Search Results for: bob corker attack

A Big-Time Tennessee U.S. Senate Race is Looming … in 2020!

Steve Gill
United States Capitol

As voters in Tennessee turn their attention from the just ended primary campaigns, complete with brutal attack ads, negative mailers, hateful radio spots and dinner-interrupting robocalls, get ready for a lot more of the same in the not-so-distant future. No, that doesn’t refer to the November 6, 2018 general election, though it will be a slugfest. I’m  talking 2020! And that election battle started TONIGHT! Tennessee’s Republican Senator Lamar Alexander is up for re-election in 2020, the same year President Donald Trump is almost certainly going to be on the ballot seeking reelection in the March SuperTuesday Primary and the November general election. A recent Tennessee Star statewide poll (June, 2018) of likely GOP primary voters showed Alexander with a dangerously low mix of approval and disapproval numbers. Only 37.3 percent had a favorable view towards Alexander, while 38.1 percent viewed him unfavorably. Alexander was reelected in 2014, receiving less than 50% of the vote in the Republican primary. Alexander lost a dozen counties to Joe Carr in that primary contest, including most of the suburban counties around Nashville, plus Sevier and Blount County in East Tennessee. At this point, Alexander (who will be 80 years old in 2020) is…

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Ignore the Man Behind The Curtain: Haslam Conspires to Block Diane Black Endorsement by Trump

Julie Carr

In the audio below, conservative political commentator and Tennessee Star Political Editor Steve Gill of The Gill Report, broadcast live on WETR 92.3 FM in Knoxville, called out “Never-Trumper” Bill Haslam for his attempts to block a Trump endorsement for Tennessee’s Diane Black in the Tennessee Governor’s race and whether or not this will entice President Trump to do so. Gill reflected, “We were talking earlier in the show about the possibility of a Trump endorsement of Diane Black. Well now the Knoxville News Sentinel is reporting along with the Nashville Tennessean and Memphis Commercial Appeal that Governor Bill Haslam has said Trump should stay out of the republican primary for Tennessee Governor.” He continued: Now there’s been a few stories that have been done by the New York Times and the Tennessee Star pointing out that Bill Haslam was hoping to block a Trump endorsement of Diane Black. And we exposed that he was actually working behind the scenes to try and block that endorsement. Well now apparently, it’s been confirmed as the Governor has been outed that he is in fact telling people I don’t think it would be helpful for the White House to be in primaries.…

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Dr. J. Lee Douglas Commentary: Can We Conservatives Be Smarter This Governor’s Race and Unite in Support of Diane Black?

Tennessee Star Staff
Diane Black

When it was obvious in 2010 that we had influenced our first big election, do you recall feeling powerful, that we could shake things up? Then within another year, disgusted and disheartened because our victorious candidates seldom represented our wishes? They did it to us again, didn’t they? No. Here’s how we did it to ourselves.

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Blackburn Raises More Money from Contributions Than Bredesen, But He Loans His Campaign Another $2 Million

John Bryant
Marsha Blackburn, Phil Bredesen

Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN-07) raised more money from contributions during the 2nd quarter of 2018 than her Democrat opponent in the U.S. Senate race in Tennessee, former Gov. Bredesen. But Bredesen ended up with more deposits in his campaign account due to an additional $2 million loan he made to his own campaign.

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Trump’s Broadside Against Germany at NATO Finds Some Republican Support

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NATO allies

Reuters   They might not have agreed with the U.S. president calling Germany a “captive” of Russia, but some Republican lawmakers on Wednesday said they believe Donald Trump is right to shame one of America’s most important allies into spending more on defense. The Republican president, in Brussels for the NATO summit, took a swipe at Germany for supporting a new pipeline for Russian gas, saying at a pre-summit meeting: “We’re supposed to be guarding against Russia and Germany goes out and pays billions and billions of dollars a year to Russia.” Trump kept up his assault on NATO members, particularly Germany, for failing to spend a target two percent of national income on defense, a goal they must meet by 2024. He told fellow leaders he would prefer a 4 percent target, closer to the 3.6 percent of GDP the United States spends on defense. While Democratic congressional leaders condemned Trump’s attacks on Germany as “brazen insults and denigration of one of America’s most steadfast allies,” Republicans took a more benign view, and some backed him outright. “I think the president is right to raise the issue of whether they’re meeting their responsibilities to NATO and whether they are…

