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Umm, hello, you forgot the Giganto Bryson ad :)
In all seriousness, I think the best ad was Ford's "Kick the Dog" ad.
Posted by: Sean Braisted | December 5, 2006 01:46 PM
Provine was useless...did the Republicans actually gain seats...nope...they just stayed static.
Posted by: Big Daddy | December 5, 2006 08:06 PM
I am sure that Bryant would be disappointed to read that he "hobbled" together conservative groups. Stacy, do you mean "cobbled"?
Tom, do you really think Dems won ever open seat race? How could the split still be 53-46?
Posted by: GOP2006 | December 5, 2006 09:20 PM
Give Provine some credit. When Republicans were losing like it was their job (coincidently it was), Provine held seats that have been in contention for years. He helped the push back the national Demo tide and deserves some credit.
Big Daddy, what exactly did you do during the election besides being the Deputy Precinct Chair for Kenneth Martin in Moore County?
Posted by: Z | December 5, 2006 10:56 PM
Typo on my part: what I meant to write is that the Democrats won every CONTESTED open seat race (Check the House. There were no contested open seat races in the Senate.) That's exactly why the margin is still 53-46.
The Republicans also lost by wide margins several challenges of Democratic incumbents in the State House - even in East TN (see David Massengill and Charlotte Liebrock). And they lost Don McLeary, which was a huge symbolic defeat, in the Senate.
Posted by: Tom | December 6, 2006 03:23 PM
Tom,
Are you saying that all of the seats vacated by retiring republicans were uncontested? I don't think so.
Posted by: GOP2006 | December 7, 2006 02:14 AM
I vote for Harold Ford Jr
best campaign 2006, and best
political ad was "Faith and
Church".
Posted by: mary | December 7, 2006 08:02 PM
for December 04, 2006
TPB Presents: 2006 Best in Politics Awards
Tennessee Politics Blog is happy to present the first annual "Best in Politics" awards honoring recipients in Tennessee politics that displayed the best acumen, the best political insight, the highest honors of political brinkmanship. We'll be taking your nominations in the following categories and then letting you vote on the best political players and plays of 2006.
- Political Consultant of the Year
- Best Campaign of 2006
- Best Political TV Ad of 2006
- Best Political Story of 2006
Here's the nominations that we have so far in no particular order...
Political Consultant of the Year
- Tom Ingram - Lamar Alexander's right hand man and his 11th hour takeover of Bob Corker's floundering US Senate campaign helped revive the race and allowed Bob Corker to topple a surprisingly ascendant Harold Ford, Jr.
- Jim Margolis - Harold Ford, Jr's media consultant was criticized for offering 'bio' ads late into the campaign, but most political insiders on both sides of the aisle agreed that Harold Ford, Jr's had the most consistently good political ads of any candidate for office in 2006.
- John Rowley - The middle man of the Fletcher, Rowley and Chao triumvirate, John helped guide Democratic candidate Lowe Finney's campaign to the only Democratic takeover of a Republican seat this election cycle - besting former client Don McLeary.
- Layne Provine - A Memphis behind-the-scenes consultant who helped the GOP hold on to a number of legislative races and ensured the GOP incumbents got to keep their part-time jobs in a bad year for Republicans, who despite several close races lost only one seat in the state legislature.
- Stuart Brunson - A close advisor and major force in Governor Bredesen's campaign, Brunson helped demolish Republican opposition for Bredesen through coalitions and lined up a positive campaign for his boss.
Best Campaign of 2006
- Harold Ford, Jr - Despite a loss, Harold Ford, Jr's campaign was a well-oiled machine and gave confident Republicans a scare when polling numbers began to come back with Ford leading Corker by as many as 10 points.
- Phil Bredesen - With only late-starting token primary opposition, Governor Bredesen ran full force, crafting an impeccable electioneering strategy that buried considerable negatives and covered the air waves with positive TV message.
- Ed Bryant - Despite losing the GOP primary, Bryant ran an excellent campaign by cobbling together conservative GOP interest groups, like homeschoolers, right-to-life groups, and conservative netroot bloggers.
- David Davis - Besting a huge field of primary challengers, David Davis emerged from the primary and locked down the win in the 1st Congressional District. The ideological conservative bested a few pro-business Republicans who generally fair better in East TN
- Mike Bell - Knocked off a 16-year Naifeh voting GOP incumbent in the primary and then easily won the general.
Best Political TV Ad
- Call Me (RNC) - The ad that sparked national attention to the US Senate race with charges of infused racism, say what you will about the ad, its results showed on election day.
- Faith and Church (Harold Ford, Jr.) - Harold Ford, Jr. walking through a church also got national media attention, Ford with the subtle jab at the end worked well.
- Prince of Darkness (RSLC) - Republican interest pulled out special stops to defend incumbent Mae Beavers against Bob Rochelle
- The Numbers (Schree Pettigrew) - Hard hitting piece against incumbent Republican lawmaker Stacey Campfield, which based on the election returns didn't work, but which caused a lot of speculation Campfield might lose.
- Hand Off (Phil Bredesen) - Bredesen's positive spot taking the effect from the famous HP commercials
- Family Dog(Harold Ford, Jr.) - Ford responds to the familial attacks leveled by Corker
Best Political Story of 2006
- A Special Session on Ethics Reform - The General Assembly is again called into special session, this time not to look at tax reform but to pass politically demanded ethics reform legislation in the wake of FBI sting Operation Tennessee Waltz
- Bob Corker Lone New Republican Elected in 2006 Senate Races - Corker gets to be a freshman class of one after being the only new Republican Senator elected to the US Congress on election day 2006.
- Bill Jenkins Retires - Bill Jenkins retires from the 1st Congressional district, opening up a seat for a plethora of Republican candidates
- Knox Co. Charter Invalid - One of the larger counties in Tennessee is temporarily forced out of existence by a court ruling invalidating its organizational charter, all in a battle over whether County Commissioners are term limited.
Remember, these are just the nominations thus far. Feel free to nominate your own picks by responding to this post in the comments below or by . Nominations will close on Monday, December 11th - and then you'll have a chance to vote on the best of 2006. Thanks in advance for your nominations and votes.
I have to disagree w/ the nomination of Provine. Holding on to incumbent seats in the Tennessee General Assembly isn't a major accomplishment (obvious exceptions noted). The Democrats won every open seat race this year. That's a better indication of the strength of campaigns, etc.
In his stead, I nominate Stuart Brunson. Of course, Republicans are now trying to discount Bryson as a non-credible candidate - although they spent a lot of time during the campaign talking about how credible he was. Bryson never got traction to a large degree because the Bredesen campaign walled him off at every turn. As the previous poster noted, the hunting license story was bigger than some people might realize. Bryson was left looking like a complete liar. He never recovered.
The Bredesen campaign also ran some top-notch television and radio ads -- and the campaign never went negative, which is a major feat in today's political environment.
Posted by: Tom | December 5, 2006 11:29 AM