Category: Politics Beat Blog

Unaccountably there arose something of a controversy a while back concerning the intentions of former Tennessee Governor Lamar Alexander towards the seat now occupied by once and future U.S.. Senator Fred Thompson.

All that seems so long ago now, but it was all the rage in statewide political and media circles just before September 11th., when Usama bin Laden or some individual or group with the same degree of evil intensity enacted the horrific scenario that prompted a previously reluctant Thompson to rise to a sense of mission and to announce for reelection, after all — re-enlisting, in effect, in the federal ranks.

No one much cares or pays attention now to Lamar Alexander, who has reverted to the condition of distinguished obscurity which characterized him before his late-summer bloom as a Senate hopeful. For those with an interest, however, the facts are these, as certified anew by Senator Bill Frist and other sources close to the National Republican Senatorial Committee which Frist now heads:

The drama in which Alexander was to do his late cameo appearace occupied the better part of a year Ð since 9th District U.s. Rep. Ed Bryant made what for him was a fateful decision to back off a gubernatorial bid, yielding his place in that line to his colleague from Tennessee’s 4th district, Van Hilleary.

Up until then, both Hilleary and Bryant had bee eying the Senate seat, in case Thompson chose to run for governor (that was the presumed issue back then) or the governorship in case he didn’t.

Bryant appears to have gambled that Ole Fred, a sometime actor, would take the part which his GOP lodge brothers had picked out for him, that of providing another, rejuvenated Republican governorship in the post-Sundquist era. Nor for the first nor the last time, though, Thompson declined to be typecast and renounced a gubernatorial bid Ð which meant that Hilleary had his race to run and the luckless Bryant didn’t.

Then came Thompson’s prolonged bout of indecision regarding a reelection race for the Senate. Bryant’s hopes flared up again, and he launched a shadow campaign of sortw, which was well advanced when the Alexander gambit materialized, seemingly out of nowhere, in August. It began with an unattributed one-sentence item in the Wall Street Journal suggested that Alexander was floating an interest in the Senate race. In reality, it was being floated for him Ð by Frist and/or delegated operatives in the NRSC.

The Senator more or less confirmed all this in Washington last week. “We’re in a tight battle for control of the Senate Ð right now, as everybody knows, it’s a single-seat majority for the Democrats Ð and every seat counts,” he said. Did he contact Alexander about a race? Frist nodded. “Yes, it was my responsibility to make sure that we had a candidate with enough means and name-recognition to make a serious, competitive race.” Was it doubly important to him that the Republicans hold on to the Tennesse seat? “Oh, yeah,” he said expansively. “No doubt about it.”

And another source, speaking on assurances of anonymity, put it simply: “If Fred had not run again, Lamar was in.” No doubt about it.

The reason: neither Bryant’s poll figures nor his fund-raising had been such as to generate enough confidence at the NRSC to go for broke with him. (Parenthesis: this was very probably a premature judgment on Bryant, who has a demonstrated ability to wear well with voters who’ve gotten to know him.)

Alexander, by contrast, was a known quantity as well as a prove statewide name. Given the stakes, in a Senate destined to be shaded one way or the other by the narrowest of margins, he looked good to the NRSC and to its chief.

It’s that simple. And, again, whatever the surface noises of the occasion, the reality was that Alexander was presumed by those mostly closely related to the national Republican senate effort to be locked in.

Before September 11th stoked Senator Thompson’s sense of duty and changed everything.

Unaccountably there arose something of a controversy a while back concerning
the intentions of former Tennessee governor Lamar Alexander toward the
seat now occupied by once and future U.S. Senator Fred Thompson.

All that seems so long ago now, but it was all the rage in
statewide political and media circles just before the horrific September 11th
scenario prompted a previously reluctant Thompson to rise to a sense of
mission and to announce for reelection, after all reenlisting, in effect, in
the federal ranks.

No one much cares or pays attention now to Lamar Alexander, who
has reverted to the condition of distinguished obscurity which characterized
him before his late-summer bloom as a Senate hopeful. For those with an
interest, however, the facts are these, as certified anew by Senator Bill
Frist and other sources close to the National Republican Senatorial
Committee which Frist now heads:

The drama in which Alexander was to do his late cameo appearance
occupied the better part of a year since 9th District U.S. Rep. Ed Bryant
made what for him was a fateful decision to back off a gubernatorial bid,
yielding his place in that line to his colleague from Tennessee’s 4th
district, Van Hilleary.

Up until then, both Hilleary and Bryant had been eying the Senate
seat in case Thompson chose to run for governor (that was the presumed issue
back then) or the governorship in case he didn’t.