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Marsha Blackburn Praises President Trump’s Selection of Brett Kavanaugh for SCOTUS, Phil Bredesen Silent on the Pick

John Bryant
Marsha Blackburn, Brett Kavanaugh, Phil Bredesen

Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN-07), the GOP candidate to replace retiring Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN) in the November general election, led Tennessee Republicans on Monday evening in praising President Donald Trump and his nominee for justice to the U.S. Supreme Court, federal appeals court judge Brett Kavanaugh. “Judge Brett Kavanaugh will make a fine Supreme Court Justice, and I thank President Trump for nominating a strong constitutionalist with a proven track record of upholding the rule of law,” Blackburn said in a statement included in this tweet sent out at 9:27 pm eastern, just 20 minutes after Trump announced his pick: Tennesseans will be well served by Judge Brett Kavanaugh, and I encourage the Senate to consider his nomination expeditiously and to continue to confirm strict constitutionalist judges to our federal courts. pic.twitter.com/CD3NclJiop — Marsha Blackburn (@VoteMarsha) July 10, 2018 In contrast, former Gov. Phil Bredesen, the Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate, offered no comments on the president’s pick of Kavanaugh. Instead, Bredesen’s campaign released this statement during the day on Monday “in advance of President Trump’s nomination of a new justice to the U.S. Supreme Court,” which largely restated the words Bredesen used in a campaign commercial last month: “An important…

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Schumer Targets SCOTUS Contender Amy Coney Barrett on Abortion and Obamacare: Does Bredesen Agree?

John Bryant
Amy Coney Barrett, Chuck Schumer, Phil Bredesen

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) took to Twitter on Monday to attack federal judge Amy Coney Barrett, a potential Trump pick for the Supreme Court. Barrett has ties to Tennessee. She was born in Louisiana, and lives in Indiana, but spent four college years in Tennessee, graduating from Rhodes College with a magna cum laude degree in English Literature, before going on to law school and a stellar legal career in practice, academia, and on the bench. Perhaps more importantly, with Democrat Phil Bredesen being Chuck Schumer’s man in Tennessee, with close ties not only to the man but the big liberal donor money behind him, the length Schumer seems intent on going to attack a leading contender to replace retiring Justice Anthony Kennedy on the  Supreme Court should raise serious questions for Tennesseans as they contemplate where Bredesen’s loyalties will lie if he comes to represent Tennessee in the Senate next year. Barrett attacked the Supreme Court’s decision upholding the Affordable Care Act, which has helped millions of people secure health insurance coverage. https://t.co/JXJAbCmvN4 — Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) July 2, 2018 Schumer didn’t stop there. Barrett also fought efforts to ensure that all women have access to contraceptives.…

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OFF THE RECORD: Source Says Gov. Haslam Is Using His Position as Chairman of Republican Governors Association to ‘Rig’ Primary Election for Randy Boyd

Tennessee Star Staff
Paul Bennecke, Diane Black. Bill Haslam

A high ranking source who serves on the Republican Governors Association’s (RGA) select national finance committee told The Tennessee Star that current and former RGA staff appear to be actively trying to damage the gubernatorial campaigns of Rep. Diane Black (R-TN-06) and possibly Bill Lee, while promoting close Haslam ally Randy Boyd in the Republican primary. Specifically, the source said, Haslam and the RGA Executive Director Paul Bennecke (who Haslam personally hired to the RGA during his previous stint as chairman) were coordinating with at least one White House staff member in an attempt to disparage and downplay Black’s close working relationship with President Trump and with Vice President Mike Pence. Haslam was a vociferous “Never-Trumper” who just three  weeks before Trump won the 2016 election demanded Trump resign as the nominee and in so doing became the only Republican governor who said he would not be voting for Trump. The governor was particularly incensed when during his recent rally for Marsha Blackburn in Nashville, Trump took time to give Black special attention. During that rally, Trump did not mention any candidates other than Blackburn and Black, singling her out and saying “I want to recognize Diane Black, who is…

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Blackburn Likens Bredesen to Obama, Suggests He’ll ‘Vote With Crying Chuck Schumer’ in Washington

