[Ingtar]

Ed Bryant, my local Congressman, had mentioned running if Thompson stepped down. He was a House Impeachment manager, and does a good job representing a conservative viewpoint. I would hate to see Thompson's seat go to the Demos. But I would have had to overlook a couple of issues I have with Thompson to vote for him again. (His no on Impeachment; a call to his office revealing he is for CFR)

[babble-on]

Its between Bryant and Alexander, that much seems clear. Bryant has a great geographic positioning, being a popular Republican in west Tennessee. He'll win the conservative east, lose in Confederate, anti-Lincoln, middle TN, and have his home court advantage in the west. Alexander on the other hand has a blue-chip name in Tennessee, already has a campaign war-chest and could augment it easily, and is a known quantity throughout the state. The question may come down to whether Alexander wants to risk losing a primary battle, which would be a lousy way to end a political career that had a lot of highs, but not many lately.