The Tennessee Democratic Party has created a parody website dedicated to Jim Bryson. The mumbling audio is bad enough, but the entire doubletalk premise is rather weak. Jim is a conservative, and has been his entire 4 years in the State Senate. Either as Roger Abramson posits, the Democrats are wasting money on projects like this, or else Bryson is viewed as more of a threat by the Democratic Party and Phil Bredesen than the rest of us realize.

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Meet the Bryson team on Wednesday, August 30th

2:30pm

Bryson for Governor Headquarters

1808 West End Avenue

Nashville

Please call if you have questions or need directions.

Kimberly Pitt

Bryson for Governor

615-727-0941

Democrats and lasers. First they opposed SDI in the 1980s – now they claim they’ve been blinded. From the Chattanooga Times – Free Press

    The Tennessee Democratic Party’s Victory 2006 campaign poked at GOP gubernatorial candidate Jim Bryson in an e-mail last week about laserpointer attacks.

     Tenth in a series of “big fact” e-mail statements about state Sen. Bryson, of Franklin, Tenn., the release said Bryson campaign workers “harassed Victory 2006 field staffers by pointing pocket laser beams directly into their eyes.”

     Bryson campaign spokesman Lance Frizzell said some of the Democrats were harassing GOP workers. He said the allegations of Bryson workers pointing lasers at eyes are false, but he said some Bryson staffers were pointing the lasers at cameras used by the Democratic staffers.

     “We’ve told the boys on the bus to put their laser pointers away,” he said.

     Sen. Bryson faces Democratic Gov. Phil Bredesen in the Nov. 7 general election.

With laser-like precision, I can safely say it is clear that the Democrats don’t have much of anything on Jim Bryson.

Jay Bush asks an obvious question regarding the maligning some have decided to heap onto Jim Bryson’s “Prayer Force”

Andrew Sullivan actually equates the Bryson Prayer Force with Hezbollah…..yeah, except they’re praying for Bryson’s bus tour, not trying to blow it up! Sheesh.

While I don’t think the gubernatorial race in Tennessee is one of God’s top priorities, I certainly believe Christians should pray for fellow Christians running for office. Why is this so offensive to some?

Actually, it shouldn’t be offensive at all, especially if you’re an open-minded liberal who actually believes in tolerance and religious freedom. Sullivan is certainly not a far-left radical, and is quite conservative in many ways, but as of late he’s been often confused about a great many things.

I’m sure God has higher priorities, though I dare not speak for Him, but from a secular point of view alone, no one can reasonably say it’s a bad thing for a community of believers, no matter what the faith, to come together to pray for someone’s health and welfare.

As Jay said, not all religious practices are equal.

Hear Gubernatorial candidate Jim Bryson on the issues here.

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For your edification

NASHVILLE, TN) – GOP gubernatorial nominee Jim Bryson (R-Franklin) today announced the details of the first joint appearance with US Senate nominee Bob Corker (R-Chattanooga).  The event will take place tomorrow, Saturday, August 5, in Chattanooga on the first east Tennessee stop of Bryson’s 95 county, 30 day bus tour across Tennessee.

 “We have an excellent team this year and I am looking forward to victory in the fall,” said Sen. Bryson.  “Mayor Corker is a formidable candidate and a good friend.  I believe his message and values will resonate with voters on Election Day.”

 The event will be held at Bob Corker for Senate Headquarters at 832 Georgia Avenue in Chattanooga from 5:30-7:00 EDT.  Refreshments will be provided.   Sen. Bryson’s Big Tennessee bus tour will visit all 95 counties in 30 days.  It begins today.

The details are as follows

Governor Phil Bredesen is getting absolutely hammered over his wishy-washy ways regarding illegal immigration. From Bill Hobbs

Memo to Bredesen: Republicans aren’t trying to make illegal immigration a “wedge” issue for the purposes of a campaign. They aren’t sending a few Tennessee National Guard troops to the Arizona border as a way to look “tough” on illegal immigration and prepare a future campaign commercial backdrop. They’re discussing an issue of great importance to the future of the state and, during the recent legislative session they were trying to do something to address a problem that you merely wished to ignore by passing the buck to the feds.

Memo to voters: As recently as a month ago – June 27th to be exact – Gov. Bredesen cared nothing about the issue of illegal immigration . His standard response was, “that’s a federal problem” – even after an illegal immigrant whom state and local law enforcement repeatedly set free after various DUI and other criminal arrests wound up murdering two innocent (and legal) Tennesseans – and his administration’s policies have consistently favored rewarding illegals (with driver’s licenses “certificates,” for example) rather than changing state laws to make Tennessee less attractive to illegals. Can you really trust that his change of heart is real and permanent and not poll-driven election-year flip-floppery ?