John Bryant
ChuckBredesen

Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN-07) is starting to take the gloves off in her attacks on liberal Democrat opponent Phil Bredesen, comparing him to Obama as far as policy, and suggesting he’d “vote with crying Chuck Schumer” in opposition to President Trump if he gets to Washington as a US Senator from Tennessee. Blackburn used the recent Tennessee Republican Party’s annual fundraiser held in Nashville last Friday to go after former Gov. Phil Bredesen as the  two compete to replace outgoing Senator Bob Corker. Blackburn elaborated on a theme first introduced by President Trump at a rally held in Nashville on May 29 to support Blackburn’s Senate campaign, at which the president memorably called Bredesen “an absolute total tool . . . of Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi.” “She does Tennessee proud, but she does our party proud,” Keynote speaker Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA), said of Blackburn at last Friday’s fundraising event. “We need more great spokespeople for the conservative values of this country. We need Marsha Blackburn on TV, talking as a United States Senator about how conservative principles are so much better than liberal principles,” Scalise added. You can see him make these remarks at the 52 second mark of…

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NRSC Uses Trump to Blast Bredesen in Second Video

John Bryant
Phil Bredesen

The National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) has gone after Democrat Phil Bredesen in a new YouTube video released on the heels of President Trump’s recent visit to Tennessee to campaign for Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN-07). Bredesen and Blackburn are expected to battle for the U.S. Senate seat currently held by Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN) in the November general election. The video can be viewed in full below. The Times Free Press reported on the video’s release here. Trump’s criticisms of Phil Bredesen are laced throughout the video. “Tennessee doesn’t need another obstructionist Washington Democrat,” says the video, which features footage of Trump’s attacks on Bredesen last week. In a nod to Trump’s continuing popularity in the state, this also isn’t the first time the NRSC has invoked the president in going after liberal Democrat Bredesen, as The Times Free Press noted: The NRSC spot follows another video using the president’s remarks, which were posted to YouTube last week by expected Senate GOP nominee U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn’s campaign. Both come on the heels of Trump’s criticisms of Bredesen last week during a rally in Nashville. “Phil Bredesen thinks he has Tennessee fooled,” says the NRSC’s 46-second spot which first features a…

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RNC on Phil Bredesen: Out-Of-Touch With Tennessee Voters

John Bryant
Bredesen Out of Touch

The Republican National Committee (RNC) unleashed a blistering and detailed attack on Democrat candidate for the US Senate from Tennessee Phil Bredesen this week, the kind of attack that will likely keep on leaving a mark even as the campaign rolls through the Summer and into the Fall. The RNC again points out that Bredesen was “personally courted” by DC Democrat Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY) to run for the Tennessee U.S. Senate seat now held by retiring Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN), and reminded voters that Bredesen has donated significant amounts of money to Trump’s 2016 opponent, Hillary Clinton, in the past. Additionally, they emphasized that during Bredesen’s tenure as governor of Tennessee, the unemployment rate increased from 5.1 percent to 9.5 percent and the number of unemployed Tennesseans increased by 98 percent. The GOP took on several other aspects of Bredesen’s political history, as well and there is undoubtedly much more to come. One gets the sense that the onslaught against Bredresen from the GOP is just getting started. And with Trump appearing to go all in for Republican Marsha Blackburn, including rallying for her in the state, it will be interesting to see what, if any, impact all this GOP…

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Commentary: Tennessee Among the Nation’s Six Hottest US Senate Races

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US Senate Bredesen and Blackburn

by CHQ Staff   As the first part of GOP primary election season wraps conservatives have reason to be optimistic about the chances of adding to our numbers in Mitch McConnell’s broken U.S. Senate. At a major meeting of conservative leaders yesterday, some of the movement’s best political minds handicapped the Senate races with us, and this is where we see the hottest conservative campaigns as of today. West Virginia: Conservative West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey emerged victorious in the hard-fought GOP primary and immediately jumped to a lead over incumbent Democrat Joe Manchin in the polls. Polls this far out from Election Day normally mean little, but when the incumbent is behind the challenger it is a good indication that West Virginia’s voters, who gave President Trump a 48 point advantage in the 2016 election have caught on to the fact that Manchin is a hypocrite, not a conservative. Tennessee: Conservative Representative Marsha Blackburn has the nomination to succeed retiring establishment Republican Senator Bob Corker. Blackburn, an excellent speaker and TV presence, is one of the House’s strongest voices on the pro-life agenda. Even better, when Corker started making noise about maybe un-retiring, Rep. Blackburn said “bring it on”…

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President Trump Withdraws from Iran Deal; Marsha Blackburn and Diane Black Praise Decision

