The TN-03 race is brutal. There are ELEVEN registered candidates. While there are arguably top four or five, this race is a contender for qualifying in South Carolina politics. It lacks the bizarre factor of having a whackadoodle candidate, and only demonstrates the awfulness of politics. Part 1: Tennessee Gubernatorial Candidates Described by Mixed Drink is here. For more on the background of TN-03, click here and here.

Part 2: TN-03 Candidates Described by Mixed Drink

The Final Five*

Robin Smith

Robin Smith is and continues to be the front-runner here. As a former TN GOP chair she has the anointing. In any other cycle Robin would be the unquestioned champion. However, she’s running in a cycle when having establishment credentials hurts. In Robin’s case, I believe she is a genuine conservative  and has that cred despite being an political insider in the Volunteer State.

Robin has racked up nearly every endorsement known to right-wing politics. I’m on their media list and and get an announcement almost every day. One stood out to me. Robin was the first woman endorsed by Smart Girl Politics. As my favorite organization out there, I’m thrilled that a Mama Grizzly from Tennessee got it! (Yep, I had to go there.)

Robin gets my vote and my support.

There are a number of candidates that I genuinely like and respect in this race, and hope that these folks run for other offices in Tennessee. We need their talents and ability in other offices. Keep running Tommy Crangle and Van Irion.

Robin’s drink is the Red Velvet Martini.

.5 oz Van Gough Dutch Chocolate Vodka
.5 oz Stoli Vanilla Vodka
.5 oz Chateau Monet Framboise Raspberry Liqueur
Splash of Godiva Chocolate Liqueur

Pour all ingredients into a martini shaker. Shake and strain into a chilled martini glass rimmed with sugar and drizzled with white chocolate and raspberry sauce.

Red velvet cake is my absolute favorite cake in the world, and I always have it on my birthday. I have dreams about my grandmother’s recipe, which is incredibly difficult to make. Red velvet cake has to be the perfect blend of rich and moist.

Red velvet is also a Southern classic, which I think fits Robin well. It’s red for Republican, and involves Godiva liqueur. What woman doesn’t love liquid chocolate in a martini glass?

Don’t Tread on Me

Van Irion is the quintessential Tea Party candidate. I admire Van’s relentlessness, scoff at his readings of online polls, and think his lawsuit is innovative.

However, Van is just too…Ron Paul. Please don’t blast me! I’ve laid out my case before on Dr. Paul. I also respect and admire him, but just can’t go join the ranks.

Van is the type of person that we need on the county or state level. I hope that he runs for something in 2012. Tennessee does need his outlook and fiscal restraint.

Based on the Boston Tea Party, an actual drink that existed before Rick Santelli took to the airwaves, I’m adding a shot of Jack Daniels® for Tennessee.

The Don’t Tread on Me. This definitely needs to be served in a beer stein or a tankard.

1/2 oz gin
1/2 oz rum
1/2 oz vodka
1/2 oz triple sec
1/2 oz amaretto almond liqueur
1/2 oz Tia Maria® coffee liqueur
1/2 oz Grand Marnier® orange liqueur
1/2 oz Jack Daniels®
2 oz sweet and sour mix
5 oz Coca-Cola®

Combine all ingredients (except Coca-Cola) in a shaker, shake and strain over ice, or combine ingredients in a collins glass with ice and shake. Top with coke, garnish with a lemon wedge, and serve.

Tim Gobble

Sheriff Gobble’s campaign is the one that never really got started. During my marginal involvement with the Hamilton County GOP from 2008-2009, he was getting everything going. Then, nothing. I was surprised.

I like the idea of a law enforcement professional and a former secret service agent elected to Congress since there are way too many lawyers in the House. But please pay your bills! Sadly can’t learn more about you at the last minute, like most of the electorate does since your website is down. I work for an agency that develops websites and online fundraising for candidates, so I certainly understand why his vendor “hijacked” the site. It’s not a desirable tactic, but I feel their pain.

Given Sheriff Gobbles career path, he is the H’allo Police.

1 oz. Vodka
1 oz. Lemon Juice

Pour the vodka and lemon juice into a cocktail shaker half-filled with ice cubes. Shake well, strain into an old-fashioned glass, and serve.

The lemon juice adds a bit of a sour twist. It’s similar to the feeling you get when a candidate doesn’t pay his bills. I understand how tough it can be to fundraise, especially as an underdog in an 11-way race. However, be proactive with your vendors. They’ll likely work out a payment plan or some type of arrangement. It looks bad if you’re running on a platform of fiscal responsibility, and you aren’t paying your own bills. Why should voters trust you?

