POLITICAL NOTEBOOK: Democrat House Candidate Under Fire for Address

Incumbent Democrat House Member Ronnie Glynn in Clarksville is facing questions about whether or not he legally holds that seat based upon evidence that he does not reside in the district and has not for quite some time. Glynn and his wife own a home that is outside the district and which has received tax benefits due to his past military service that require that home be his primary residence. For purposes of his legislative service, he uses an apartment address that is within the district.

While Democrats in Tennessee are aggressively seeking to pick up a few seats in the State House, losing Glynn would definitely be a setback.

GOOSE AND GANDER IN TENNESSEE GOP POLITICS.
Those who are critical of Republicans supporting David Hatley in the Governor’s race should recall how RINO moderate Republicans (largely motivated by the Sundquist inner circle who had pushed a losing effort for an income tax) failed to support conservative Van Hilleary! They preferred moderate Dem Phil Bredesen to conservative Hilleary! Less than a 50,000 vote margin, about a 3% gap, despite being outspent by over $3 million.

Moderate Republicans always demand party loyalty when their nominee wins a primary, but regularly balk at helping conservatives who beat their preferred candidate. So some of the handwringing from the “you have to support the GOP nominee” crowd this Fall rings hollow to many who have seen those same folks sit on their butts and wallets rather than support conservative nominees in the past several decades! 

There are sharp divides in GOP county parties across the state, and the bullying demands and threats being used to force “party loyalty” are not an effective way to heal that division or develop actual unity. Many of those screaming loudest about fears that Hatley might give us Governor Green were the ones who gave us Governor Bredesen. Just sayin’!

ENDORSEMENT UPDATE? Although Senator Marsha Blackburn has been claiming that John Rose has endorsed her in her campaign for governor, and hinted that Monty Fritts may be doing the same thing, there does not appear to be any recent expressions of support for Marsha from either one. Blackburn has not reached out or spoken to Rose since election night. So much for an appeal for unity. And while she has reportedly met with Monty Fritts he is not issued any recent statement of support for her.

On election night, Rose set the following:

“I want to begin by congratulating Senator Blackburn for winning this primary. It’s been a long road to this night and the journey isn’t over. We have a general election next. And even though things didn’t go our way tonight, I hope you’ll join me in supporting our Republican nominee for Governor.”

No further expressions of support have been made, and based upon the lack of outreach to Rose and the fact that Blackburn‘s team has pushed former supporters of Rose aside, and promised retribution, none is expected. 

WILL GAS PRICES DIP FAST ENOUGH TO HELP REPUBLICANS? With the price of a barrel of oil dropping dramatically in the last few weeks, you would expect a similar drop in gasoline and diesel prices. Not so fast my friends, as Lee Corso might say! 

Gasoline prices in middle Tennessee have started to drop slightly, with some stations nudging the price below the four dollar a gallon mark. The four dollar point carries a perception value not just a price value. If prices decline another quarter or $.50 in the next three weeks, it could be good news for Republicans. But is it too little too late?