Newscoma

I’ve had a bit of a writer’s block regarding meeting Ward Cammack. I own it. I headed into the Tech Center in Henry County about ten days ago to meet the candidate for governor and we talked about unemployment in northwest Tennessee. Little did I know that I would be a statistic the very next day. So, needless to say, writer’s block.

Let’s take a moment to bask in the irony.

There is much to say about Cammack. He is saying things regarding making Tennessee more of a global industrial powerhouse on issues that may not have been addressed in the past consistently. He wants us to look at alternative ways of bringing global industry into our state that relies on environmental industry as well as facing the realities that if we don’t think outside the box with a bit of business moxey then we have a hell of a time on our hands.

I think that GoldnI stated it well when she wrote last month that Cammack was looking at a green economy as a long-term business model.  Cammack mentioned in our meeting that we need to look at not only sustainable energy as a viable source not only for the economy but as a reasonable method in combating any more enviromental faux pas in the future. We also discussed the issue of the Tennessee River’s boundary issue between this state and Georgia from last year. I, of course, went and discussed this issue with the farmers I know that agreed this a bigger deal than we sometimes hear or think about.

I trust my local farmers. They know this stuff.

His knowledge on agribusiness is pretty impressive and we discussed the issue of small farmers owning their own land in comparison to those same farmers selling out due to rising costs to corporate agricorporations. This has always bothered me and he did go into detail about how his long-term “Green” business model could possibly assist local farmers just trying to keep ahead of next year’s yields and this year’s prices on fertilizer, which are out of control. We want Tennesseans owning Tennesse farmland. On this, Cammack and I agree.

My main primary objective in the discussion was how does someone from Nashville who has worked in business understand the considerations of an area in northwest Tennessee that is sometimes lost in the political discussion at this period of time. I also asked point blank about how he feels he will be received in an area that has two candidates (Roy Herron and Mike McWherter) with deep roots in Obion and Weakley Tennessee also with the lingering and powerful legacy of Ned McWherter in the shadows.

He answered the questions, citing that his plan is innovative and would stand through the upcoming generations He also mentioned that addressing nontraditional methods of economic development would  directly impact areas that have been stricken with impossible economic disasters such as manufacturing loss and agricultural financial uncertainty.

Much of what he said to me is obviously on his website and you can read his own words here.

As for switching parties, he said simply, “I’m a convert.” For yellow dogs and die-hard Republicans, this might not be the answer you wanted, but for the undecideds it is unclear if this will sway them one way or another. I have no answer for that.

On another plane, he did talk about training Tennesseans who might not have the opportunity to go to college about tech school possibilities in training for his long-term plan. As I know a great deal of folks that cannot currently afford college, I do believe this will most likely translate well in this area. He by no means said people shouldn’t go to college, but he did evangelize that training methods were available during this tough economic climate.

I focused on issues I though other rural communities in this area might be interested in. Other bloggers/journalists have spotlighted his tax stand and other issues he has come out on, which is also being spotlighted on his blog in the Ask Ward section, which I also think is pretty clever.

Ask him if you want to know.

Let’s be clear. I’m not endorsing anyone at this stage of the race. I hope to talk to other candidates in the coming weeks on their knowledge and impression of northwest Tennessee.

I will say that Cammack has been very accessible. And, I hope that he will continue to be over this long campaign.

Most of my concentration in the next bit will be how candidates, such as Cammack, interact outside of the confines of Nashville in rural areas that have different issues than urban areas and how they balance both very important subjects. I’m also intrigued on what their “business model” is to assist of all of the state and if they have an agenda for economic development for all three grand divisions.

Thus far, pretty good marks, answered the questions and we will see what happens next in his campaign.

Would Mabel be more suited for the governor’s mansion or as a dog of the people?

She does have a campaign theme though and a local bar is sponsoring her run for governor and there will be T-shirts saying:

“Ready, Willing and Mabel”

She really doesn’t have an agenda other than she likes steak, potato chips and Baby Ruths.

On a more serious note, I was going to ask you guys what I should ask Ward Cammack when I meet him this afternoon, but you can ask him yourself over at his website.

Two significant events are happening tomorrow. First of all, it’s my dad’s birthday. Second, it’s Willie Nelson’s 76th birthday.

I hope that I can be as a quarter of the way cool at 76 as Willie Nelson is. Willie, for whatever reason, gives me a happy.

So I whined yesterday from my Mucinex induced coma. I’m allowed to whine occasionally even if it is annoying. The good thing about this stuff is it works quickly. The bad stuff is that it will slowly kill you as it’s fixing you. I can only give you a few words of advice. As my insurance is wonky right now and I can’t use it because it won’t pay for anything, sometimes you just have to suffer through it. Do I still feel like residue on a cat’s hiney? Yes I do. Will I be a bear at work today? I will try not to be as long as my day isn’t like Monday’s was. I need to be allowed to feel like regurgitated swill, thank you.

And I have court this morning that I need to go to.

Will I cough on the judge? Let’s hope not.

