Bloggers and the Governors' Race
The unofficial official announcement has finally been made at the Greene County Lincoln Day that Lieutenant Governor Ron Ramsey will very likely throw his hat into the ring and make a run for Governor. At least one gubernatorial candidate has been kind enough to ask The World for an endorsement. Although this request was truly humbling, it can be said that Ramsey's entry into the equation changes the game significantly because it leaves little doubt where the endorsement of this weblog will fall if made official.Perhaps the greatest concern for Ron Ramsey is the reality that many people in West Tennessee still do not know who he is and realize that he is Lt. Governor. Ramsey does not have the name recognition that John Wilder had built over years in the same position. Some of Ramsey's supporters fear that perhaps he ought to wait one more election cycle before running, so that he has time to run the Senate and build name recognition as the Republican leader of a body likely to remain in GOP hands for a long time to come. As Lieutenant Governor, Ron Ramsey isn't going anywhere.
Despite concerns over name recognition, Ramsey is the one candidate in the field with the conservative record and credentials that Tennessee needs to counter the onslaught of federal encroachment with which Tennesseans' liberties now appear to be threatened. Further, on a personal note, I actually trust that Ron Ramsey will be a good Governor if elected, and that is something I cannot yet say about the rest of the field.
One thing that Ramsey's campaign team need to remember is that if they are going to try to work with conservative bloggers, not all endorsements mean that a blogger is simply going to shill for you on their blog without any critical analysis if they see something wrong with the campaign. Former Congressman David Davis made the mistake of thinking that my support and others meant that I wasn't going to say anything when I saw the campaign going to pot.
Wrong...
My endorsements are loud, proud, and full-throated, but an endorsement doesn't make me anyone's puppet, and I would say that the same is true for most good political bloggers on both sides of the aisle. I hope that Governor Ramsey's impending campaign team chooses both to work with bloggers who are of like mind and to learn how the medium can work for the Republican Party in the future. Everyone needs to remember, however, that those who strive to do this right are not in it to make their favorite politicians happy, but to tell the truth as they see it.
Labels: Elections, Republican Party, Tennessee politics
posted by Deacon David Oatney @ 11:28 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home