Ed Bryant hopes coalitions top money, recognition

The Nashville City Paper ^ | March 29, 2006 | John Rodgers

[Clintonfatigued]

While his two opponents have an edge in either fund raising or name recognition, U.S. Senate hopeful Ed Bryant hopes social and economic conservatives will help him win August’s Republican primary.

Social conservative groups like the Tennessee Right to Life and Concerned Women for America, and fiscally conservative GOP leaders like U.S. Senators Trent Lott (R-MS) and Sam Brownback (R-Kansas) have endorsed Bryant’s candidacy, which became official Tuesday when he filed to run.

[Clintonfatigued]

Ed Bryant is the best candidate in the field. He's the most conservative and his base in western Tennessee will give him a geographic advantage in the general.

[fieldmarshaldj]

*BUMP*

[Clintonfatigued]

Trent Lott endorsed him. In spite of that, I still support Ed Bryant.

[fieldmarshaldj]

You caught that, too. ;-)

[AuH2ORepublican]

"Ed Bryant is the best candidate in the field. He's the most conservative and his base in western Tennessee will give him a geographic advantage in the general."

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Agreed. He'll clean up in the Memphis suburbs, leaving Ford (who is hoping to do well in those suburbs) with nowhere else to make up those votes.

Van Hilleary is a good candidate as well, and he would be favored against Ford if he got the nomination. Still, Bryant puts it to bed for us, and he deserves the nomination after getting screwed out of it by Lamar! in 2002, so I would rather have Hilleary switch to the gubernatorial race (where he almost beat Bredesen in 2002) or to one of the House races (large parts of his old CD lie in Lincoln Davis's TN-04 and Brad Gordon's TN-06, which were carried by President Bush in 2004 with 57.64% and 59.66%, respectively). Besides, if Bryant and Hilleary split the conservative vote it may allow RINO Bob Corker (our weakest general-election candidate) to tumble into the nomination.

[zbigreddogz]

I agree. By all standards I consider valuable, conservativism, a level head, and electability, Bryant is easily the choice.

I wish Van Hileary would drop out and either run for Governor again or run for his old house seat. He's not a bad guy at all, but he's not as strong of a candidate, he'll all but certainly lose the primary, and he's only mucking up the race.

Both him and the conservative movement on a whole would be better off if he'd do one or the other of these, probably run for his old house seat, because the Governor's race is harder to win, and with the D's trying so hard to take back the House, he'd be more valuable there.

[fieldmarshaldj]

As I told CF, I have no idea what is going on in this contest in my own backyard. I've yet to see any legitimate primary polling data (aside from one push-poll done by the Hilleary campaign, which, surprise, showed him leading). The only one who is been on tv with campaign ads is Junior.

[GeorgefromGeorgia]

Ed is the man. Ford is a liberal in sheep's clothing.

[Clintonfatigued]

Very well-stated. I look forward to the career of U.S. Senator Ed Bryant.