Bryant appears to have gambled that Ole Fred, a sometime actor,
would take the part which his GOP lodge brothers had picked out for him, that
of providing another, rejuvenated Republican governorship in the post-
Sundquist era. Nor for the first nor the last time, though, Thompson declined
to be typecast and renounced a gubernatorial bid which meant that Hilleary had
his race to run and the luckless Bryant didn’t.

Then came Thompson’s prolonged bout of indecision regarding a
reelection race for the Senate. Bryant’s hopes flared again and he launched a
shadow campaign of sorts, which was well advanced when the Alexander gambit
materialized, seemingly out of nowhere, in August. It began with an
unattributed one-sentence item in the Wall Street Journal suggested
that Alexander was floating an interest in the Senate race. In reality, it was
being floated for him by Frist and/or delegated operatives in the NRSC.

The senator more or less confirmed all this in Washington last
week. “We’re in a tight battle for control of the Senate. Right now, as
everybody knows, it’s a single-seat majority for the Democrats and every seat
counts,” he said. Did he contact Alexander about a race? Frist nodded.
“Yes, it was my responsibility to make sure that we had a candidate with
enough means and name-recognition to make a serious, competitive race.”
Was it doubly important to him that the Republicans hold on to the Tennessee
seat? “Oh, yeah,” he said expansively. “No doubt about
it.”

And another source, speaking on assurances of anonymity, put it
simply: “If Fred had not run again, Lamar was in.” No two
ways about it.

The reason: Neither Bryant’s poll figures nor his fund-raising
had generated enough confidence at the NRSC to go for broke with him.
(Parenthesis: This was very probably a premature judgment on Bryant, who has a
demonstrated ability to wear well with voters who’ve gotten to know him.)

Alexander, by contrast, was a known quantity as well as a proven
statewide name. Given the stakes, in a Senate destined to be shaded one way or
the other by the narrowest of margins, he looked good to the NRSC and to its
chief.

It’s that simple. And, again, whatever the surface noises of the
occasion, the reality was that Alexander was presumed by those mostly closely
related to the national Republican senate effort to be locked in. Before
September 11th stoked Senator Thompson’s sense of duty and changed
everything.

· District Attorney General Bill Gibbons, after
giving the matter “careful consideration” over the weekend,
announced at a press conference Monday that he would not be a candidate for
Shelby County Mayor. “Simply put,” Gibbons said, “I prefer
being district attorney to being county mayor.” Gibbons’ decision puts
the ball in the court of lawyer John Bobango, a former city councilman,
as far as the Republican Party is concerned. For some time Bobango’s interest
in the position has seemed more intense than Gibbons’. The two had long made
it clear that whichever one of them decided to run would have the support of
the other, and Gibbons gave Bobango his explicit endorsement Monday.

In private conversations during the several weeks that preceded
his moment of decision, Gibbons had made it clear that he had doubts about the
job of county mayor as one he felt strongly enough about to seek or even as
one that might serve as a stepping stone to higher office. And his commitment
to the unfinished business of his current office seemed genuine.

In his statement Monday, Gibbons touted achievements in problem
areas ranging from gang violence to drug-traffic control to child abuse, but
he said, “Crime remains far too high … . This is not the time for me to
walk away from this job.”

Gibbons said “from day one I have been somewhat
reluctant” about running for county mayor. He said the job of city mayor
actually appeals to him more. The question he faced: “What obligation do
I have to seek an office I’m not excited about holding?”

None, he concluded, becoming the second person, along with Jim
Rout, to conclude that there are better things to do than be county mayor. It
is questionable, of course, whether Gibbons could have won the nomination or
the general election next year. He promptly endorsed his friend and fellow
Republican Bobango.

“John Bobango would make a great mayor,” he said.
Gibbons added he foresees a “divisive, expensive Democratic primary”
and a united Republican Party behind Bobango.

“For parts of the Democratic Party the stakes are high and I
think it is going to get rough,” he said.

· A statewide poll released last week by the Knoxville
News-Sentinel showed that Democrat Phil Bredesen and U.S. Rep.
Van Hilleary are the clear leaders for their respective parties in the
gubernatorial race, with margins of 34 percent for Bredesen to single digits
for various Democratic contenders and 50 percent for Hilleary to 10 percent
for his only GOP opponent so far, state Rep. Jim Henry of
Kingston.

Henry, who maintains that the poll results were misreported and
that Hilleary, too, had only a 34 percent showing, still professes confidence,
though. Both he and Knoxville District Attorney General Randy Nichols,
a Democratic contender, have logged serious time of late in Memphis. (Nichols
spent an entire week doing meet-and-greets in the area.)

Both Henry and Nichols are reckoned as moderates on most
questions. Henry has so far not determined his position on tax reform, other
than to favor it generally but reserving judgment on a particular form.
Nichols, however, took the bold gamble this week of all but endorsing the
proposal for an income tax that may form the basis for a legislative special
session beginning next week. And he hurled a charge of pandering at ex-
Nashville mayor Bredesen, who has distanced himself from a state income tax
and promised instead to “manage” the state out of its current
financial difficulty.