The Tennessee Educators (sic) Association has gone on the offensive, attacking SJR629, Jim Bryson’s proposal to limit the growth of state spending

Since Tennessee is already near the bottom of most rankings in investing in education, such a constitutional cap on spending would be severely limiting and irresponsible. SJR 629 is largely modeled after the so-called Taxpayer Bill of Rights (TABOR) which was enacted in Colorado in 1991. The 1991 provision had such a negative impact that Colorado voters last year suspended several key provisions of the amendment. SJR 629 is sponsored by Sen. Jim Bryson (R-Franklin) who recently announced that he would seek the Republican nomination to oppose Governor Phil Bredesen in this year’s election. The resolution is scheduled for a vote in the Senate Finance, Ways & Means Committee on Tuesday, April 25. TEA members are urged to contact senators on the Finance Committee and ask that they vote “NO” on SJR 629. The message should be that SJR 629 would place a “straitjacket” on the funding of essential state services, including public education. It would tie the hands of future legislatures in attempting to address the changing needs of state government.

Well, first of all there is no proven correlation between per-pupil spending and results. That myth continues to be touted as fact by educators unions without fail. Somehow the “changing needs of state government” are almost always going to include growing the size and reach of said government. The TEA’s view is myopic at best. That’s one fallacy. Hobbs takes them to task for another

Colorado’s TABOR is an extensive and complex constitutional provision that affects not just the growth of the state budget but also tax increases, creation of new taxes, and increases in bond debt – at both the state and the county and city level. And Colorado’s TABOR requires voter approval in referenda for any spending over the year-over-year growth cap, for any tax increase, for any new tax, and for any increase in bond debt.

By contrast, SJR 629 really only does three things:

1. It changes the Tennessee constitution’s existing cap on the annual growth of the state budget to allow it to be broken only if two-thirds of the legislature approves, rather than the current simple-majority vote.
2. It puts unspent surplus funds in the state’s rainy day fund.
3. Once the rainy day fund reaches a set target, additional surpluses go to reducing the state sales tax.

SJR 629 does not affect local or county budgets or taxes, has no impact on the state’s bond debt, and does not require or authorize voter referenda on such issues.

To be an educators union, one would think they would be…well, educated. Or at least generally informed. But certainly not completely clueless. Not only are they wrong in their comparison to Colorado’s experience with TABOR, they are wrong is their assessment as to what really happened in Colorado

The TEA compounds the deception by claiming that Colorado’s TABOR had “a negative impact” on Colorado’s state budget, leading voters there to “suspend” TABOR in a recent election. In a related comment,, TEA asserts SJR 629 would place a “straitjacket” on the funding of public education and “would tie the hands of future legislatures in attempting to address the changing needs of state government.”

None of that is true.

A decade ago, a few years after adopting TABOR, Colorado voters approved “Amendment 23, which exempted public education from the TABOR cap, and in fact required funding for public education to grow faster than the rest of the state budget. It was that decision which made Colorado’s budgetary position increasingly untenable. A few months ago, Colorado voters approved a plan to break the TABOR limits for five years, in order to “catch up” on the spending cuts caused by that state’s education lobby’s insatiable lust for tax dollars.

Hobbs goes on to note that with SJR629 in effect, the TEA could actually make the better case of diverting funds from less useful government programs to education. Sounds reasonable to me, but the union doesn’t want that. Unfortunately, the TEA’s scope and public policy goals are far in excess of obtaining funds for education. It’s government they want – bigger but not necessarily better.

Remember folks – the TEA is a union. They do not represent a single student. This in itself is fine, but the TEA makes an effort not to be straightforward about it, couching their rhetoric in “for the children” soundbites, which is something that the UAW or Teamsters can’t do. They oppose any proposal that would limit their power, which trumps the needs of education itself. Their opposition to SJR629 is no more noble than that.

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Bill Hobbs has taken steps to create a new blog, Blogging for Bryson, to support Senator Jim Bryson’s run for Tennessee governor. I will be one of many (many) contributors to it. I’ll post here when it’s up and running!

UPDATE You can find it here. Bookmark now.

Time is getting close as far as filing deadlines go here in Tennessee. Rumors still abound that State Senator Jim Bryson will announce his candidacy for governor at any moment. If he does, he will have to give up his Senate seat (District 23). Already I’m getting phone calls from individuals ready to run. There’s a heavyweight waiting in the wings, whose support structure will be nearly unbeatable.

If Bryson announces, I’ll have the rundown here.

The rumor I was referring to after the SRLC is reported here in the Knox News Sentinel. Sorry guys, it’s not Van Hilleary.

From a press release from the Jim Bryson for Governor campaign

(NASHVILLE) – Senator Jim Bryson (R-Franklin) today announced his fundraising team, led by honorary finance chairs Mike Curb, Jim Haslam, Joe Rodgers, Ted Welch, and Pat Wilson. Four of the five chairs, Mike Curb, Joe Rodgers, Ted Welch, and Pat Wilson, have served as Finance Chairs for the National Republican Party.

 “I am honored to have the support and commitment of five national leaders of the Republican Party,” Sen. Bryson said.  “Their remarkable dedication ensures that this campaign will have the resources to mount a winning effort throughout the summer and fall.”

Well, then. Money ought not be a problem.

