Bill Haslam: Knoxville is NOT Minneapolis
After eight relatively quiet years of Phil Bredesen, preceded by eight relatively quiet years of Don Sundquist, maybe things will become interesting in the governor’s seat in Nashville. Granted, I was thinking that Tennessee was a southern state, but with names like Bredesen and Sundquist governing the state, you’d think that Tennessee had moved north and become, ya sure, Minnesota, ya betcha.
In another profile this month, I look at Bill Haslam, mayor of Knoxville and someone with Orange Blood, which matches my blood type as well. Thus, when I think of Bill, I think of UT football, basketball and, of course, the Lady Vols. But there is more to Tennessee than East Tennessee (or, at least I think that might be the case).
Yes, yes, I know he went to Emory University in Atlanta, but nonetheless I don’t think he cheers for the Gators or the Crimson Tide, and his family is one of the most important UT boosters. (Now, I like boosters, as when I was at UT on the track team. We had a nice, big budget and had a nationally-oriented program. Boosters played a role in that situation, so don’t diss UT boosters in my presence.)
Of course, Haslam is not running for the office of Top UT Booster, nor is he about to be president of the UT System, a job that seems to have had its problems in recent years. Instead, he is running for governor, and he is running on his record as the mayor of Knoxville for the past seven years. In fact, as I see it, the Republican gubernatorial primary this year is reminiscent of the 1994 general election in which Congressman Don Sundquist was running against Nashville Mayor Phil Bredesen.
Obviously, there are differences. For one, Bredesen and Sundquist were in opposite parties, while Haslam and Zach Wamp are both Republicans. However, we have a battle between an executive and a legislator, and the issues surrounding them really are thematic in politics and deserve a harder look.
Unfortunately, from what I can tell, Haslam supporters in and out of the media have decided to resort to the Marilyn Lloyd tactics of nearly two decades ago when she narrowly defeated Zach in the 1992 3rd District Congressional election. It was in that campaign that Lloyd’s camp showed the infamous “mug shot” of Wamp, taken when he was arrested many years before at an altercation. The charges were dropped. It was actually illegal to use that picture, but this is Congress and so Lloyd broke a law in order to be elected so she could help make more laws. Yeah, go figure.
So, what has appeared at various newspaper offices this year? Oh, the mug shot. Forget the fact that it was taken more two decades ago and forget the fact that Wamp has put together a good record as a member of Congress. And forget the fact that he has not engaged in egregious conduct while in Washington and has forged a good personal reputation.
No, Tennesseans are supposed to vote for Haslam because cops took a mug shot of Zach Wamp during the 1980s.
However, I know that Haslam wants to win the primary, and it is all the rage to demonize one’s opponent. But I also want to know what Haslam will do if elected, not just what kinds of pictures his supporters in and out of the media stoop to distribute. So, I have looked at Haslam’s campaign Web site to see what I could glean from the positive face he puts on for voters.
In looking over his issues page, I do find myself more hopeful than what I have seen regarding the negative side of his campaign. For example, he is much more open to home schooling and educational alternatives than most Democrats are going to be, as they are tied to the teachers’ unions and other groups that continue to march their bands into the wall and wonder why they aren’t going anywhere.
Furthermore, I appreciate his business experience, as the guy actually has made a payroll and knows the difference between a profit and a loss. Furthermore, Knoxville has the reputation of being a well-run city, and I always like going back there for my track team reunions and the like. That he says he does not support an income tax is a good thing, for if Tennessee ever implements an income tax, we can bet that sooner or later the sales taxes (after being cut initially) will go up again.
Now, I am not much of a “good government” type, as I think that “good” and “government” are oxymorons. Nonetheless, I prefer a governor who actually is thinking “economy,” as opposed to the wild spendthrifts in California and my residential state of Maryland. One can bet that if he is governor, Bill Haslam will not run Tennessee into the ground financially.
On health care, it somewhat is a wash, although I do appreciate his stand on malpractice reform, and I think he makes more sense than do most people in government when it comes to government-funded health care. (He could be Mitt Romney of Romneycare fame, who created a state version of Obamacare, both of which are disasters.) I also appreciate his stand on opposing unfunded mandates. (Are there any other kinds coming from Washington?)
As for crime, my first reaction to yet another candidate who is “tough on crime” is: please, no.
The goal of a governor should not be to incarcerate as many people as possible, and the way to do that is to put the emphasis on dealing with violent crime, as opposed to spending millions to arrest people for engaging in acts of mutual consent. (I really wish that at least one candidate would run on a “crime” platform that would emphasize the demilitarization of local and state police forces, as opposed to turning them into paramilitary forces, which has been the case.)
So, my assessment of Bill Haslam is mixed in that there are things about him that I like and things that I wish were different. I wish that he would take a higher road in his campaign, as I have the same attitude toward a candidate using Zach’s “mug shot” that I had toward Duke University students who insisted on waving Wal-Mart bags and chanting “Wal-Mart, Wal-Mart” at a member of the UT Lady Vols basketball team a couple years ago. (She had been caught shoplifting on a dare when she was in high school.)
Nonetheless, would he make a good governor for Tennessee? I hope so, for we are in for some rough years ahead, and I want to see good leadership if he is elected in November. I may not live in Tennessee any longer, but it still is my home.
Dr. William L. Anderson is an assistant professor of economics. A native of Chattanooga, he received his bachelor’s degree in communications from the University of Tennessee, his master’s degree in economics from Clemson University and his Ph.D. in economics from Auburn University.
An accomplished writer, Anderson has written for national publications such as Reason Magazine. He has served as a reporter and editorial writer on the staff of ETBJ for over 18 years.