“He’s obviously afraid of taking a stand,” said Nichols
of Bredesen. Of the proposed special session, Nichols said, “I approve of
it; it’s obvious we have a serious revenue problem and the legislators who
want to deal with it deserve support.” Nichols said he also liked the
dimensions of the plan, a 3.5 percent flat tax with corresponding reductions
in the sales tax and elimination of the Hall income tax.

Of the weekend poll, Nichols said in the News-Sentinel :
“With the limited name recognition I have outside of Knox County, that is
very encouraging. I knew that name recognition is what we have to overcome,
with Mayor Bredesen having run statewide in 1994. I’ve always thought that if
we could be right behind him at the start of the year, we could be in a
position to win the nomination.”

Other Democrats were equally optimistic. Democrat Charles
Smith professed to believe that the poll showed he had momentum. “I
feel because we have been out campaigning hard in the past two weeks (after
the poll was conducted), the race has tightened significantly. I think at this
point the polls are not too meaningful but I think we’ve got
momentum.”

Former state Senator Andy Womack of Murfreesboro saw
“a wide-open race” and declared, “There are a lot of
uncommitted, undecided voters and that also applies to the Democratic primary,
which is what I’m running in right now.”

Republican challenger Henry, meanwhile, saw his double-digit
showing as proof that he was best off among those challenging the front-
runners.

John Branston contributed to this column.

Unaccountably there arose something of a controversy a while back concerning the intentions of former Tennessee Governor Lamar Alexander towards the seat now occupied by once and future U.S.. Senator Fred Thompson.

All that seems so long ago now, but it was all the rage in statewide political and media circles just before September 11th., when Usama bin Laden or some individual or group with the same degree of evil intensity enacted the horrific scenario that prompted a previously reluctant Thompson to rise to a sense of mission and to announce for reelection, after all — re-enlisting, in effect, in the federal ranks.

No one much cares or pays attention now to Lamar Alexander, who has reverted to the condition of distinguished obscurity, which characterized him before his late-summer bloom as a Senate hopeful. For those with an interest, however, the facts are these, as certified anew by Senator Bill Frist and other sources close to the National Republican Senatorial Committee which Frist now heads:

The drama in which Alexander was to do his late cameo appearace occupied the better part of a year — since 9th District U.s. Rep. Ed Bryant made what for him was a fateful decision to back off a gubernatorial bid, yielding his place in that line to his colleague from Tennessee’s 4th district, Van Hilleary.

Up until then, both Hilleary and Bryant had bee eying the Senate seat, in case Thompson chose to run for governor (that was the presumed issue back then) or the governorship in case he didn’t.

Bryant appears to have gambled that Ole Fred, a sometime actor, would take the part which his GOP lodge brothers had picked out for him, that of providing another, rejuvenated Republican governorship in the post-Sundquist era. Nor for the first nor the last time, though, Thompson declined to be typecast and renounced a gubernatorial bid — which meant that Hilleary had his race to run and the luckless Bryant didn’t.

Then came Thompson’s prolonged bout of indecision regarding a reelection race for the Senate. Bryant’s hopes flared up again, and he launched a shadow campaign of sortw, which was well advanced when the Alexander gambit materialized, seemingly out of nowhere, in August. It began with an unattributed one-sentence item in the Wall Street Journal suggested that Alexander was floating an interest in the Senate race. In reality, it was being floated for him — by Frist and/or delegated operatives in the NRSC.

The Senator more or less confirmed all this in Washington last week. “We’re in a tight battle for control of the Senate — right now, as everybody knows, it’s a single-seat majority for the Democrats — and every seat counts,” he said. Did he contact Alexander about a race? Frist nodded. “Yes, it was my responsibility to make sure that we had a candidate with enough means and name-recognition to make a serious, competitive race.” Was it doubly important to him that the Republicans hold on to the Tennesse seat? “Oh, yeah,” he said expansively. “No doubt about it.”

And another source, speaking on assurances of anonymity, put it simply: “If Fred had not run again, Lamar was in.” No doubt about it.

The reason: neither Bryant’s poll figures nor his fund-raising had been such as to generate enough confidence at the NRSC to go for broke with him. (Parenthesis: this was very probably a premature judgment on Bryant, who has a demonstrated ability to wear well with voters who’ve gotten to know him.)

Alexander, by contrast, was a known quantity as well as a prove statewide name. Given the stakes, in a Senate destined to be shaded one way or the other by the narrowest of margins, he looked good to the NRSC and to its chief.

It’s that simple. And, again, whatever the surface noises of the occasion, the reality was that Alexander was presumed by those mostly closely related to the national Republican senate effort to be locked in.

