The Wamps attended the Bristol night race for the sixth consecutive year on Saturday night. Before the race they were able to spend time with Richard Petty and talk about both politics and racing. Before the race Bristol Motor Speedway GM Jeff Byrd asked Zach to welcome the crowd to East Tennessee and introduced him as one of the biggest NASCAR fans in politics.
Although the Wamps are usually Dale Jr. fans they were rooting for Mark Martin Saturday night on his 1000th career NASCAR start.
Recently Zach held a radio town hall in Maryville, TN at Gunny’s Indoor Shooting Range. Phil Williams on WNOX hosted the radio town hall event that was attended by more than 150 East Tenneseans including thousands more on the air. Zach answered a variety of questions ranging from healthcare to economic development.
If you haven’t seen it already, Zach will be rolling into a town near you on his 2004 36′ Coachman diesel pusher.
In just a few shorts weeks on the road the RV has already traveled to roughly two dozen counties in all parts of Tennessee as part of Zach’s 20/20 Vision Tour.
Here it is in Gallatin, Tennessee in front of the Sumner County Administration Building.
The Leaf Chronicle (Clarksville)
By Mark Hicks
August 19, 2009
Republican gubernatorial candidate Zach Wamp said Tuesday that he is in a unique situation as he campaigns for governor of Tennessee while a sitting member of Congress.
Wamp, a U.S. representative for the state’s 3rd District, which includes 11 counties from Chattanooga to the Kentucky border, passed through Clarksville Tuesday on his 20/20 Vision Tour, during which he will visit 31 Tennessee counties in 27 days.
Montgomery County was No. 14.
“I’m wearing two hats,” Wamp said while having lunch at the Blackhorse Pub and Brewery.
During campaign stops, Wamp also wears his Congressional hat and listens to what folks have to say about national issues, which these days are focused on health care.
“I’ve never seen anything like it,” he said, adding that he has to be careful “to not spend all my time talking about health care.”
He recalled past attempts to change health care, like in 1994 with Bill Clinton, but the current debate is like nothing he has experienced in 22 years of politics and 15 years in Congress.
“It’s raw opposition from the public. It’s not Republican-driven, as some people think. We get shot too at these meetings,” he said.
Talk of changing health care is scary to many people, he said. “They don’t want to lose whatever health care they have.”
He thinks the way people buy health insurance should change from an employer-provided system to one where individuals purchase their own coverage.
In addition to adding some “market principles” to the health care system, Wamp thinks the medical records system should be improved because not enough medical information is shared among providers.
“We need to find a way to improve the health care system without turning it over to the government — that’s the thing that’s scary to people,” he said.
Governor candidate Wamp said the state of Tennessee will have to wait and see what happens on the national level with health care then “adapt” the state’s plan accordingly.
He gave a nod to Gov. Phil Bredesen for his knowledge of health care and his efforts with TennCare, but the “skyrocketing costs” are a major portion of the state budget.
“Back when Lamar Alexander ran for governor, he was talking about roads and schools. It’s the cost of TennCare now,” Wamp said.
The Daily Herald (Columbia)
August 19, 2009
Chattanooga native and Republican Zach Wamp has represented Tennessee’s 3rd Congressional District since 1995.
He sits on the House Appropriations Committee, Energy and Water Subcommittee and the Subcommittee on Military Construction and Veterans Affairs. A candidate for governor, Wamp visited Columbia Thursday as a part of his statewide 20/20 Visions tour and answered questions from Daily Herald staffers. Following are brief excerpts from that conversation.
Where does Zach Wamp stand on …
Statewide economic growth:
“I know we can do better on economic development, and frankly I’ve got a 15-year record that no one else can rival. We created this technology corridor in East Tennessee, began a methodical quest to grow our manufacturing base. We targeted transportation and energy specifically. … Realistically, we could go from third in automotive production in the country to first. We could go from third in green energy technologies to first. We have a huge head start.”
Creating jobs in Maury County:
“We don’t want to rise or fall on the auto industry, but I do think we still have great potential to grow that manufacturing sector. … We are strategically located in this corridor, between Huntsville and Fort Campbell. Huntsville is an engine that can pull all the way up to here. And tying in our military installations from Huntsville to Redstone all the way to Fort Campbell has great potential growth for the economy. … Agriculture will have a renewed emphasis in my administration. I look forward to the new ways from switchgrass to biofuels that we can use Tennessee agriculture.”