Art Rhodes

Art Rhodes was a candidate who barely got any attention, even on sites like Chattanoogan. There are only a few letters to the editor even mentioning him. He seems like an interesting candidate and is the only one running who has DC experience.

For that reason, and his apparent devotion to the Church of God, Mr. Rhodes gets a non-alcoholic drink called Bloody Shame, as in “it’s a bloody shame no one gave him attention.”

Chuck Fleischmann

Bleh. Chuck Fleischman. Bleh Huckabee. Need I say more?

Chuck is Natty Light. You only drink it if you absolutely have to…and it’s free.

The Overlooked Four

Tommy Crangle

Tommy Crangle has something virtually no Congressional candidate ever has–foreign policy experience. According to his biography on his website, he worked for the Department of Defense in Iraq serving as an adviser to the Ministry of Electricity. If you can work in the chaos of the Iraq, you can handle Congress.

Like Rhodes and Gobble, the field was just too flooded for him to get attention. According to a Chattarati article, he said:

…the (party-crowned) candidate … and the lawyer with money became the ‘frontrunners’ because they have connections and money.” He also alluded to the recent spate of attacks and counter-attacks by Fleischmann and Smith, saying that these candidates increase their media profiles “by accusing the other frontrunner of anything. It is a self-perpetuating cycle of the same old politics as usual that the people tell us they are sick of…”

While I completely understand his frustration and sentiment, it’s just the way that the game is played. Robin Smith worked through the ranks of Tennessee politics for years. There’s nothing wrong with networking and helping out the party. Until recently, it was how it was done. Fleischmann slung some mud to get attention. Negative campaigns work that way. Sadly, it’s part of the field. Rather than whining about it, solve it. Don’t start with Congress. Run for a local or county seat. Build a name for yourself. People can’t vote for you unless they know about you. In a district as big as TN-03, it takes more than one year of hard work to get your name out. Part of running a good campaign is reading the field and seeing if it’s strategic to run. Like everything else in life, good intentions don’t equate success. Larger forces are always at work. When your campaign doesn’t get the attention you feel it deserves, it’s fruitless to complain. Study how the system works and see why yours failed. Don’t blame money and connections. There are ways around them. Van Irion’s campaign testifies to that.

Thus, Crangle’s drink is the Underdog.

1 ½ oz. Vodka
2 oz. Grapefruit juice
Dash of Falernum
Kosher salt
Lime Squeeze

Shake ingredients with cubed ice and strain into a martini glass rimmed with kosher salt. Add a squeeze of lime.

Like Gobble’s drink, the grapefruit juice adds a little sourness to match the complaining.

The other candidates are nearly a mystery. Jean Howard-Hill looks fascinating. She needs to hear the same message as Crangle. Stay involved, but don’t expect to win in a crowded cycle. Harvey Howard never made the news and doesn’t appear to have a website. Why register to run if you aren’t going to try? Rick Kernea and Grover Travillian are also unknowns.

The Hamilton County Election Commission also reminds me that one Basil Marceaux, Sr. is also on the ballot for the 3rd Congressional District of Tennessee. Sigh…

*Heh. I’ve been trying to work in a Battlestar Galactica reference.

I’ve been silent on this issue because I’m still undecided. It’s a 8-way race. By all accounts, there are only three or four top contenders, but this is bloody primary. If you like dirty politics, TN-03 is the race to follow.

District three encompasses a slice of East Tennessee, and the Democrats can barely get people to turn out for a pancake breakfast. The winner of the Republican primary will likely win the general.  This makes the August 1 primary even more tense.

And tense may be the best word to describe the race.

Swirling rumors, national TV appearances, fights over endorsements, presidential contender visits, and mud-slinging press releases. Folks, this is the stuff of political satire. Christopher Buckley couldn’t spin a better tale.

Today on Twitter, I joked with Joe Lance and Dan Lehr that I should write a novel based on the race or at least the screenplay for a telenovela. It’s that juicy.

Depending on who I talk to, a different person is in the lead. I’ve talked to people following the race in DC and people back in Chattanooga.

Robin Smith appears to be running a smart campaign. A little heavy on the attack releases, but not out of line for a tight race. I confess to loving the “Send Mrs. Smith to Washington” bumper stickers.

Were this election cycle normal, I believe she would be the clear front-runner. After all, she’s a former TNGOP chair, a conservative woman and has high name ID. Her campaign has done all the right things and gotten prominent endorsements from organizations that I respect.

But this is not a normal campaign year.