Before September 11th stoked Senator Thompson’s sense of duty and changed everything.

WASHINGTON — U.S. Senator Bill Frist, who as the Senate’s only physician has taken the lead in communicating information about the anthrax menace through the media, may have become a victim of the hazardous bacterium himself on Wednesday — at least in the sense than his Memphis office was evidently targeted by a letter said to contain the anthrax spore.

Also reporting the receipt of suspicious packages Wednesday were Shelby County Mayor Jim Rout and U.S. Rep. Harold Ford Jr. in his Washington office. Both officials said they would have their mail specially bagged for inspection by the FBI or other law enforcement authorities.

Nick Smith, a spokesperson for Frist, said that the senator’s office in Memphis received in Wednesday afternoon’s mail what appeared, when opened by a staff member, to be a dosed envelope.

Further details were not immediately available and will be reported as soon as they are.

The senator, who was in Washington, where offices began closing Wednesday in response to the anthrax scare, has by now appeared on virtually every political news or talk show, regular or cable, discussing the disease and the various means for responding to it.

Frist later issued a statement on the receipt in Memphis of what he called “a suspicious package.” He called the circumstances “a deplorable act, which I’m hopeful turns out to only be a hoax.” After noting that the FBI was now in charge of investigating the package, Frist said that he would remain “in touch with authorities to ensure that the appropriate actions are taken to ensure the safety of those individuals affected.”

Weeks of intense speculation ended this week when Shelby County Public Defender A C Wharton decided to make a formal announcement of his long-rumored candidacy for county mayor Wednesday morning at The Peabody.

Wharton said this week he would emphasize his more than 20 years experience as a private attorney, Shelby County public defender, and board member for the Memphis Housing Authority, Methodist Healthcare, and various education commissions.

“It would be much more to my private benefit to go off and be a high-paid consultant,” said Wharton, “but I sort of feel an obligation to put something back in.”

News of Wharton’s taking the plunge comes only days after he gave serious second thoughts to holding back from running, according to sources familiar with the campaign. The hard core of Wharton’s support, however, included the likes of Bobby Lanier, the longtime administrative aide to both former county mayor Bill Morris and incumbent mayor Jim Rout, an early enthusiast for a Wharton candidacy after Rout declared some weeks back he would vacate the seat.

Lanier served ultimately as a decisive source of support and encouragement for the well-liked and highly regarded — but traditionally cautious — man known almost universally in political, legal, and governmental circles as A C. “I’ve talked to him, and he’s running,” pronounced Lanier firmly last week in the midst of reports about possible waffling on the public defender’s part.

Wharton’s entry would seem to virtually complete a Democratic field that already includes Bartlett banker Harold Byrd, state Senator Jim Kyle, and state Representative Carol Chumney. None of these have so far given any indication that they’re thinking of withdrawing.

“I’ve been in county government for more than 20 years and I’ve learned a lot,” Wharton said this week. “I’m in a position to see how we could do somethings better, particularly in the areas of criminal justice, education, and health care.” He said he is making the announcement “sooner than I would desire” but was prompted by the fact that other candidates have already started raising money for the race.

Wharton said he had gone back and forth on the timing and nature of his announcement in recent weeks as the news was dominated by the terrorist attacks of September 11th, the current anthrax scare, and the economy. Pressure from within his own camp for him to go ahead and declare and put an end to speculation like that of last week undoubtedly played a role, too.

“Not a day has passed that I did not go through a careful weighing process,” Wharton said.

The remaining mystery is the identity of the Republican contender. At least two public figures are still strongly considering making the race: District Attorney General Bill Gibbons, who has formed an exploratory committee, and lawyer and former Memphis city councilman John Bobango.

Both are thought of as strong potential contenders, but only one of them — by what amounts to a common-sense prior agreement between the two moderate Republicans, who share a common base — will end up running. Meanwhile, the two are enacting a complicated ritual whereby each says beatific things about the other while (perhaps) trying to out-maneuver him for party support.

Some of Wharton’s Democratic opponents — notably Byrd, who months ago began a well-heeled, highly organized and orchestrated campaign — have made the most of Wharton’s GOP connections, mainly people close to outgoing mayor Rout (a Republican who has distanced himself from his erstwhile supporters’ pro-Wharton effort). Besides Lanier, other members of Rout’s circle now prominent in Wharton’s support are longtime county lobbyist Bobby Bowers, former Shelby County Commissioner Charles Perkins, and suburban developer Jackie Welch.

City council member Ta Juan Stout-Mitchell was among several African Americans at a Byrd fund-raiser the weekend before last who expressed unease at the degree of support for Wharton in the traditional Shelby County business/government establishment.