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President Trump

Ahead of the May 12th deadline and against the many requests from European allies,  President Trump announced Tuesday afternoon the United States will withdraw from the Obama-era “Iran Deal.” The president announced his decision in a speech at the White House in the Diplomatic Room as Trump’s National Security Adviser John Bolton, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin and Vice President Mike Pence looked on, Breitbart reported. In his remarks, Mr. Trump revisited the many atrocities against the West and the United States by the theocratic regime. “Over the years, Iran and its proxies have bombed American embassies and military installations, murdered hundreds of American service members, and kidnapped, imprisoned, and tortured American citizens,” he said. After a summarizing the short history of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) – commonly known as the “Iran Deal” he President Trump noted: Since the Agreement, Iran’s bloody ambitions have grown only more brazen. In light of these glaring flaws, I announced last October that the Iran Deal must wither be renegotiated or terminated. Three months later on January 12th, I repeated these conditions. I made clear that if the Deal cannot be fixed, the United States would no longer be a party to the…

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Law to Provide More Armed Law Enforcement in Schools Passes the State Senate Judiciary Committee, 9-0

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Van Huss and Green

Tennessee’s Senate Judiciary Committee passed The School Safety Act (SB2059) unanimously Tuesday. Designed to be a simple stopgap measure, the measure would create a grant for LEAs to put more school resource officers in school this year. “I’m honored to work with Rep. Van Huss and colleagues on both sides of the aisle to protect our children,” the bill’s sponsor, Senator Mark Green (R-Clarksville) said in a statement. “The evidence is clear that school resource officers can deter attacks, and we need them in our schools–this year. While this is just the first step, we will keep working on legislation to strengthen school safety.” “The School Safety Act will place armed, trained, and stable officers between our students and those who would do them harm. I am honored to work with Senator Green on behalf of Tennessee school kids to keep them safe,” Rep. Micah Van Huss (R-Jonesborough) added. Both Senator Green and Represenative Van Huss are combat veterans who served in Iraq and Afghanistan. The House bill, HB2129 has passed out of two committees and will be heard in the Finance, Ways & Means Committee. Green is running for the Republican nomination in the 7th Congressional District. Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN-07) is running for the…

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‘America First’ Ambassador John Bolton Endorses Dr. Mark Green for Congress

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Ambassador John Bolton, the firebrand Republican whom George W. Bush famously tapped to serve as the United States’ envoy to the United Nations via recess appointment, endorsed Dr. Mark Green’s campaign to represent the people of the 7th Congressional District, replacing Representative Marsha Blackburn (R-TN-07) on Thursday. “Dr. Mark Green has served on the front lines of the War on Terror as a flight surgeon, most notably on the mission to capture Saddam Hussein,” Bolton said in a statement; adding: His unique experiences as a veteran of the U.S. Army make him well-suited to make sound foreign policy and national security decisions that will keep America and her allies safe amid a multitude of global threats. I have full confidence in Dr. Green’s ability to lead and to be a strong voice in Congress. During the course of the campaign so far, the current state senator and congressional hopeful has garnered the support of Republicans and conservatives across the conservative movement. Ambassador Bolton joins prominent conservatives like Senator Ted Cruz and Reagan economist Dr. Arthur B. Laffer in endorsing Green. Dr. Green said, “Few people understand the global challenges facing our nation better than Ambassador Bolton. I’m honored to receive his endorsement,…

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Renata Soto, Chair of George Soros-Funded UnidosUS (AKA ‘LaRaza’), Featured Speaker at ‘Transit for Nashville’ Campaign Kickoff Supporting $9 Billion Transit Plan

Tennessee Star Staff

Renata Soto, the Donald Trump-bashing chairman of the board of UnidosUS (the new name adopted by the George Soros-funded National Council of LaRaza in July 2017), and founder and head of Conexion Americas, the Nashville affiliate of UnidosUS, was one of the featured speakers at Saturday’s kickoff of the Transit for Nashville campaign to support the passage of the tax increasing transit plan on the May 1 referendum before Nashville/Davidson County voters. Soto was joined by former Nashville Vice-Mayor Howard Gentry and Rep. Jim Cooper (D-TN-05) as the featured speakers in the 22 minute kickoff event. Notably, embattled Nashville Mayor Megan Barry, who two weeks ago admitted to conducting a two-year-long extramarital affair with her bodyguard, was not one of the event’s featured speakers, though she was, apparently, in attendance. “My name is Renata Soto and I am with Conexion Americas, one of almost 120 coalition members who are so excited to get this campaign kicked off today,” Soto began. “Are we ready for transit?” she asked the crowd “Our coalition represents almost 300,000 Nashvillians. We have collected more than 30,000 signatures. We have hosted more than 200 community events. And we know that with your support, your enthusiasm, your…