It seems that those in power cannot help themselves when it comes to government email addresses. We saw it with Pedro Garcia in the sales tax referendum vote, and now we see it with the Bredesen reelection campaign

Dear State Employee: Within the past two hours, you were one of a handful of state employees who may have received errant emails from the Bredesen for Governor campaign. This was not intentional and runs counter to the campaign’s email policies. Since discovering this mistake, the campaign is in the process of purging your email address from the system. You should not receive any future email messages from Bredesen for Governor in your state email account. Our apologies for this error.

Bredesen for Governor

Here’s the text of that email:

Dear Friend:

It’s hard to believe that another election year is upon us. Now is a time to reflect and move forward.

Together, we’ve accomplished a lot during the three years since I stepped into the Governor’s office. We’ve added hundreds of new pre-kindergarten classrooms. We’ve grown Tennessee’s economy by more than 70,000 new jobs. We’ve passed tough legislation cutting illegal methamphetamine labs by 50%. We’re exploring options for expanding health care to the uninsured. And the list goes on.

Counter to the campaign’s email policies? Not to mention it’s against the law. I suppose that somewhere, somehow, the Tennesee Highway Patrol was behind this one as well.

I’m not sure what to make of this blog – I checked Technorati for “Phil Bredesen” as I do daily, along with a few other notable names, and this blog popped up as the second entry after that Times-Free Press poll I noted below. It is entitled  “Tennessee Democrats New Slaveowners”, and is, without a doubt, not politically correct, and most angry about the “taking for granted” of the black vote by Tennessee Democratic politicians.

The Chattanooga Times-Free Press publishes the latest Tennessee gubernatorial poll

Fifty-seven percent of those surveyed selected Gov. Bredesen with 24 percent favoring state Sen. Bryson, R-Franklin. Nineteen percent were undecided.

The Mason-Dixon Polling & Research Inc. survey of 625 likely voters was conducted July 17-19 for the Chattanooga Times Free Press. The margin of error is plus or minus 4 percent.

Talk about a teflon governor. If Van Hilleary had won in 2002, he would have been eaten alive for anything remotely similar to the goings-ons of the present administration. How often can you trade campaign contributions for law enforcement promotions, shred all evidence relating to a sexual harassment complaint, manipulate the state-run healthcare system for political gain, have a deputy governor attempt to “get off” of a traffic ticket with his business card (and be caught up in all the above) and still shine with a 68% approval rating?

I think the governor needs more press.

AC Kleinheider pontificates about Phil Bredesen’s condition, and the issues surrounding gubernatorial succession

Frankly, it seems that they don’t know exactly what is wrong with the Governor. There seems to be a whole lot of secrecy around this issue. He was reported to have been getting better but then all of sudden it comes across the wires that the Governor is going to the Mayo Clinic for tests.

Are these tests something that they can’t do at Vandy? Is the reason they wisked the man off to Minnesota because they wish not to have the media snooping around the Vanderbilt campus? Go to small media market where no one particularly cares about a Tennessee Governor. Seems like a plan.

Then there are questions of succession. If Bredesen is very sick and out of state should we not have a clear procedure on what happens? Also if the man is in Minnesota, how will the people know in what shape the Governor is?

I wish no ill will towards Governor Bredesen and wish him a complete and full recovery. He is a political opponent, not a personal one.  This does, however, bring up interesting issues regarding incapacitation and succession that are not adequately covered by the Tennessee Constitution. Article III, Section 12 only states contingencies for removal, death or resignation. I suppose technically the governor could be removed on some trumped up minor charge by impeachment and conviction if unable to fulfill the duties designated under Article III, but that would be a rather sober and unsavory process for the General Assembly to undertake, and a poor way to address the ongoing concerns of the government in light of a duly elected governor’s poor health.

What to do, then? I would encourage full disclosure of the governor’s condition, as the people of Tennessee have a right to know the capabilities and limitations of the man heading the most pro-active branch of state government.  This is not detrimental to Bredesen, and serves to allow the people to be best informed about the state of their government.

In the meantime, responsible legislators ought to be working to amend the state constitution so that this question does not arise again.

From Jim Bryson’s campaign on the recent poll worker indictments

“These indictments reaffirm the action of the state senate in voiding the election of Ophelia Ford.  The people of Tennessee should feel confident that elections in our state are not rigged and cannot be stolen.  Governor Bredesen criticized those who stood up for the rule of law in voiding the election and called it a “mistake” yet he is silent now that they have been vindicated.  If Tennessee is to have a government as good as its people, we must have a Governor who ignores party loyalty in supporting ethical, honest government.”

We know that Bredesen won’t do anything about it. Let’s elect Jim.

Governor Winfield Dunn

invites you to join him for the

Campaign Kick-off Event

in support of

Republican State Senator

Jim Bryson

Candidate for Governor

Thursday, June 22, 2006

The Factory at Franklin

230 Franklin Road

Franklin, Tennessee 37065

Host Reception
5:30 p.m.General Reception

6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.

Hosts of the Event

State Finance Co-Chair

Fran & Scooter Clippard

Information or Reservations

Rachel Barrett (615) 727-0941

Rachel@BrysonForGovernor.com

Casual Attire

$100.00 per Couple