Doug Bailey, a Republican political consultant who helped U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander come up with the idea of walking across Tennessee during Alexander’s first successful run for governor in 1978, died last week in Virginia. He was 79. In his new book Coup, which covers in detail how Alexander took office three days early in [...]
Katie Hill, the press secretary for U.S. Rep. Jim Cooper for the past 18 months, is leaving the Nashville Democrat’s staff to take the same role with Gabby Giffords’ new political action committee. “I’m on to a new adventure as press secretary at Americans for Responsible Solutions, the gun violence prevention group founded by former [...]
An online petition criticizing StudentsFirst for not rescinding its “Reformer of the Year” award to state Rep. John Ragan has drawn more than 40,000 signatures. The petition on MoveOn.org says that StudentsFirst, a national organization promoting education reform, should have taken back Ragan’s award after it was pointed out that he co-sponsored the Classroom Protection [...]
U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn, R-Brentwood, said on “Meet the Press” on Sunday that it’s up to businesses to ensure that women are treated equally in the workplace — not Congress. During a roundtable discussion on a Pew study showing that women are the dominant earners in 40 percent of American households, Blackburn brushed aside a [...]
The debate over the Senate immigration bill appears to be generating a small ad battle in Tennessee. Evangelical Immigration Table, a coalition that includes the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, World Relief and the Willow Creek Community Church, one of the nation’s largest congregations, announced Thursday that it will launch a radio [...]
House Speaker Beth Harwell will help lead a national effort to elect more Republican women to state office. Harwell was named Thursday as co-chair of Republican Women, Right Now, an initiative of the Republican State Leadership Committee. She will share duties with Wisconsin Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch, Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi and Washington Secretary [...]
From health reporter Tom Wilemon: “The Daily Show” has been in town again, last week filming footage at Tennessee Justice Center for an upcoming political spoof, according to an email sent out by staff attorney Michele Johnson. Johnson didn’t give away much about the segment, but she did indicate that the topic was Tennessee’s dialing-for-healthcare [...]