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Commentary: One Year Later the Donald Trump Experiment Is Working Like a Charm

Tennessee Star Staff

by Jeffrey A. Rendall   As we reach the one-year anniversary of President Donald Trump’s inauguration, doubts persist within the pundit class about Trump’s relationship with members of Congress. Everyone knows the president’s tangled mightily with Democrats throughout those first twelve months, the most recent dust-up coming over Trump’s alleged “sh—hole countries” remark made during a meeting with senators from both parties at the White House last week. Trump denies ever making the comment and Georgia Republican Senator David Purdue backed up Trump’s claim to ABC News’ liberal George Stephanopoulos last Sunday. Regardless of Trump’s word usage he’d face a near impossible task in trying to mend fences with the Democrats. But there are also those who suggest Trump has a ways to go to shore up good feelings with his fellow Republicans too. If recent history is a guide, Trump’s attempting to do just that. Sarah Westwood of the Washington Examiner wrote, “Republicans who once questioned President Trump’s competence or called him a ‘jackass’ have spent recent weeks singing his praises and joining him on Air Force One as the president works to repair strained relationships on Capitol Hill ahead of the midterms. “Facing the prospect of a Democratic…

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President Trump Speaks to Enthusiastic American Farm Bureau Convention in Nashville: ‘Farm Country is God’s Country’

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NASHVILLE, Tennessee–President Trump was greeted in Nashville by a raucous, capacity crowd–with standing-room-only overflow rooms watching via live video feed– as he delivered upbeat remarks highlighting his legislative accomplishments, regulatory rollbacks, and his Administration’s next steps at Monday’s 99th annual American Farm Bureau Federation Convention. “I was so disappointed to learn it was the 99th,” the president quipped, noting that the 100th is “much cooler.” “I’ll just have to come back next year,” he said to roars of laughter and approval. Mr. Trump also took the opportunity to sign two executive actions designed to help clear the way for the development of broadband internet service to the large, rural regions of the country not well served buy today’s technology infrastructure. After an extended, welcoming standing ovation, President Trump began his remarks by thanking the local dignitaries in the room, including several members of the Tennessee delegation who traveled with him from Washington on Air Force One. Senators Bob Corker (R-TN), Lamar Alexander (R-TN) and Senator Pat Roberts (R-KS) all received polite applause. Representative Diane Black (R-TN-06), whom President Trump has recognized as a main force for passage of once-in-a-lifetime tax reform received a more enthusiastic welcome, as did Representative Marsha Blackburn…

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Republicans Should Not Allow Elites to Set the Election Table in 2018

Tennessee Star Staff

by Jeffrey A. Rendall   Let’s not get carried away here. To say last week and (more broadly) even the last month was good for President Donald Trump (and to some extent, the entirety of the Republican congressional majority) does not require a great leap of logic. Together GOP elected leaders passed a major tax overhaul, put the American people’s future earnings back in their own pockets, pushed through a budget extension with a bit of Democrat cooperation, threatened to pull the monetary rug out from under the UN and various other actions that made conservatives smile. But we still must remember the new year arrives in a few days and with it Congress will return to the capital facing a whole new set of political barriers and an election in eleven months that promises to be challenging to keep a hold on GOP majorities while battling an enraged liberal half of the public that craves blood and won’t settle for much less. And we haven’t even mentioned the big leftist donors who will be unleashing their fortunes to search every nook and cranny for votes (legal and illegal) to purchase for use against Trump. Democrats will pull out all…

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Marsha Blackburn: ‘It’s Time to Move to Merit-Based Immigration’

