| TENNESSEE | 11 Electoral Votes |
| Bush-Cheney | Gore-Lieberman |
| Campaign | Campaign |
| Bush-Cheney
campaign: David Kustoff.
..asked to head the campaign in late March 1999 (announced as state chairman by the exploratory committee in May 1999). Partner at the Memphis law firm Kustoff & Strickland; served as chairman of the Shelby County Republican Party from March 1995-March 1999. Victory 2000 liaison to
Bush campaign: Stephanie Chivers
Tennessee Republican Party
|
Gore-Lieberman
State Director: Sen. Roy Herron
...from Dresden, represents District 24 (Benton, Dyer, Henry, Lake, Obion, and Weakley counties); first elected to the House in 1986, filling Gov. Ned McWherter's seat. Political Director: Emmett Edwards; Scheduler: Lee Ann Hamilton; Press Secretary: Mary Perren. Office: at National Hdqtrs, 601 Mainstream Drive, Nashville Coordinated Campaign Director: Stuart Brunson Tennessee Democratic Party
|
| Candidate
Travel (Aug. 1-Nov. 7)
GWB: 5 visits DC: 3 visits |
Candidate
Travel (Aug. 1-Nov. 7)
AG: 3 visits...4 if one counts Election Day. JL: 2 visits...3 if one counts Election Night. |
| Nov. 7 -- 1. AG votes at Forks River Elementary School, Carthage. 2. AG and family watch election returns with JL and family at the Loews Hotel in what turns out to be a long evening (supporters gather at the War Memorial Plaza), Nashville. | |
| Nov. 6 a.m. -- GWB airport rally in Chattanooga. | |
| Nov. 3-4
Nov. 3 -- 1. AG and TG evening rally at McGhee Tyson Airport, Alcoa (eastern TN, near Maryville, serves Knoxville). 2. AG and TG night rally, Court Square (Main Street and 2nd), Memphis. Nov. 4 -- AG addresses Tennessee Democratic Victory Interfaith Prayer Breakfast, The Peabody Hotel, Memphis. |
|
| Nov. 2 -- DC Victory 2000 rally at Gallatin Civic Center, Gallatin (outside Nashville). | |
| Oct. 26 -- DC remarks on education in the Varsity Gymnasium at Germantown High School, Germantown. | |
| Oct. 24 mid-afternoon -- GWB and LB remarks at South Doyle Middle School in Knoxville. | Oct. 24-25
Oct. 24 -- 1. AG and TG, JL and HL speak to campaign staff, volunteers and supporters at hqtrs on Main Stream Drive, Nashville. 2. AG and TG, JL and HL DNC reception at Bell South Building, Nashville ($). 3. AG and TG, JL and HL DNC concert at Wildhorse Saloon, Nashville ($). Oct. 25 -- 1. AG and JL on education and prosperity, Tennessee State University, Nashville. 2. AG and JL rally at Jackson Fairgrounds Park, Jackson. |
| Oct. 10 -- GWB and LB Victory 2000 rally at Tri-City Airport in Blountville. | |
| Sept. 21 -- GWB speaks at Vandyland soda shop in Nashville; reception for the RNC and the Tennessee State Republican Party, Nashville. | |
| Aug. 18 -- GWB and DC Victory 2000 rally at Brother Industries International, Bartlett (Memphis). | |
| Aug. 7-9
Aug. 7 -- AG prepares for VP announcement, Nashville. Aug. 8 -- AG announces Joe Lieberman as his running mate, Legislative Plaza, Nashville. Aug. 9 -- "Going the Distance Tour" AG and JL town meeting at Carthage Elementary School, Carthage. |
|
| A Sampling of More Campaign Activity | A Sampling of More Campaign Activity |
| Nov. 5 -- "Gore
Detectors" Elizabeth Dole, former Sen. Alan Simpson, Gov. Marc Racicot,
state Rep. Ron Lewis (D-TX) and senior domestic policy advisor Steve Goldsmith
hold news conference at Bush-Cheney Hdqtrs, 1245 Ridgeway Road in Memphis.
