Daily Dose for July 25, 2007

Thompson's Wife Cause of Collamore Split

Thompson's Wife Cause of Collamore Split -- The national media has already picked up on what TPB was going to post today. Sources close to the campaign cite strategic differences between Fred Thompson's wife, Jeri Thompson, and Thompson's "campaign manager in waiting" Tom Collamore as the reason for Collamore's resignation as Thompson's right-hand man. Collamore was widely expected to jump in as Thompson's full time campaign manager, but now Thompson has pegged veteran Florida Republican strategist Randy Enright and former GOP Sen. Spencer Abraham to serve as his top advisors. Volunteer Voters has a good list of links where the campaign skirts around the issue of how involved Thompson's wife really is in his campaign.

Bredesen Defends Pay Hikes, Wants Another for Top Political Advisor -- Governor Bredesen defended again the pay hikes for top level Commissioners in his administration as a means of keeping them on board in the face of more lucrative jobs in the private sector. Republican critics say the pay hikes should have been implemented over time rather than all at once. Reports also indicate that in several cases the governor ignored the Mercer recommendations and gave higher increases to some officials. Bredesen says he's now going to turn his attention to other pay raises, including one for his top political advisor Stuart Bunson. Bredsen: "I haven't done anything about it yet. Stuart (Brunson) would be an obvious one to take a look at. But I literally have not done that yet." Brunson is expected to get a pay raise equal to a little under $40,000 per year, concurrent with Finance Commissioner Dave Goetz. More here

Clinton in Nashville -- Harold Ford, Jr. got Bill Clinton to come to Nashville again. This time it's not for his campaign for US Senate, but the Democratic Leadership Council's annual "National Conversation." Clinton will speak Sunday, the second day of the gathering at the Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center. The event opens Saturday and ends Monday. Ford is the Chairman of the DLC, a moderate advocacy group within the Democratic Party. In what some analysts have terms as an indication the party is shifting to the left, none of the major Democratic Presidential candidates have confirmed they are attending the conference, while many of them have confirmed for YearlyKos, a gathering associated with the left-wing blog Daily Kos. More here and here.

Vacation -- TPB will be a short vacation the rest of this week and thus will not be posting the Daily Dose. Check back on Monday of next week for continued coverage on the latest in TN political news. See you then and thanks for reading.

Posted by Adam Groves | Email This |