Haslam speaks in Farragut; what doesn’t come up?

Gubernatorial candidate Bill Haslam spoke to the Farragut Chamber at breakfast this morning and, in my opinion, the most interesting thing was what was NOT said.

Mike Arms, left, and Bill Haslam at Farragut Chamber breakfast

In a room of 100 people who were given a very generous amount of time to ask questions, guess what: no one asked about guns. Not one single person. They asked about health care and education and the state budget. But no one asked a single thing about guns.

Why? Because it is not a real issue among most mainstream people. It is the ONLY issue among a few single-issue people, of course. But most folks are much more concerned, thankfully, about things that will truly affect the lives and businesses of the citizens of our state.

Haslam predicted that, due to the state’s precarious financial situation, being the next governor will amount to “being governor at the most difficult time in history.” But because of his experience in business and as mayor of Knoxville, he assured the Chamber members that he is up to the job.  Haslam was well-received as he gave his standard stump speech. The Blue Streak has reported on that speech twice before: here and here.

A few other interesting sights and sounds from the breakfast meeting, which was fueled, thank goodness, with plenty of coffee:

• Former UT associate general counsel Ron Leadbetter worked the room, telling everyone he is going to run against state Rep. Stacey Campfield for state Sen. Tim Burchett’s seat. Burchett is running for Knox County mayor. Both Leadbetter and Campfield are Republicans.
• Mike Arms, chief of staff for current Knox County Mayor Mike Ragsdale, introduced Haslam. (Arms, from Farragut, is an ex-officio member of the Chamber’s board of directors.) He praised Haslam for working cooperatively with the county government and for his work on spurring downtown development. “Downtown is booming,” Arms said. “Back when I was on  County Commission (1998 to 2004), you couldn’t even find a place to grab a quick beer!” Which caused one onlooker to quip, “That was before you had to obey the Sunshine Law!”
• Haslam quoted his friend U.S. Sen. Bob Corker as saying, “Being a candidate is the lowest form of human life.” To which Haslam added, “The only thing harder is being the candidate’s spouse.”
• “Everybody wants you to run government like a business,” Haslam said. “Until you do it.”
• Don Sproles, owner of the Lunchbox, slipped quietly out of the meeting a little early. “Gotta go make the chicken and dumplings,” he whispered. Speaking of food, Haslam appears to have lost quite a bit of weight over the past few months, which might be surprising since he as to attend so many breakfasts, lunches, dinners and receptions on the campaign trail. “The problem is that I only get to take one or two bites before it’s time for me to get up and talk,” he explained. “And by the time I get through, they’ve taken my plate away.”

The Knoxville News Sentinel ran an editorial this morning about the role of guns in the governor’s race. Here is their take on it.

Dick Angel, left, and state Senate candidate Ron Leadbetter

Kim Sepesi, from left, Jerry Harnish and Gene Blaylock of Rural/Metro at Farragut Chamber breakfast

Knoxville Mayor Bill Haslam, center, poses with folks from Rural/Metro, which sponsored the Farragut Chamber breakfast today