Chuck Fleischmann must’ve been on Santa’s nice list this year. After three bruising GOP primary battles for Tennessee’s 3rd District Congressional seat, it looks (for now) like he’s going to get a primary breather in 2016.
As Andy Sher reported in the Times Free Press last Sunday, state Sen. Bo Watson has chosen to keep his sights trained on his current office instead of attempting a congressional run. And, if two-time challenger Weston Wamp does, indeed, decide to keep his energies channeled toward his business interests, the list of big GOP names who could compete against the incumbent is very thin.
This isn’t to say that Chuck would be completely off the hook. There is such a thing called a general election. Sure, in Southeast Tennessee – one of the darkest red areas in the country – there hasn’t been much November congressional drama in a while, but that doesn’t mean Democrats should be totally overlooked.
The biggest question for Democrats, though, is who in the world can they run who would stand a chance in this district, which stretches from the Georgia line to the Kentucky border. It’s not that Dr. Mary Headrick hasn’t been a good candidate the past couple of races. I can’t imagine there are that many Democrats out there who don’t like her policy platform. She’s true blue.
But let’s call it like it is. A “good” Democratic candidate isn’t good enough in Tennessee’s 3rd District. To pull off what would be one of the craziest electoral upsets in America, Democrats would need to field the most awe-inspiring, voter-mobilizing candidate in the history of the region – Obama with a Tennessee twang. Anything short of that, and it looks like Fleischmann will breeze easily back to Washington for a fourth term.