dalton, Ga., for 9th Congressional District candidates.
Dr. Cates, a 53-year-old Blairsville cardiologist, said health care reform will create 159 agencies and that elected officials should “defang it by defunding it.”
During a break, Dr. Cates, who played college football at The Citadel, asked a reporter to lift the two binders to get a feel for the legislation’s physical heft.
“It took me two weeks to read it,” Dr. Cates said.
Also participating in the forum, held in the Stan and Janet Goodroe Auditorium at Dalton State College, were independent Eugene Moon and Republicans Tom Graves, Bert Loftman, Bill Stephens and Steve Tarvin.
The candidates are vying in a May 11 special election to fill the seat in the 15-county district vacated by U.S. Rep. Nathan Deal, R-Ga., who resigned in March to run for governor.
Levity punctuates north georgia forum
In a two-hour candidate forum for the 9th Congressional District, confrontation was lacking among the six participants, but levity punctuated the public-policy remarks by candidates.
Former state Senate Majority Leader Bill Stephens, a 53-year-old communications executive, prompted laughter among the two dozen or so attendees in an auditorium at Dalton State College with a comment on fiscal responsibility.
Mr. Stephens, one of six Republicans in the May 11 special election, said that, as a state legislative leader, he bestowed a Stuck Pig Award on the Georgia Department of Corrections for spending $57,000 on “holistic stress management for prisoners.”
As those in attendance laughed, Mr. Stephens added that he always thought “it ought to be stressful in prison.”
Also, during an offbeat exchange about hot dogs, former state Rep. Tom Graves, R-Ranger, looking to his right at fellow Republican Chris Cates, a Blairsville cardiologist, joked that if fewer hot dogs were sold, there would be less of a need for heart doctors.
Laughing, Dr. Cates said he thinks the chili dogs from the Varsity drive-in in Atlanta are “really good.”