On to Hoots information, as I know this comforts you. Dirk Diggler saw a guy pull out a trumpet in a church parking lot on Monday. He got out of his car, pulled out his instrument, played for a bit and got back in his car. As this was very random, Diggler thought there was some significance in the action, as did I. The moral of the story is that Diggler needs a camera.

Arlen Specter changed parties yesterday. I’m going to say it at the ire of my liberal buddies, but this was a political move to remain in office instead of a passionate change of heart. I’m very leery of politicians’ motives right now.

An attaboy to Ward Cammack for saying no to mountaintop removal. Good job on a couple of levels in this story. First of all, Mark Brown, the man of many Fedoras, sent an email to GoldnI regarding the issue. What does this mean? It means, A.) Cammack is making the right choice and B.) his team is engaging bloggers. I like that.

Random: Why is Rudolph Guiliani on CNN right now? Like he’s the go-to guy about Obama’s first 100 days in office? Has CNN forgotten man on the street interviews? I realize their I-Reports is supposed to fill that void but they only use about two minutes of that footage every three hours if that much. Oy.

Gun bills are the most important thing in the state of Tennessee right now as I say with a great deal of snark.

More important that practically anything else other than fighting over the TNDP. I want it to be known that I’m a second amendment girl. I don’t own a gun but my parents/grandparents did and we were threatened to be flogged if we ever touched them. I have no problem with folks having guns as I know a lot of responsible people that have them and a lot of people feel they need them, although I don’t feel as if I need one. They have permits and SQ’s sister hunts and I have benefited from deer season from her hunting prowess. However, I don’t understand the whole guns in bars thing. I talked to several parents and bar owners/bartenders in Hoots, and not one person was for this bill and many of them were guns owners. Their biggest complaint is that no one had surveyed or talked to them about this bill at all. Here’s the part they do not like and that is that, yes, you can’t serve someone who comes in who has a gun, but what if they come in hammered. I offer this to you without further comment other than our elected officials should have talked to the locals who own/run bars and restaurants or if they have, it’s been selective.

I’m sure there would be a differing of opinion from several of them, but what’s wrong with a conversation?

And, for the record, the folks I’m talking to are primarily right-leaners.

Geez, this session of the General Assembly has been the biggest joke in recent history.

Our political overlords sure know how to talk during a campaign season, but they can’t return a timely call in the middle of a situation to save their lives.

I’ve been tooling around the TNDP site for the last few days and think it’s a mighty fine thing to behold. I wanted to give it a few days before I started talking about it. When any new website/blog starts there is usually a heady anticipation about it with lots of buzz, and either it falls off or evolves into something better/worse.

After a bit of scrutiny, I think this site is the real deal. I hope to see an upward and forward progression using these available tools as we head toward 2010.

So, I did what anyone like me would do, sent out some invitations to join to people I know and then sat back to wait to see what would happen on the site.

Ning sites are really cool, in my humble opinion, and this one is interactive. I have to say that one of my biggest criticisms about the TNDP over the past couple of years was not having a communicative tool in which to have more instant communication. From our standpoint in the west, and I’m guessing the folks over in the eastern part of the state go through this too as I can’t speak for them, was being geographically confined by location and missing out on some information. The site has opened up some of those lapses and I applaud the folks that did this.

Now, I get to play political multimedia critic and talk about a few things.

• Hoots is extremely underrepresented in the membership drive on the site. Guys, get cracking. We have an outlet and a tool now to participate in the social media aspect of this site so join up. I’d also like to see my legislators, Rep. Mark Maddox and Sen. Roy Herron on this site as well. That shows great leadership and a sense of unity. This also includes our county chair and members of the local party. I realize this sort of technical ideology is all new and stuff, but it’s time to get it going on.
• Mark Brown, who is Ward Cammack’s dude, seems to be utilizing the features of the site better than any candidate’s team right now. Videos, editorials and interactivity are coming from the Cammack camp right now and much of it is happening at the TNDP site. I tip my hat. Or Brown’s hat. Well, there is hat tipping somewhere. And, as GoldnI says, you will know him regardless if you want to or not because he’s hit the ground running.
• The county chairman’s feature articles are excellent. I like that a great deal and am glad to see the spotlight turned on each of the countys’ chairs.
• One bit of advice that I would share with the candidates for governor or any politician, especially the ones I met last week, is that if you are on Twitter, join everyone that has joined you back. And if you are actually doing the Twittering, because some people let their handlers do it, then participate. Yes, it does get noisy, but on the other hand, you will have instant feedback on what you are doing in the legislature. This is better than any poll you could ever pay a lofty commission for while getting immediate results. Thank me later for this bit of advice later over a beer because it’s the best feedback I could ever give you. Legislators who are excelling here are Sen. Jim Kyle and Sen. Andy Berke. (I hear Zack Wamp is doing that as well, but I’m talking democrats right now.) The TNDP asked a question yesterday about guns in parks but I couldn’t DM my response so make sure your direct messaging system is working on any microblogging site. It might have been me, and I own that. One thing that I like is reading Kyle talking about being a dad and his daughter’s disappointment over a lost competition where you could tell he was disappointed for her or Berke talk about everyday stuff as well as legislation. It breaks down the fourth wall, if you will, between an us and them sort of mentality. This works for a lot of people because it’s more personal. Regardless of what you may believe, it’s effective.
• Many of the bloggers talk a great deal off the radar quite a bit. I’m just saying. The new site allows more people to be in the conversation with much more specific information.