Even so, Wharton has had good support among key Democrats as well — two examples being former party chairman David Cocke and state Senator Steve Cohen — and has been reckoned by most observers as being the man to beat. Undeterred, Byrd has indicated he will continue to campaign vigorously and is apparently geared up for a lengthy one-on-one struggle.

Among other Democrats, Kyle has polls which show him in a strong, competitive situation in the party primary, while Chumney is beginning to intensify her efforts among party cadres and has several events planned for this week and next.

• Mark Luttrell, the director of Shelby County’s Division of Corrections, has, friends say, made a firm decision to seek the office of sheriff in next year’s Republican primary.

After years of turmoil and scandal involving Sheriff’s Department personnel and policies, Luttrell came to the fore as the result, more or less, of key Republicans’ search for someone who was both a new face — at least to the county’s voters — and yet had ample experience in law enforcement.

Other Republicans seeking the office are Chief Deputy Don Wright and two other Sheriff’s Department administrators, Bobby Simmons and Mike Jewell.

Assistant Chief Randy Wade is so far the only major declared Democratic candidate and has mounted a strong campaign with support from elements of Memphis mayor Willie Herenton’s organization.

Henry Hooper, an insurance agent and former member of the Secret Service, has said he will run as an independent, and there are even rumors that former Criminal Court judge Joe Brown — he of the nationally syndicated TV show — is considering a race.

John Branston contributed an interview with A C Wharton and other material to this column.

Weeks of intense speculation would end this week as Shelby County Pubic Defender A C Wharton arranged a formal announcement of his long-rumored candidacy for county mayor at 10:30 Wednesday morning at The Peabody.

Wharton said beforehand he intended to emphasize his more than 20 years’ experience as a private attorney, Shelby County public defender, and board member for Memphis Housing Authority, Methodist Healthcare, and various education commissions.

“It would be much more to my private benefit to go off and be a high-paid consultant,” said Wharton, “but I sort of feel an obligation to put something back in.”

News of Wharton’s taking the plunge comes only days after he gave serious second thoughts to holding back from running, according to sources familiar with the campaign.

The hard core of Wharton’s support, however, included the likes of Bobby Lanier, the longtime administrative aide to both former county mayor Bill Morris and incumbent mayor Jim Rout and an early enthusiast for a Wharton candidacy after Rout declared some weeks back he would vacate the seat.

Lanier served ultimately as a decisive source of support and encouragement for the well-liked and highly regarded — but traditionally cautious — man known almost universally in political, legal, and governmental circles as A C. “I’ve talked to him, and he’s running,” pronounced Lanier firmly last week in the midst of reports about possible waffling on the Public Defender’s part.

Wharton’s entry would seem to virtually complete a Democratic field that already includes Bartlett banker Harold Byrd, State Senator Jim Kyle, and State Representative Carol Chumney. None of these have so far given any indication that they’re thinking of withdrawing.

“I’ve been in county government for more than 20 years and I’ve learned a lot,” Wharton said this week. “I’m in a position to see how we could do some things better, particularly in the areas of criminal justice, education, and health care.” He said he is making the announcement “sooner than I would desire” but was prompted by the fact that other candidates have already started raising money for the race.

Wharton said he had gone back and forth on the timing and nature of his announcement in recent weeks as the news was dominated by the terrorist attacks of September 11th, the current anthrax scare, and the economy. Pressure from within his own camp for him to go ahead and declare and put an end to speculation like that of last week undoubtedly played a role, too.

“Not a day has passed that I did not go through a careful weighing process,” Wharton said.

The remaining mystery is the identity of the mainstream Republican contender. At least two public figures are still strongly considering making the race — District Attorney General Bill Gibbons, who has formed an exploratory committee, and lawyer and former Memphis city councilman John Bobango.

Both are thought of as strong potential contenders, but only one of them — by what amounts to a common-sense prior agreement between the two moderate Republicans, who share a common base — will end up running.

Meanwhile, the two are enacting a complicated ritual whereby each says beatific things about the other while (perhaps) trying to out-maneuver him for party support.

Some of Wharton’s Democratic opponents — notably Byrd, who months ago began a well-heeled, highly organized and orchestrated campaign — have made the most of Wharton’s GOP connections, mainly people close to outgoing mayor Rout (a Republican who has distanced himself from his erstwhile supporters’ pro-Wharton effort.

Besides Lanier, other members of Rout’s circle now prominent in Wharton’s support are longtime county lobbyist Bobby Bowers, former Shelby County Commissioner Charles Perkins, and suburban developer Jackie Welch.

City council member Ta Juan Stout-Mitchell was among several blacks at a Byrd fund-raiser weekend before last who expressed unease at the degree of support for Wharton in the traditional Shelby County business/government establishment.