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U.S. Senate candidate Representative Marsha Blackburn (R-TN-07) appeared with Shannon Bream Wednesday evening on “Fox News @ Night” for an interview covering Congress members’ reaction to President Trump’s call for ending the visa lottery system, chain migration, and other policies that inch the United States ever closer to an open-border nation. Bream opened the interview asking how Congress will “tackle” the issues President Trump mentioned, and if there would be any bipartisanship to do so. “I would hope so,” Representative Blackburn replied, and the pointed out that the RAISE Act, introduced earlier this year by Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton and Georgia Senator David Perdue, is a specific piece of legislation that addresses both of the issues the president identified. “This is one thing that we know,” she said, wrapping up her opening remarks. “It’s time to move to a merit-based system.” Blackburn added that, “we are a country that recognizes merit, so let’s move to that.” Bream used the remarks of Miami Archbishop Thomas Wenski to the Miami Herald to challenge Blackburn’s assertion, quoting: Derisive comments on ‘chain migration’ forget that a foundational principal of our immigration law has long been to help reunite families. But this principle has been seriously…

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Andy Ogles Withdraws from U.S. Senate Race

Tennessee Star Staff

Conservative grassroots activist Andy Ogles announced he is “ending his campaign for the U.S. Senate effective immediately,” in a statement released by his campaign Wednesday morning. “I entered this race to insure that Tennessee would have conservative representation that would reflect their values and commitment to ‘draining the swamp’ that Tennesseans expect and deserve. With Senator Corker making the decision to exit the Senate at the conclusion of his term rather than being terminated by the voters, the political landscape changed dramatically,” the former head of the Tennessee chapter of Americans for Prosperity said in the statement, which continued: “With each passing day, Senator Corker has underlined why Tennessee voters were prepared to fire him. As others hesitated, I was willing to accept the challenge and believed that once his vulnerabilities could be exposed voters would give him a pink slip. He clearly believed the same thing,” Ogles added. “Senator Corker has shown more passion attacking our President the past eleven months than he expressed in criticizing President Barack Obama during his entire 8 years in the White House. Thanks to Senators like Bob Corker, we have failed to secure our borders, still haven’t repealed and replaced Obamacare and are…

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Songwriter Lee Thomas Miller Announces Candidacy for GOP Nomination in 7th Congressional District

Tennessee Star Staff

Songwriter Lee Thomas Miller launched his campaign for the Republican nomination to represent Tennessee’s 7th Congressional District from his home in Brentwood today. “I’m a songwriter, the smallest of ‘small business.’ I’m a small town guy who grew up being taught that every decision should be rooted in common sense. That patriotism and walking with God are part of everyday life. That nobody owes me anything- it’s up to me to earn what I get,” Miller said in his announcement statement. “I’m definitely not a politician and have no desire to ever become one!” he added. The conservative champion of religious liberty explained why he decided to enter the race to succeed Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN-07), who is running for the U.S. Senate seat currently held by Senator Bob Corker (R-TN). “I’ve been writing the stories of real Americans for as long as I can remember. Stories about life and loss. Love and regret. Songs about innocence and youth. Songs about faith and the struggle to keep it. I give a voice to those who can not find the words they are looking for. I give a voice to those who are not being heard,” Miller added in the statement…

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Initial Tennessee Senate Poll Numbers Give the Edge to Blackburn

Tennessee Star Staff

The Tennessee Journal first reported details of three separate reputable polls that have been conducted in Tennessee which were focused on the 2018 Senate race to fill the seat being vacated by Senator Bob Corker. With the August Republican primary still nine months away, the polls all show Congresswoman Marsha Blackburn with a significant lead in statewide name recognition, a strong edge in approval versus disapproval numbers and a large margin in either a head to head matchup with former 8th District Congressman Stephen Fincher or a three way race with Fincher and former Americans for Prosperity state director Andy Ogles. The polls were all conducted before physician Rolando Toyos, formerly of Memphis, but now of Nashville, entered the race. All three surveys show Blackburn well ahead of Fincher, with each of the polls having been conducted in late September, early October, and late October. Details from the private surveys were made available to The Tennessee Journal as well as The Tennessee Star. Although Fincher supporters have been claiming that the race is a “dead heat” the poll numbers tell a different story. First, any candidate running in the August Republican primary — for any office in Tennessee — must…

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Award Winning Songwriter Lee Thomas Miller Preparing for Potential Congressional Race in Tennessee’s 7th District

