U.S. Senate candidates gearing up

Lamar meets the press, Tuke gets a 'salute,' and Padgett says 'bring 'em home'

Email | Print By Ken Whitehouse

The candidates for the U.S. Senate all chimed in today in hopes of gathering steam for the campaign trail ahead. Incumbent Sen. Lamar Alexander, who is the heavy favorite, met with reporters while the two major Democratic candidates piped in their two cents with announcements.

At a lunch gathering with Nashville's Capitol Hill press corps, Alexander said that he had about $3 million in the bank for his campaign and would be filing his official paperwork declaring himself a candidate today. He added that he would take whomever the Democrats choose as a candidate seriously and he hoped that Tennesseans see him as someone who "brings common sense, conservative values, but it is independent-minded" to Washington's political theater.

Alexander said that the he was working to establish a more civil tone into political discourse and harkened back to how well he worked as governor with the then Democratic Speaker of the House Ned McWherter, who succeeded him in office. He said that in his role as GOP Conference Chairman, he hoped to further that agenda.

On the Democratic side of the aisle, Nashville attorney and former Tennessee Democratic Party chairman Bob Tuke announced that Wesley Clark, the retired four-star general who was the Supreme Allied Commander Europe of NATO from 1997 to 2000 and a Democratic candidate for President in 2004, had endorsed his campaign.

In a statement, Clark said, "Like countless men and women across this country, Bob Tuke has answered the call to serve his country. Whether it was as a Marine in Vietnam or as one of America's most respected adoption lawyers, Bob Tuke has proven he is a man of honor and integrity. For these reasons, I proudly endorse my friend Bob Tuke for the U.S. Senate."

Clark will also make some campaign appearances on behalf of Tuke during the course of the campaign.

Not to be left out, former Knox County Clerk Mike Padgett sent out a press release of his own calling for the withdrawal of troops from Irag, but firing a shot across the bow at Alexander.

In the release, Padgett states, "Banks are foreclosing on their homes, and the battle to balance the checkbook is an exercise in chaos. And what is the answer from President Bush and Republicans in Congress? The Fed helps bail out big lenders, and Republicans like Lamar Alexander consistently stand in the way of bipartisan efforts to find a reasonable way to bring the troops home."