Even so, Wharton has had good support among key Democrats as well — two examples being former party chairman David Cocke and State Senator Steve Cohen — and has been reckoned by most observers as being the man to beat. Undeterred, Byrd has indicated he will continue to campaign vigorously and is apparently geared up for a lengthy one-on-one struggle.

Among other Democrats, Kyle has polls which show him in a strong, competitive situation in the party primary, while Chumney is beginning to intensify her efforts among party cadres and has several events planned for this week and next.

Shelby County’s political constellation has shifted measurably in the last two days, with credible word going out among insiders that one major potential candidate, A C Wharton, had decided against running for county mayor while another, Mark Luttrell, had made a firm decision to run for sheriff.

A leading supporter of Wharton’s dismissed talk of his man’s departure from the race, however, and insisted late Thursday that the Shelby County Public Defender was still in the race and would shortly announce for the office, as had previously been indicated. “I talked to him today, and he’s running,” said this source. Wharton himself was not available for comment.

WHARTON:

If Wharton should indeed make a declaration of non-candidacy, his action would abort a considerable momentum that has been working in his favor in political circles, not only in the Democratic Party (whose primary he has been expected to run in) but among many of the county’s Republicans and independents as well.

Conversely, some of Wharton’s potential Democratic opponents — notably Bartlett banker Harold Byrd, who has already announced for county mayor and begun a well-heeled campaign — have made the most of Wharton’s GOP connections, mainly people close to outgoing Mayor Jim Rout (a Republican who has distanced himself from his erstwhile supporters’ pro-Wharton effort). City council member Ta Juan Stout-Mitchell was among several blacks at a Byrd fund-raiser last week who expressed unease at the degree of support for Wharton in the traditional Shelby County business/government establishment.

Even so, Wharton has had good support among key Democrats as well — two examples being former party chairman David Cocke and State Senator Steve Cohen — and has been reckoned by most observers as being the man to beat if he pursued a race.

Byrd has continued to campaign vigorously and is apparently geared up for a lengthy one-on-one struggle, if Wharton decides to stay in.

Among other Democrats, State Senator Jim Kyle has polls which show him in a strong, competitive situation in the party primary, while State Representative Carol Chumney is beginning to intensify her efforts among party cadres and has several forthcoming events planned.

Among Republicans, District Attorney General Bill Gibbons has formed an exploratory committee, while lawyer and former Memphis city councilman John Bobango continues to express interest in running. Both are considered strong potential contenders, but only one of them (by prior agreement between the two) will end up running. Meanwhile, the two are enacting a complicated ritual whereby each says beatific things about the other while (perhaps) trying to out-maneuver him for party support.

LUTTRELL:

The director of Shelby County’s Division of Corrections has, friends say, made a firm decision to seek the office of sheriff in next year’s Republican primary.

The 54-year-old Luttrell worked almost a quarter century as an administrator in the federal corrections system, and served as warden of three penal institutions.

After years of turmoil and scandal involving Sheriff’s Department personnel and policies, Luttrell came to the fore as the result, more or less, of key Republicans’ search for someone who was both a new face — at least to the county’s voters — and yet had ample experience in law enforcement.

Other Republicans seeking the office are Chief Deputy Don Wright and two other Sheriff’s Department administrators, Bobby Simmons and Mike Jewell. Assistant Chief Randy Wade is so far the only major declared Democratic candidate and has mounted a strong campaign with support from elements of Memphis Mayor Willie Herenton’s organization.

Shelby County’s political constellation has shifted measurably in the last two days, with credible word going out among insiders that one major potential candidate, A C Wharton, had decided against running for county mayor while another, Mark Luttrell, had made a firm decision to run for sheriff.

A leading supporter of Wharton’s dismissed talk of his man’s departure from the race, however, and insisted late Thursday that the Shelby County Public Defender was still in the race and would shortly announce for the office, as had previously been indicated. “I talked to him today, and he’s running,” said this source. Wharton himself was not available for comment.

WHARTON:

If Wharton should indeed make a declaration of non-candidacy, his action would abort a considerable momentum that has been working in his favor in political circles, not only in the Democratic Party (whose primary he has been expected to run in) but among many of the county’s Republicans and independents as well.

Conversely, some of Wharton’s potential Democratic opponents — notably Bartlett banker Harold Byrd, who has already announced for county mayor and begun a well-heeled campaign — have made the most of Wharton’s GOP connections, mainly people close to outgoing Mayor Jim Rout (a Republican who has distanced himself from his erstwhile supporters’ pro-Wharton effort). City council member Ta Juan Stout-Mitchell was among several blacks at a Byrd fund-raiser last week who expressed unease at the degree of support for Wharton in the traditional Shelby County business/government establishment.

Even so, Wharton has had good support among key Democrats as well — two examples being former party chairman David Cocke and State Senator Steve Cohen — and has been reckoned by most observers as being the man to beat if he pursued a race.