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Congressman Marsha Blackburn’s (R-TN -07) decision to seek the U.S. Senate seat currently held by Senator Bob Corker in 2018 has sparked a flurry of interest in filling her seat in Congress. State Senator Mark Green (R-Clarksville) has already announced his intentions to run, and Williamson County Christian conservative activist Laurie Cardoza Moore is considering the race along with Franklin Mayor Ken Moore. However, another potential candidate is creating a lot of buzz as well. Lee Thomas Miller is an award winning songwriter and conservative advocate who lives in Williamson County with his wife Jana and their four kids. He has penned songs for some of the top country and Christian artists, including Trace Adkins, Brad Paisley, George Strait, Jamey Johnson, Tim McGraw, Chris Stapleton and Brandon Heath, to name a few. Most people know his hit songs, like “In Color,” “The Impossible,” “You’re Gonna Miss This,” and “I’m Still a Guy.” With, 7 No. 1 songs, 12 top-10’s, CMA and ACM wins for song of the year, and three Grammy nominations, this son of a Kentucky tobacco farmer and small town librarian is well known in music industry circles though not yet in the political arena. But in an…

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Commentary: The D.C. Establishment Growing More Hysterical By the Day with President Trump

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by CHQ Staff   Just when we thought that Washington’s establishment elite couldn’t get any crazier along comes former George W. Bush aide and Washington Post token Republican Michael Gerson to snap us back to reality. Gerson’s column, “Republicans, it’s time to panic” asks “Is Trump psychologically and morally equipped to be president? And could his unfitness cause permanent damage to the country?” And then Gerson answers the question in the affirmative on the basis of anonymous leaks from a White House infested with Obama holdovers and President Trump’s recent very public and personal disagreements with retiring Republican Senator Bob Corker. The gist of Gerson’s attack is that President Trump is crazy, because he hurt poor little Bob Corker’s feelings. At the very end of Gerson’s column, our friends at Breitbart pointed out that the Post has embedded a video made by one of their staffers titled “How does the 25th amendment work?” The video’s caption reads: “The 25th Amendment sets forth a procedure for removing a president from office. Here’s how it’s enacted.” As the video explains, “Section IV of the amendment states that the Vice President and at least 13 of 24 cabinet members must agree to transfer…

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Conservative Roy Moore Leads Establishment’s Luther Strange by 10 in Alabama GOP Senate Runoff As Voters Go to the Polls

Tennessee Star Staff

Conservative grassroots champion Judge Roy Moore leads establishment pick Senator Luther Strange (R-AL) in the Alabama U.S. Senate Republican primary runoff election by ten points in the Real Clear Politics average of polls as voters cast their ballots today in the Yellowhammer State. On Monday night, an all-star gallery of conservative grassroots leaders gathered in Fairhope, Alabama to lend their vocal support at a rally headlined by Moore on the eve of the election. Breitbart News Executive Chairman Steve Bannon, United Kingdom Brexit leader Nigel Farage, former head of the independent UKIP party, and Duck Dynasty reality TV star Phil Robertson all joined in to tell the enthusiastic crowd of Judge Moore’s supporters why they have endorsed the West Point graduate and man who championed the Ten Commandments in today’s election to select the Republican nominee who will take on Democrat Doug Jones in the December 12 general election. The winner of that election will be seated in the United States Senate as the replacement for former Senator Jeff Sessions (R-AL), now Attorney General. You can watch the complete video recording of that rally here:   One regular reader of The Tennessee Star made the trek down to Fairhope on…

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Tennessee Congressional Delegation Split on Trump’s Afghanistan Decision Along Partisan Lines

Wendy Wilson
Tennessee Star

Republican Sen. Bob Corker and Republican Reps. Marsha Blackburn, Scott DesJarlais and Chuck Fleischmann released statements in support of President Trump’s decision to keep troops in Afghanistan. Trump announced his decision Monday evening in a televised address. His decision is likely to disappoint some conservatives because he campaigned on pulling out of Afghanistan. “My original instinct was to pull out — and, historically, I like following my instincts,” Trump said in his address. “But all my life I’ve heard that decisions are much different when you sit behind the desk in the Oval Office.” Trump said that, as happened with the withdrawal from Iraq in 2011,  “a hasty withdrawal would create a vacuum that terrorists, including ISIS and al Qaeda, would instantly fill.” Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN), who chairs the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said the following in a statement: I had the opportunity to talk with Secretary Tillerson in advance of this evening’s address, and while I look forward to receiving additional details, I support the direction President Trump laid out tonight for the U.S. role in Afghanistan. While there are certainly substantial questions about whether Afghanistan has the capacity over time to provide stable governance to its people, this more focused…

