‘Hamlet on the Tennessee River’: Bob Corker Attends Shelby County GOP Dinner, Says ‘I Don’t Have Anything to Say’

Both Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN), the incumbent senator who said on September 26 he would not run for a third term but has been “reconsidering” that decision in recent weeks, and Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN-07), the frontrunner for the GOP nomination for the U.S. Senate seat Corker is vacating, spoke at the Shelby County Republican Party Lincoln Day Dinner on Saturday night.

“I don’t have anything to say but at some point I might,” was all Corker had to say after Saturday’s event about a potential reversal of his decision not to run for re-election.

Even the national press corps is finding Corker’s constant back and forth on this a source of amusement.

“Hamlet on the Tennessee River,” Washington Post correspondent and NBC News contributor Robert Costa tweeted late Saturday night

Hamlet on the Tennessee River https://t.co/N6tBjCWjEu

— Robert Costa (@costareports) February 25, 2018

Vaughn Hillyard of NBC news tweeted the following after Saturday’s event in Shelby County:

Corker after this Memphis dinner on possible re-elect bid: “I don’t have anything to say but at some point I might.” https://t.co/chUuCKbfbF

— Vaughn Hillyard (@VaughnHillyard) February 25, 2018

Several commenters on Twitter pointed out that Memphis is on the Mississippi River, not the Tennessee River.

Corker, however, is from Chattanooga, which is on the Tennessee River.

Corker and his consultants have been trying to generate the perception of momentum for him to get in the race by “encouraging” speculative stories in national publications over the past several days, including in USA Today and ABC News.

Those efforts, however, have fallen flat.

Sources in the Corker camp had previously indicated to the press that he was going to make and announce a decision on the Senate race one or the other by this past Friday, so speculation was ripe that he would address the issue either at a Republican gathering in Williamson County on Friday or at the Shelby County event on Saturday.

Corker failed to show up in Williamson County on Friday.

Corker’s team had apparently encouraged an ABC News team to follow him down to the Shelby County event Saturday night, but when he spoke, he delivered nothing.

“Corker did not get a good reception tonight at all,” one source who was in the audience tells The Tennessee Star.

ABC’s Chris Donato, who flew in to Memphis specifically to attend the Shelby County GOP dinner, filed this series of tweets live as the evening progressed:

.@VoteMarsha takes the podium pic.twitter.com/M0Qyn7sYvh

— Christopher Donato (@chrisdonato04) February 24, 2018

Without mentioning him by name, @VoteMarsha takes subtle jab at @SenBobCorker: I know that the U.S. Senate is a source of frustration; it is broken and I will tell you this. You cannot send people to the U.S. Senate who have broken it to try to fix it. It does not work

— Christopher Donato (@chrisdonato04) February 24, 2018

The two stood just feet from each other for nearly 10 mins while waiting to be introduced https://t.co/XuV93I6yc5

— Christopher Donato (@chrisdonato04) February 25, 2018

Sen. Corker makes no mention of senate race tonight

— Christopher Donato (@chrisdonato04) February 25, 2018

In post gala gaggle, Corker says “nothing has changed” when asked if he will run for re-election

— Christopher Donato (@chrisdonato04) February 25, 2018

Corker also says that “at this point he doesn’t have anything to say” when asked if he’ll support @VoteMarsha https://t.co/ggCeY0Mi3T

— Christopher Donato (@chrisdonato04) February 25, 2018

Several recent polls indicate Blackburn has a big lead over Corker in a head to head matchup with Corker in potential race for the GOP Senate nomination.

A Senate Conservatives Fund Poll showed Blackburn leading Corker 49 percent to 26 percent, a Committee to Defend the President Poll showed Blackburn leading 55 percent to 26 percent, and an American Future Fund Political Action Poll showed her ahead 48 percent to 29 percent.

In addition, 20 of the 27 current Republican State Senators in the Tennessee State Senate have endorsed Blackburn.

Grassroots conservative Republican political activists across the state are strongly opposed to Corker, and vow to “humiliate” him in a huge loss if he decides to run again.