The World According to Oatney

Reagan Day

The conversation was going so well that I didn't notice Rep. Frank Niceley trying to get my attention, but Nicole did. He stayed for a few minutes at our table and we talked shop. Jennifer Little took Frank and Nicole's picture and I commented that Frank looked much better than I did, to which Frank colorfully replied that I was full of it. The strange seating arrangements described herein also led to Stacey Campfield being seated at the same table with his State Senate Primary opponent, Ron Leadbetter, which must have made for interesting dinner talk.


The most glaring absence was that of the Mayor of Knoxville himself, whose excuse was that he was attending a fundraiser. While no one disparages Haslam of a fundraiser, he has known about the Reagan Day dinner for months but begged off of it, and his fundraiser in Sumner County would have been much easier to reschedule for a man whose personal funds along with collected campaign cash might rival the Sultan of Brunei. Haslam sent people and bought tables, but a conservative event in his own hometown was not good enough for him to be there and actively stump for himself. Bill Dunn is one of the few reputable conservatives openly supporting Haslam and gave a good speech and actually made a decent argument for the Mayor. When Dunn's speech was over, I wanted badly to put Dunn's name into nomination in place of Haslam.

Labels: Conservatism, Republican Party, Tennessee politics

posted by Deacon David Oatney @ 3:44 PM