Those are just some initial thoughts.

In observing the mysteries of politicians, ‘coon suppers and one really swanky beer truck, I have to say that going to Jimmy Naifeh’s annual event was pretty nifty as I had never been.

Politicians of all persuasions shook hands with each other, I saw some of the locals shaking hands with politicians, I saw “handlers” of gubernatorial candidates pointing people to folks I assumed either had money or influence so there could be some hand shaking and there was raccoon dishes covered in some sort of sweet potato mixture.

This would be a raccoon dish.

The lawn of the country club was packed with a variety of people from politicians, lobbyists, former lobbyists, operatives and a buzz of what is coming down the pike. I did mention to a couple of people that the bills that the Assembly right now were pretty hare-brained and I got a few amens on that from some folks. Ultimately, you couldn’t help but watch the swell of people and as I was with a posse of bloggers and off-line folks I know, we just sort of soaked it in.

That’s what you do, you just soak it in.

Some general observations of the Jimmy Naifeh Coon Supper in Covington:

• I met Chip Forrester for the first time, who was there with his wife. He was very accommodating and he was talking to a lot of people weaving his way through the crowd. We saw him throughout the evening and I think I had the honor (snark) of telling him to go look up the urban dictionary term for teabagging which I got kind of embarrassed about later with my buddies. His wife was also on hand and she has a great laugh.
• Mark Brown, who is working for Ward Cammack, had a cool hat on. Cammack was laid back and made it a point to say that he wasn’t a “politician” which I think we will be hearing a lot from him
• Roy Herron was being the Herron I know and shook possibly 2,357 hands in about the first hour I was there. Yes, I made that number up.
• There was talk about a couple of more candidates getting into the race for governor.
• Kim McMillan was rather fun and I invited her to Hoots to meet the locals (she has two very good friends here and we chatted about them.) McMillan was very approachable and hung out for awhile.
• Andy Berke was also very approachable and talked about Twitter a little bit and some things he was working on.
• Twitter was discussed by more than one person throughout the evening as was the new TNDP ning site. By Joe, I think some of the politicians have realized they have a pretty cool social networking tool on their hands.
• I think what is said at a coon supper stays at a coon supper. This is also my motto for talk in a bar. Connection? Maybe.
• There were a lot of suits in the crowd.
• I went to the event with the puppy-formerly-known-as-Tootsie-Roll’s dad, Matt. He has worked on a lot of campaigns and knew a lot of people and we wandered around greeting folks we knew. I’m thinking that some of these people really think I live in a town called Hoots so there was some clarifying. I decided to just let it roll with one guy and said “You have never campaigned in Hoots? You don’t know where it is? Appalling?” Heh. Vibinc calls it Evening Shade But Interesting but we have talked about that before and his video was discussed quite a bit.
• I have eaten coon for the first time. This, of course, was also be the last time I will be eating coon. Before the drive to the supper, I met a buddy who from now on will be known on this blog as The Engineer (as he, for lack of a better synopsis, drives trains and the name applies) that when you skin a coon they leave one raccoon hand uncovered so the raccoon will not be confused with the carcass of a cat. Now that’s just appetizing, isn’t it? I, my friends, have some odd conversations in Hoots and that’s the way I like them.

Vibinc looks on amused as Newscoma shows her true feelings about the delicacy of the raccoon and makes her famous Ernest Borgnine face.

• I didn’t see Mike McWherter (there were a great deal of people there) but I did see his father, Ned, who sat on the patio greeting people. He smiled and shook hands. Ned’s back is not what it used to be, and he can’t stand for long lengths of time so these days when you see him, he is usually sitting in a chair and has a couple of folks helping him. I have known Ned my whole life, and I have to say something non-political and from a personal level, and that is I just wanted to hug him. He is frail and older, and I remember there was one moment I had with him that was significant to me about 20 years ago when my uncle died. We were at the graveside services and I broke down behind everyone else, keeping a distance from folks behind the pack so I could grieve privately for a moment. Ned, who was good friends with my uncle, saw me and turned around, walking back to me quietly. He was suddenly by me and he hugged me, telling me it was going to be all right and then he let me cry it out. His “handler” that day said to Ned that they had to go and Ned told him to go to the car and he would be there when he got there, basically dismissing him to comfort me. That, my friends, is the Ned I know and I wanted to return that hug as he sat greeting people last night.

As Matt and I said our goodbyes and were walking to the car listening to snippets of conversation about bills regarding women’s rights that was playing out on the patio as well as someone saying “That’s stupid,” Matt cracked me up as he wanted to just do random, drive-by statements to everyone we passed. I wish he would have because it would have topped off a groovy day.

As we headed back to Hoots, I commented that we might not be seeing this sort of thing in ten years as the world of politics is changing. He agreed.

I don’t know why I had that feeling, but I did.