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EXCLUSIVE: Mark Green Says Army Secretary Nomination Derailed by Partisan Smear Campaign and Single Democrat Senator

Tennessee Star Staff
Tennessee Star

  Tennessee State Senator Mark Green was selected by President Trump to serve as the next Secretary of the Army with the full support of Secretary of Defense James Mattis, and from Tennessee’s two Republican U.S. Senators Lamar Alexander and Bob Corker. At the time President Trump announced his intention to nominate Green in April, it appeared the conservative Tennessean had all the political boxes checked to ensure his confirmation by the Senate. As a West Point graduate and former combat infantry officer, and special operations combat veteran, the military establishment was excited about the prospects of “one of their own” being named to the top direct civilian oversight position for the Army. As a businessman who had built and sold a healthcare company, he even had the bonus appeal to the Trump team’s preference for those who had achieved private sector business success. A relatively easy confirmation was expected by those close to the process. Then, the left wing media establishment initiated a smear campaign against Green that was designed to “take out” another Trump nominee with nothing more than misquotes and comments taken out of context, innuendo, and completely false information. With the spurious claims against him amplified…

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Commentary: Gorsuch Swearing-In Finally Makes Supreme Court Whole Again

Tennessee Star Staff

  By Jeffrey A. Rendall Considering the huge amount of effort that was expended by both sides of the Supreme Court confirmation fight since he was officially nominated by President Donald Trump at the end of January, Judge Neil Gorsuch’s final senate vote went off without much exertion on Friday. Ryan Lovelace of the Washington Examiner reported, “The Senate confirmed Judge Neil Gorsuch to the U.S. Supreme Court on Friday. “The Republican majority was joined in the 54-45 vote by a few Democrats in confirming the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals judge to the high court. Gorsuch’s success comes after the Senate killed the filibuster for Supreme Court nominations on Thursday, effectively paving the way for Gorsuch to join the high court.” Democrats technically could have dragged out the process until early evening on Friday, but it wouldn’t have made any difference in the outcome. For once it looked like the minority party simply capitulated. Or maybe they just wanted to commiserate with their leftist interest groups or start their Easter recess early. Whatever the reason, Judge Neil Gorsuch will become Justice Neil Gorsuch today. I doubt Chuck Schumer will be there to iron the robe, however. Again, Lovelace reported,…

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Tennessee’s Congressional Delegation Backs Syrian Airstrikes

Wendy Wilson

Tennessee’s Congressional delegation is supporting the airstrikes in Syria ordered by President Trump and carried out on Thursday. Both United States Senators from Tennessee and all nine members of the delegation from the Volunteer State in the U.S. House of Representatives–seven Republicans and two Democrats– in public statements late Thursday and early Friday gave Trump’s actions their support. The airstrikes are in response to a chemical weapons attack carried out by the Syrian government against its own people in a rebel-controlled area. Sen. Bob Corker, who is chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said in a news release that he approves of Trump’s “decisive action.” “The U.S. and world community stood by as Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad brutally tortured and murdered more than 500,000 of his own people, and I applaud President Trump for taking decisive action following the latest chemical weapons attack,” Corker said. “It is critical that Assad knows he will no longer enjoy impunity for his horrific crimes against his own citizens, and this proportional step was appropriate. As we move forward, it will be important for the administration to engage with Congress and clearly communicate its full strategy to the American people.” Sen. Lamar Alexander…

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United States Launches 59 Tomahawk Missiles at Syrian Chemical Weapons Base

Tennessee Star Staff

  “The United States launched dozens of cruise missiles Thursday night at a Syrian airfield in response to what it believes was Syria’s use of banned chemical weapons that killed at least 100 people, U.S. military officials told NBC News,” the network reported late Thursday: Two U.S. warships in the Mediterranean Sea fired 59 Tomahawk missiles intended for a single target — Ash Sha’irat in Homs province in western Syria, the officials said. That’s the airfield from which the United States believes the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad fired the banned weapons. There was no immediate word on casualties. U.S. officials told NBC News that people were not targeted and that aircraft and infrastructure at the site were hit, including the runway and gas fuel pumps. You can watch President Trump’s statement delivered moments ago about the attack here: Reaction from Congress was quick. “The U.S. and world community stood by as Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad brutally tortured and murdered more than 500,000 of his own people, and I applaud President Trump for taking decisive action following the latest chemical weapons attack,” Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN) , the Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations committee, told CBS News. “It…

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