Nov. 4 -- "Gore Detectors" Elizabeth Dole, former Sen. Alan Simpson, Gov. Marc Racicot, state Rep. Ron Lewis (D-TX) and senior domestic policy advisor Steve Goldsmith hold news conference at Central High School in Knoxville. Nov. 3 -- Gov. Sundquist and former Sen. Howard Baker campaign for Bush in Knoxville (Gore there later in the day), Chattanooga, Nashville, Jackson and Memphis. Starting Nov. 1 -- Sen. Fred Thompson hits the road in his red pickup truck for rallies in 16 cities. Schedule: Nov. 1 -- Nashville, Franklin, Murfreesboro, Tullahoma and Chattanooga. Nov. 2 -- Cleveland, Athens, Maryville and Knoxville. Nov. 3 -- Sevierville, Dandridge, Newport and Greeneville. Nov. 6 in Huntingdon, Milan and Jackson. Oct. 19 -- Actress Dixie Carter ("Designing Women," "Family Law"), a Tennessee native, campaigns on behalf of Bush and Republican candidates in Dickson and Lawrence counties (West Tennessee). Visit ties in with start of early voting. Oct. 18 -- Elizabeth Dole rallies for Bush in front of McKenzie Arena in Chattanooga, on the first day of early voting; also speaks at Bartlett High School in Memphis. Allies:
|
Oct. 23-25 --
Tipper Gore
Oct.23 Tipper Gore addresses supporters and undecided voters at Miller Park in Chattanooga. Oct. 24 -- Events with Al Gore in Nashville. Oct. 25 --Tipper Gore and Hadassah Lieberman attend DNC breakfast reception "joined by several prominent country music entertainers" at private residence in Nashville; attend DNC luncheon at private residence; attend an event with the National Association of Social Workers at Park Center in Nashville. Oct. 20-21 Karenna Gore Schiff bus tour starts with rally at Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro, concludes with rally at Gibson guitar factory in Memphis. Early voting tie-in. Sept. 8-9 -- Karenna Gore Schiff in East Tennessee: Sept. 8 Addresses supporters at East Tennessee State University in Johnson City; visits the Girls Club of Morristown; meets with supporters at Calhouns on the River in Knoxville. Sept. 9 Volunteers with Habitat for Humanity in Kingston; visits the Putnam County Fall Fun Fest in Cookeville; visits Gore/Lieberman national headquarters in Nashville. |
| Television | Television |
| Some Newspaper Endorsements | Some Newspaper Endorsements |
| Memphis
Commercial Appeal --10/29/00 EWS
Knoxville News-Sentinel --10/29/00 EWS Chattanooga Free Press --10/22/00 |
Chattanooga
Times --10/24/00
Tennessean Jackson Sun |
| Miscellaneous Notes | Miscellaneous Notes |
| Few could have predicted
that Al Gore would lose in his home state when the campaign started gearing
up in mid-1999, but Tennessee had been close in 1992 and 1996, and, as
the head of Bush's campaign, David Kustoff, noted later,"The poll numbers
in Tennessee had always been close."
Kustoff wrote after the campaign. "Gore had not kept in touch with Tennessee. The same criticism can be leveled at [Sen. Jim] Sasser some six years earlier, and he lost too. Gore's views were not consistent with a majority of Tennesseans, and many here did not see him as their own.1 This was the classic story of the tortoise and the hare. It was fun being the tortoise." As usual Eastern Tennessee was strong for the Republican ticket; Bush won all counties east of the Cumberland Plateau. Bush also won some counties that have not normally voted Republican; for example Weakley, Dyer and Obion counties in the northwest corner of the state (counties represented by Gore's state director). Tobacco was one issue that favored Bush in some rural counties. Note.
|
Gore's campaign
manager Donna Brazile remarked after the election that she thought they
should have moved the campaign's headquarters to Tennessee sooner.
A Republican consultant suggested Gore might have won if Tipper had done
a bus tour of the state in the final two weeks.
Gore received some unfavorable publicity back in June 2000 when Tracy Mayberry, a tenant renting a house from him in Carthage, after complaining repeatedly to the property managers about plumbing problems, received an eviction notice, brought in a crew from a local television station and termed Gore a slumlord. Republicans had a field day with the story. |
Other Candidates
Nader. No visits
in the fall campaign. Gary Wolf, co-chair of the Green Party of Tennessee,
was the Nader contact in the state.
Buchanan.
Browne. Harry Browne
lives in Franklin (Williamson County).
Copyright 2000, 2001
Eric M. Appleman/Democracy in Action.