Keeping higher education affordable:
“We are not going to raise taxes. … Everybody wants to talk about new money and more money, but we don’t have new money and more money. We’re going to have to get by on what we have, try to grow our economy … and not raise taxes because that’s the worst thing you can do in an economic downturn. … We’ve got to continue to hold the line on K-12, meaning don’t cut there, because they don’t have anywhere to turn. In higher education, you do have the safety valve of tuition.”
Blount Today
By Lance Coleman
Thursday, August 13, 2009
The key to economic development and success after graduation begins before children ever step foot in kindergarten, said U.S. Congressman Zach Wamp, a Republican primary candidate for governor.
“I feel if school systems got better readers going into kindergarten, we’ll be better off,” he told school officials gathered for an educational round table at the Blount County Public Library.
Testing students in third grade to ensure they hit certain bench marks in reading achievement is too late, Wamp said. “If we don’t benchmark readers until third grade, we’re not going to catch up,” he said.
Wamp visited Blount County as part of his swing through East Tennessee.
Another issue Wamp said he’s hearing from principals is the need for money and resources. Wamp said strong public schools are needed and private school institutions should be respected as well. “Public education has to be funded adequately,” he said. “Make sure the K-12 commitment is there.”
The congressman said his niche since he was elected 15 years ago has been economic development. He helped orchestrate the Tennessee Technology Corridor that included Oak Ridge.
“Oak Ridge would not be the economic engine it is without the quality of education there.”
Wamp said one way of generating funding for education is to work with foundations. “Right now there is a pent up desire by foundations that want to help,” he said. “Make sure there are foundation dollars available for teaching children to read.”
The congressman said everyone in the room, including the directors of the Alcoa, Maryville and Blount County school systems, know the state isn’t going to raise taxes or create an income tax to supplement education. This makes foundations an attractive source for helping underwrite the cost of teaching children to read. “If they enter school reading, they have a better chance,” he said. “The funding issue is only going to get more difficult.”
Wamp said another area of education he thinks is important is creating partnerships between high schools and community colleges. Such efforts can help students begin preparing for their careers as early as the ninth grade.
While some consider education just another expensive part of government, Wamp said he agrees with those who see a good educational system as a vital part of a good quality of life. “We need a governor who has the attitude that we can change the cultural attitude of what education means,” he said.
Wamp said education is the key to economic development, just as the booming economy of the 1990s was brought about because the United States led the way in developing software and computer innovations.
Chattanooga Times Free Press
By Andy Sher
August 13, 2009
U.S. Rep. Zach Wamp, R-Tenn., enjoys the widest name identification and highest support among the four major Republican candidates running for Tennessee governor in 2010, a Wamp-commissioned survey found.
The July 12-13 poll of 500 past GOP primary voters, conducted by the Tarrance Group, found 53 percent of those surveyed recognized the Chattanooga congressman versus 41 percent for Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey, R-Blountville; 33 percent for Knoxville Mayor Bill Haslam; and 33 percent for Shelby County District Attorney Bill Gibbons.
The survey, which had a margin of error of plus or minus 4.5 percent, also found the Chattanooga congressman leading the field with 22 percent support. Lt. Gov. Ramsey, who is Senate speaker, had 15 percent support. Mayor Haslam had 12 percent support, while Attorney General Gibbons had 14 percent.
“I’ve got a real good lead,” the congressman said. “The most important thing was that I was first or second in every single media market in Tennessee.”
U.S. Rep. Wamp’s lead was mirrored in an independent survey conducted last month by Insider/Advantage on behalf of the Southern Political Report. The July 13 survey of 604 registered voters looked at the Republican and Democratic gubernatorial primaries and had a 3.8 percent margin of error.
It found U.S. Rep. Wamp ahead with 22 percent compared to 15 percent for Mr. Haslam, 7 percent for Lt. Gov. Ramsey and 4 percent for Attorney General Gibbons.
Vanderbilt University political scientist Bruce Oppenheimer said the poll is “obviously an early reading and largely reflects differences in name recognition.”
