Memphis Daily News:
“I’m a heat-seeking missile,” Zach Wamp told about 100 Republicans in Collierville this week.
Wamp’s Monday stop at the Fino Villa restaurant was at the end of the first day of another two-day campaign swing through Shelby County’s suburban towns and cities.
Wamp, R-Chattanooga, is one of four candidates for the Republican nomination for governor in 2010. Neither he nor the other three candidates are shy about stumping for votes in rivals’ backyards.
“Because I’m not from here, I’m going to spend a whole lot more time here,” Wamp told the gathering. “And anybody that says, ‘I know West Tennessee because my wife’s from there’ – listen, here’s the truth. You’ve got to go and (use) elbow grease, (take) time and be here. That’s what you’ve got to do.”
Read the entire article.
Memphis Flyer:
“On Monday, day one of a fairly extensive two-day excursion to Shelby County, and one of several he’s already made here, Republican gubernatorial candidate Zach Wamp of Chattanooga made it clear he intends to campaign in all corners of Tennessee. Wamp, the congressman from the state’s 3rd District, spoke respectfully of all three of his declared Republican primary opponents, including District Attorney Bill Gibbons of Memphis but described himself as the man to beat…”
“Because I’m not from here, I’m going to spend a whole lot more time here. Anybody who says ‘I know West Tennessee because my wife is from there’ or something [a dig at Knoxville mayor Bill Haslam, who is married to a native Memphian] … Listen, here’s the truth: You’ve got to go and elbow grease, time, commitment, be here! That’s what you’ve got to do. And I say this with great respect. There’s not a place in the country with greater tradition, with more assets. You’re the transportation hub in the middle part of our country. You’ve got the river, the rail, the roads, the air.
You’ve got this unbelievable history and heritage, but you need political leadership. I am a student of Tennessee history, the days of Crump and McKellar, fast-forwarded to now … You need leadership, and it doesn’t have to be somebody from here. You just need leadership.”
“As Wamp carefully described the Republican field as consisting of “four good men” (Lt. Governor Ron Ramsey of Blountville, in addition to Haslam, Gibbons, and himself), he made no secret of his distinguishing ace in the hole: public speaking. “That’s where I might have the advantage,” he said, with an affected modesty that drew chuckles from his Monday-night listeners…”
“And, indeed, that’s where the paper analysis breaks down. In person, Wamp is something of a dynamo, with an urgent pulpit style and a palpable to-whom-it-may-concern energy that many audiences, certainly Republican ones but maybe some middle-of-the-road ones as well, might find hard to resist. Privately, Wamp compares himself to two former stemwinders among Tennessee politicians: the late former 7th District congressman Robin Beard, a Republican, and legendary former Governor Frank Clement, a Democrat famous for his oratory…”
