Just when many Tennesee political pundits thought that the gubernatorial campaign of Lieutenant Governor Ron Ramsey was starting to sputter, Ramsey's efforts to win the Governor's mansion seem to have gained new life in recent weeks. A source who attended a Republican dinner in West Knoxville last night informed The Examiner that Ron Ramsey received an unusually warm reception at the event.
If you've ever been to an event that is a "meet the candidates" night, you know that the protocol is normally that either everyone gets the same polite applause, or no one gets any applause at all until the end of all the speakers. Apparently, the latter was the standard format at the West Knox Republican event, and both the Lieutenant Governor and Knoxville Mayor Bill Haslam were present. Haslam, according to our source, got the standard reception of all the candidates who spoke, and there were many local candidates present who got up and gave their short stump speech. Ron Ramsey was applauded-rather loudly.
The informant who was present said of Mayor Haslam's expression: "Haslam looked pissed."
If this story is even remotely true (and we would not expect supporters of Bill Haslam to admit it is if it were) it might have done Haslam a bit more of a favor to show up at the Tennessee Conservative Union's Reagan Day straw poll last month. Sure, he probably wouldn't have won the tally, but he would have done even better than he managed to do and would have shown that a straw poll among conservatives in his own hometown is more important to him than fundraising with a Democrat. One thing that the internal party reaction to Haslam seems to show is that Bill Haslam simply has not won over the grassroots of the Republican Party in Tennessee, even in East Tennessee where his strength is supposed to lay and his "base" (what base exists) is said to be the most organized.
What no one disputes is that the Haslams have more money than Jehovah, and that if they can't win over Republicans, they will try and win the primary with Democratic crossovers-and in doing so, they have a good chance to win. After all, the Haslams know a thing or two about buying elections. If an upset is to happen, however, it will be because Haslam failed to convince the Republican base that he was the real thing.
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