Van Irion captures the essence of a tea party candidate. I also like him. He capitalized brilliantly on his class-action lawsuit to sue Obamacare, and he has the favor of Ron Paul supporters. As I’ve said before, never underestimate Paul fans.

He leans a little too libertarian for me on several issues (i.e. Fair Tax), but I believe that either he or Smith would do a great job of representing the conservative values in district three.

Then there’s Chuck Fleischmann.

Granted, I’m a little bias against self-funding candidates. As a grassroots person, I naturally side with the underdog. I dislike it when candidates can flood the airwaves with TV commercials and essentially buy a seat in Congress (ahem, Corker). Since most people are apathetic until close to election day, they vote for the wealthy candidate since he or she is the only recognizable name on the ballot. This campaign trick has turned the Senate into a millionaires’ club.

I think that strategy captures everything that is wrong with American elections. Also applauding Bob Corker is one way to ensure that I won’t vote for you.

I’m also wary of any candidate who spends money on a TV ad in a congressional primary race in 2010, especially for a smaller district like TN-03 (small by comparison to many other districts in America). Again, I work in online politics, but the ROI on TV ads is just not worth it. I’ll be disappointed if the other candidates follow suit.

Interestingly, none of the three prominent candidates have used online ads or ad words. Coming off the heels of the Rick Perry victory in Texas, I find that extremely surprising. Perry only engaged in digital media and didn’t use traditional advertising. It’s troublesome that in 2010 they haven’t engaged online as thoroughly as they should. (Update: The Smith campaign informs that they do have online ads going, and it sounds like they’re going well.)

It is interesting that camp Fleischmann accuses Smith of having the support of “D.C. backers.” A former candidate for RNC chair is the campaign manager. Do you get anymore insider? Hello! Pot meet kettle. Also, would Huckabee have any clue who Chuck Fleischmann was without the Saltsman connection? That alone makes the endorsement ring false and come across as a personal favor.

However fishy that endorsement appears, I would warn Smith’s campaign from making too big of a deal out of it. They’re quick to flood inboxes with statements on endorsements. It comes across as whiny that she lost Huckabee when Smith has gotten numerous other ones.

Then there are questions about fundraising, but I haven’t had time to delve into FEC reports, so I can’t comment.

However, all of those issues are insider politics. The average voter is not following campaign drama.

Given the bloodbath between Smith and Fleischmann (read Chattanoogan’s opinion section for a taste), voters may be turned off by all of the negativity. Also, with the high animosity towards incumbents and “establishment” candidates, voters may turn out support for Irion. Never come between a ballot box and a Ron Paul supporter.

A primary like this will come down to who has the best get out the vote operation. Primaries typically  have low voter turnout, and this race is dominated by one political party, giving independents very little reason to cast a ballot. Since I’m not on the ground, and I’m far from being a campaign insider for any of the candidates, I can’t predict the answer.

With Zach Wamp running for governor this year, the race for the TN-03 Congressional seat is heating up.

Tomorrow, all of the GOP candidates will face-off at the LiberTea Debate at Woodland Park Baptist Church at 2 p.m. A candidate forum will immediately follow from 4-5 p.m.

My friends over at Chattarati will be covering the event live, so if you’re stuck in the snow, tune into Chattarati.com to watch the debate with all of the GOP candidates.

The district has gotten more conservative since Wamp took office, so the primary victor is likely to win the general election in November. Local debates like this are critical.

With a six-way race, victory will boil down to name recognition and get out the vote efforts. Since turnout is generally low for primaries, the candidate with the strongest grassroots effort will probably win.

Robin Smith has the best name ID through her work with the TN GOP. Active Republicans, the most likely primary voters, are used to getting emails from her.

The other day, I noticed Van Irion‘s Facebook page. I think he’s made the critical mistake of running with “Vote for Van” as a slogan. In East Tennessee, “Van” generally refers to Van Hilleary, who caused a nasty three-way primary in the 2006 Senate race and keeps losing whenever he runs. If you’re an emerging politician, it’s best not to be associated with the guy who always loses.

To be honest, I’m not that familiar with the other candidates–Art Rhodes, Tommy Crangle, Tim Gobble, and Chuck Fleischmann. Of all the candidates, Robin Smith’s campaign has been the only one to proactively reach out to me as a blogger. I’m more familiar with her since I’m on her email list and met her at the Hamilton County Tea Party last April 15. I believe that I also met Tommy Crangle at an event that I spoke at last year.

The GOP has the upper-hand in this election even without the current national anger directed towards Democrats. Since the seat is solidly R, TN-03 voters need to make sure that we elect a strong conservative.