Byrd has continued to campaign vigorously and is apparently geared up for a lengthy one-on-one struggle, if Wharton decides to stay in.

Among other Democrats, State Senator Jim Kyle has polls which show him in a strong, competitive situation in the party primary, while State Representative Carol Chumney is beginning to intensify her efforts among party cadres and has several forthcoming events planned.

Among Republicans, District Attorney General Bill Gibbons has formed an exploratory committee, while lawyer and former Memphis city councilman John Bobango continues to express interest in running. Both are considered strong potential contenders, but only one of them (by prior agreement between the two) will end up running. Meanwhile, the two are enacting a complicated ritual whereby each says beatific things about the other while (perhaps) trying to out-maneuver him for party support.

LUTTRELL:

The director of Shelby County’s Division of Corrections has, friends say, made a firm decision to seek the office of sheriff in next year’s Republican primary.

The 54-year-old Luttrell worked almost a quarter century as an administrator in the federal corrections system, and served as warden of three penal institutions.

After years of turmoil and scandal involving Sheriff’s Department personnel and policies, Luttrell came to the fore as the result, more or less, of key Republicans’ search for someone who was both a new face — at least to the county’s voters — and yet had ample experience in law enforcement.

Other Republicans seeking the office are Chief Deputy Don Wright and two other Sheriff’s Department administrators, Bobby Simmons and Mike Jewell. Assistant Chief Randy Wade is so far the only major declared Democratic candidate and has mounted a strong campaign with support from elements of Memphis Mayor Willie Herenton’s organization.

Hardly had the ink dried on District Attorney General Bill Gibbons‘
announcement last week that he had formed an exploratory committee to look
into a race next year for Shelby County mayor than the other half of the
Shelby County Republicans’ Alphonse-Gaston Act was heard from. Lawyer John
Bobango wants it known that he is still thinking seriously of running for
Shelby County mayor — notwithstanding his friend Gibbons’ action.

Meanwhile, incumbent Mayor Jim Rout wants it known that he
is not aiding and abetting the candidacy of Democrat A C Wharton —
notwithstanding the activities in that regard of some of his closest
associates.

And the fact that Rout was urging Bobango to make the race as
recently as a day or two before Gibbons announced his committee last week is
something that should be known in its own right.

“I don’t see any point in forming an exploratory committee
just yet because I think it’s still early to start raising money. But I’m
studying it very carefully and I’ll make a decision within three weeks or
so,” said Bobango, the former Memphis city councilman who has more or
less agreed with Gibbons that only one of them should end up attempting to
become the Republican standard-bearer.

“That’s still the case, but it’s still possible that either
one of us could make the race,” said Bobango, who insisted that Gibbons’
announcement should not be regarded as pre-emptive. “In fact, I urged him
to [form a committee], but it won’t keep me from deciding to run. I honestly
think that whichever one of us picks up the phone in the next three weeks and
tells the other he’s running will be the candidate. It’s a matter of which one
of us is the first to become convinced he ought to do it.”

Bobango said he had had several conversations about the mayor’s
race with Rout, who counseled him to run, adding, “I assume he’s had
similar conversations with Bill, though I don’t know for sure.”

For his part, Rout — clearly stung by recent allegations from
various disgruntled Democrats that he is secretly supporting Wharton — is
making a point of asserting his GOP credentials, the exhortations to Bobango
being a case in point. “I think he’s determined to see that there’s a
quality Republican candidate and, frankly, I think that’s the real message of
Bill’s decision to announce his committee,” said Bobango.

The uncertainty concerning Rout’s preferences has been based on
the fact that several well-known political figures close to the county mayor –
– notably his aide Bobby Lanier, developer Jackie Welch, Shelby
County government lobbyist Bobby Bowers, and former County Commissioner
Charlie Perkins — are solidly in the camp of the all-but-declared
Wharton, the current Shelby County public defender. (Other Democratic
candidates are Bartlett banker Harold Byrd, State Senator Jim
Kyle, and State Representative Carol Chumney.)

But it could well be that all of these members of Rout’s circle
merely consider themselves free agents in the wake of the county mayor’s
decision not to run for reelection and are merely trying to establish a new
allegiance — seeing in Wharton an electable centrist they could work
with.

· The presence of so many Rout people and other white
independents and Republicans in the start-up campaign of Wharton, an African
American, is an irony of sorts, counter-pointed by a significant number of
blacks in the rival Democratic campaign of Bartlett banker Harold Byrd,
who is white.

Former county commissioner Vasco Smith and his wife,
former NAACP head and school board member Maxine Smith, held a monster
reception for Byrd Friday night. Usually campaigns overstate the numbers of
those who attend such functions, but the Byrd campaign’s estimate of 300
attendees is surely well beneath the actual level. The Smiths’ sprawling East
Parkway residence was — literally — filled to the rafters.

