Bill Haslam stars in seatbelt use commercial

Tennessee television viewers may have seen Gov. Bill Haslam starring in a dramatic public service announcement that began airing last week. The $50,000 spot from the Governor’s Highway Safety Office was produced by The Tombras Group, a Knoxville advertising agency. The ad was paid for with a grant from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration,  a [...]

Wrestler says he has ‘no plans on running for political office’

Kane — we mean Glenn Jacobs — said Monday that he has “no plans on running for political office at this time” following a report late last week that he might be planning to take on U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander. The World Wrestling Entertainment star said “things get a little carried away on the Internet [...]

Lamar Alexander plans ‘overwhelming force’ in re-election bid

U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander has let Politico in on his grand campaign strategy — putting together an Operation Desert Storm-style force that will demolish anyone that gets in its way. “I’m running a Colin Powell military operation,” Alexander says in an interview with Politico posted Sunday, “which is assemble an overwhelming force, focus on a [...]

Joe Carr announces endorsement from Gerald McCormick, Glen Casada

State Rep. Joe Carr has secured backing from two top Republicans in the state legislature for his run for Congress. House Republican Leader Gerald McCormick, R-Chattanooga, and House Republican Caucus Chairman Glen Casada, R-Franklin, confirmed Friday that they have endorsed Carr for the 4th Congressional District. “He works hard, and he’s a good, honest man,” [...]

Wrestler Kane maybe, possibly, might could challenge Alexander

Hitting the inboxes of political journalists overnight was a link to a blog post in Reason magazine that suggested the professional wrestler Kane is weighing a challenge to U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander. The libertarian magazine quotes “sources close to the one-time World Heavyweight Champion” (we’d guess Paul Bearer except that he’s dead and another reporter [...]

Lamar! compares private Obamacare fundraising to Iran-Contra scandal

U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander appeared on Greta Van Susteren’s talk show last night to explain his analogy between the Iran-Contra scandal and reports that HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius urged private companies to donate money toward implementing the Affordable Care Act. The Tennessee senator said that in both cases, the White House turned to the private [...]

Full-page ad calls on Alexander, Corker to support expanded background checks for gun purchases

Dozens of gun safety and gun control activists, including at least three elected officials, have taken out a full-page ad in Sunday’s Tennessean – Sunday being Mothers’ Day – to urge readers to ask Tennessee’s senators to rethink their opposition to expanded background checks. The people listed in the advertisement include Vice Mayor Diane Neighbors [...]