Haslam: Ad with Ned got a lot of talk

Knoxville Mayor Bill Haslam said the idea of using former governor Ned McWherter in Haslam's latest gubernatorial campaign ad came up because the campaign wanted to communicate that Tennessee has a great history of leadership.

Plain as that.

But he admits it did get a lot of discussion.

Haslam's campaign for governor chose the unorthodox approach of using the father of his opponent, Democrat Mike McWherter, in an ad to show that Haslam, a Republican, can follow in the footsteps of great leaders in the state. The smiling face of Ned McWherter, popular governor of the state from 1987-1995, is featured in the ad along with current Democratic Gov. Phil Bredesen and current Republican senators Lamar Alexander and Bob Corker.

Haslam said he didn't recall who exactly brought up the idea but that it came from a brainstorming session right after the primary.

The Haslam campaign unveiled the ad on Saturday and began running it on television Sunday. The McWherter campaign said Haslam was trying to hijack the legacy of Democratic leaders McWherter and Bredesen with the ad.

"That was an interesting collection of people," Haslam said of the ad Monday. "Actually, a lot of our ads have been a collection of thoughts. So we were trying to communicate the idea that I do want to be the governor of all Tennesseans and that Tennessee does, I think, have a remarkable history of leaders.

"So we thought it was important to include Ned and Bredesen as well as Lamar and Bob. Obviously we could have kept going, but at some point the ad becomes about other people."

Haslam said the real focus was on the message.

"We were talking one night right after the primary -- it was one night going home, about four or five of us -- about what you want to try to communicate in the general (election)," Haslam said. "Your first message means something, so what is it you want to communicate?

"We thought, OK, we want to communicate that Tennessee does have a great history of leadership and we face significant problems, and we need to elect somebody who has a history of solving problems."

Thus, the ad praising Bredesen, Ned McWherter, Alexander and Corker.

Haslam was pressed about who actually proposed using Ned McWherter in the ad.

"I honestly don't remember," he said. "It was a group of us sitting around talking. I don't remember who first brought it up. It did get quite a bit of discussion."

He was asked what his reaction was to the idea.

"You know ... I was probably like most people. I was, like, huh, that's really interesting. I had to live with it for a day or two but then I came back to 'What are you trying to communicate?'

"We've done this actually with a lot of our ads. It's been a process of somebody says, 'What do you want to communicate? What's the big picture you want to communicate?' And then boiling down how we're going to do that. We have a lot of smart people involved. A lot of people have been involved in campaigns. So there's always a good interchange of ideas. And this one had a great interchange. I liked the idea from the very beginning, but I also realized it was fairly unusual."

But by using Democrats McWherter and Bredesen in the list of great leaders, the ad skipped over Republican Gov. Don Sundquist, whose time in office is most remembered for proposing an income tax.

"The truth is we also left out Howard Baker and Bill Brock and Fred Thompson, and you could keep going forever. You could play that game forever," Haslam said.

But what about hijacking legacies?

"We're saying McWherter and Bredesen -- there are things in ideology where I don't agree with them -- in the end, they produce good results as governor," he said. "I think most people would say they did.

"What I would also say is the election is not about who his dad is and who my dad is. It's about who's running. I feel very comfortable acknowledging we have had great leaders in the past, but I'm running against Mike in this race."

Haslam said that while he has committed to three televised debates, one in each of the three grand divisions of the state, he believes there will be other appearances like forums. The Haslam campaign has announced its commitment to three debates -- Sept. 14 in Cookeville, Oct. 7 in Knoxville and Oct. 9 in Memphis.

McWherter's campaign has announced he has agreed to 15 joint candidate forums and that Haslam is "backing out" on joint appearances, limiting opportunity for voters to compare the candidates. Haggling over debates is a frequent, almost routine, event in major political races, and it appears this one will be no different.

Haslam said post-primary requests for appearances have been abundant, "as folks in our office can tell you."

"It used to be 'Where can we go?' Now you have 150 people saying, would you please come speak here, would you please come speak here," he said.

Haslam said the basic thrust of the campaign -- what voters care about -- remains about jobs and the state budget, which he says come up consistently.