“But, money can buy name recognition,” Dr. Oppenheimer said. “That’s No. 1. As the campaign develops, the question is who will have the resources to buy name recognition?”
Wamp pollsters Ed Goeas and Ashlee Rich wrote in their polling memo that “by both coming from a solidified base of the 3rd Congressional District and having wide statewide name ID, Zach Wamp breaks out of the pack on the Republican gubernatorial primary ballot test.”
Pollsters also noted that despite Tennessee’s 10 percent-plus unemployment and a sitting Democratic governor, Republican primary voters are fairly evenly split about the direction of the state. A plurality of Republican voters — 44 percent — believe Tennessee is on the wrong track. But 40 percent of voters believe the state is headed in the right direction.
Cleveland Daily Banner
By David Davis
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
U.S. Congressman Zach Wamp chose to begin his 20/20 campaign for governor of Tennessee in Bradley County Tuesday morning.
The campaign was named for his plan for bold new initiatives resulting in the state setting the economic pace between now and the year 2020.
He said basic reading was the key to a good education and Tennesseans are not reading early enough in school. He said if children are not reading well in kindergarten and the first grade, “we give them direct instruction in phonics and we teach them how to read.”
He said there is a direct line between third graders not reading proficiently and the 28,000 who dropped out of school in 2008.
Wamp said he had a 100 percent on the Constitutional issues of marriage, life, guns, taxes and immigration.
The Daily Times
By Joel Davis
August 12, 2009
U.S. Rep. Zach Wamp, who is seeking the Republican nomination for governor, has the Obama administration in the cross hairs when it comes to gun control issues.
Speaking at a town hall sponsored by a Knoxville radio station and Gunny’s Indoor Shooting Range in Maryville, Wamp told the crowd that if President Barack Obama ever issued an executive order “taking up guns” that, as governor, “We will meet him at the state line.”
After the program, when asked when Obama planned to issue such an executive order, Wamp said, “I don’t expect it, but, frankly, we’ve got to watch him closely — this administration and its liberal agenda.”
During the hour-long program, Wamp held forth several times on his dedication to gun rights. “The Second Amendment is the one by which every other is defended,” he said.
The 14-year congressman declared that a recent assertion by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives that the Tennessee Firearms Freedom Act had no force of law was “overreach.” The Firearms Freedom Act stated that federal laws do not apply to firearms, accessories or ammunition that is manufactured in Tennessee and that do not pass its borders.
Wamp said that the ATF’s decision was another reason to “meet them at the state line” and assert state sovereignty. Gov. Perry in Texas and Gov. Wamp in Tennessee are going to stand and say ‘the hell you say,’” Wamp said.
Wamp, a Republican candidate for governor, launched his “20/20 Vision Tour” on Tuesday. He plans 28 events in 27 counties.
“One of the great pleasures of being out on the campaign trail is meeting with people who share their thoughts and opinions about how to keep our great state moving forward,” Wamp said. “My goal is to listen, learn and then lead — as we work together to put together a clear 20/20 Vision of all we want Tennessee to become between now and the year 2020.”
The Daily Times
By Matthew Stewart
August 12, 2009
Educators should not expect increased state funding, but should instead concentrate on developing reforms, innovations and alternative resources and partnerships, according to a Republican candidate for governor.
U.S. Rep. Zach Wamp (R-Tenn.) met Tuesday with local educational leaders — including Alcoa Director of Schools Tom Shamblin, Maryville Director of Schools Stephanie Thompson and Blount County Director of Schools Rob Britt — during a stop on his “20/20 Vision Tour” to listen to and learn from voters about their top priorities and concerns.
Wamp talked with educational leaders about Tennessee’s K-12 schools, which are nationally ranked No. 42, and how he plans to combat this by making reading a state priority.
“I’m convinced Step 1 is basic reading,” he said. “In Tennessee I think it has to be. If we put in all these reforms but they can’t read proficiently, it won’t work. Reading is fundamental, basic and it has to start somewhere. Whatever it takes we have to teach them how to read well.”
Communities need to have a written plan for helping all children be reading proficient when they enter school, Wamp said. “What is the business community — day cares, child cares and churches — doing to help out?” Wamp asked. “What happens to the parent who didn’t have time to read to their child? What is the community doing to help that child.”
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