Among those present were city council member TaJuan Stout-
Mitchell (who said Byrd was entitled to black votes on the strength of his
“demonstrated record of commitment” and expressed concern about the
Rout contingent backing Wharton), County Commissioner Cleo Kirk, Dr.
Shirley Raines and Dick Ranta of the University of Memphis;
developer Henry Turley; Rev. Billy Kyles; lawyer Richard
Fields; Rodney Herenton; Happy Jones; current NAACP head
Johnnie Turner; moving company owner Tom Watson; and school
board member Hubon “Dutch” Sandridge.

Wharton, incidentally, has tentative plans to make a formal
announcement for mayor next week.

· Wonder of wonders! Former Vice President Al Gore,
who warmed up for a recent high-profile visit to Iowa by shmoozing with local
supporters at the Memphis home of Jim and Lucia Gilliland, is
getting good reviews. One pundit even documented a “new, more
relaxed” Gore.

The vice president, who (according to advance speculation,
anyhow) had originally planned a broadside of sorts against the policies of
President Bush, was forced to adjust quickly when the terrorist attacks of
September 11th intervened. What Gore did in his keynote address at the
Jefferson-Jackson Dinner of Iowa Democrats in Des Moines was avoid any hint of
partisan rhetoric, instead offering his unqualified support for the
president.

The Boston Herald‘s Wayne Woodlief awarded
appropriate kudos: Gore, he wrote, “one of the smartest men in American
politics, has the sense to bide his time and support Bush as the president
moves the nation through a crisis, yet still emerge as his party’s prime
challenger when challenge becomes appropriate again — as it always does in a
democracy.”

And Steve Kraske of the Kansas City Star awarded
Gore some style points. The former veep used to arrive at places via Air Force
2 and pull up to his destinations in a cavalcade of official cars accompanied
by police vehicles, sirens screeching. No more, wrote Kraske, who found that
Gore “showed off a new, more relaxed speaking style” and “might
have found himself a new, and somewhat dramatic, campaign style that had him
sneaking into eastern Iowa in a rental car, accompanied only by a cell phone
and a map … .”

It gets better: “Along the way, Gore called up old friends
and met them in coffee shops. He came off as a guy without a care in the
world.” Kraske echoed Woodlief in his estimate of the “aplomb”
with which Gore paid an “obligatory nod to President Bush for his
handling of the terrorism crisis.” Said Kraske: “He was gracious,
unwavering and direct, which is exactly what he had to be … Gore effectively
undermined the ongoing spat over who had won the November election … [By]
showing up in Iowa and then accepting another prominent speaking engagement in
New Hampshire on October 27th, Gore keeps his 2004 political options
open.”

Ironically, two Memphians who have had ample prior exposure to
Gore — sports executive Steve Earhardt and Democratic activist Rex
Ham — had separately made observations last week to the effect that all
Gore needed to do in order to shed his stiff image was to travel by his
lonesome, without fuss or entourage. He appears to have done just that in Iowa
— which, none too coincidentally, is the first presidential caucus state of
2004.

And New Hampshire, where Gore will also serve as keynote speaker
for a Jefferson-Jackson Dinner, happens to be the first primary state of that
presidential-election year.

·When U.S. Rep. Harold Ford Jr. shows up in the
Shelby County Commission auditorium Monday for the area Anti-Terrorism Summit
he has called, he may appear to be a victim of some mild terrorism himself,
having picked up a shiner last week. The congressman’s bruised eye, which
required four stitches, came about when he collided with Rep. Gregory
Meeks (D-N.Y.) during a pickup basketball game in the House gym last week.
“He felt like Joe Frazier after the ‘Thrilla in Manila,”
quipped Ford’s administrative assistant, Mark Schuermann.

Incidentally, Schuermann, who has been doubling as Ford’s press
secretary since his return early this year from a stint as spokesman for Sen.
Harry Reid (D-Nev.), can lay that burden down. Freshly hired by Ford is
new press secretary Anthony Coley, who comes from the office of Sen.
Zell Miller (D-Ga.).

Ford has invited all local mayors, emergency management officers,
and representatives of law enforcement agencies to the anti-terrorism
summit.

· So far two candidates have announced for the soon-to-be-
vacated District 5 of the Shelby County Commission. Both mavericks, they are
Democrat Joe Cooper (who has a variety of proposals for defraying
county obligations by allowing paid private sponsorship of public venues and
functions) and Republican Jerry Cobb, who has a well-established
reputation as a whistle-blower and muckraker. Another Democrat, lawyer
Guthrie Castle, is in the wings, ready to throw his hat in as soon as
new district lines have been determined. ·

You can e-mail Jackson Baker at baker@memphisflyer.com.