May 17, 2005

Questioning Corker's "Conservative" Claim

Rob Huddleston has shredded a fundraising invite from the 2006 Senate campaign of former Chattanooga Mayor Bob Corker. Here's an excerpt:

Despite his claims to the contrary, Mr. Corker is not a conservative. I have dedicated a good portion of my life working for conservative campaigns, on Capitol Hill, and with aspects of the National Rifle Association of America, so it is safe to say that I know a conservative when I see one.

Several claims in Mr. Corker's fact sheet, which was enclosed with your invitation, are egregiously erroneous. For instance, Mr. Corker says that he is for "low taxes," but he raised taxes and fees while mayor of Chattanooga (Chattanooga Times Free Press, 8/22/01, 2/27/02, 9/12/02) and even made some overtures that favored a state income tax (Chattanooga Times Free Press, 11/9/97). Mr. Corker says that he is for free markets, an "entrepreneurial spirit," and wants "to insure that America is the world leader in new technologies and the best place in the world to start a business," but he made a mess out of Chattanooga's economy, resulting in Forbes magazine ranking Chattanooga in the bottom 20% of cities nationally (#122 overall) as a place to start a business or career. (For reference, other Tennessee cities and their ranks were Knoxville at #17, Nashville at #43, and Memphis at #119.) His record shows that he made Chattanooga the worst major city in Tennessee to start a business. Is that the same plan that he has for America?

If your campaign continues to produce erroneous press releases and fact sheets, there are those of us who are capable of exposing the errors for all to see.

Meanwhile, TeamGOP.org is piling on Corker for his upcoming May 26 big-dollar fundraiser hosted by Clayton McWhorter, a died-in-the-wool Democrat and major donor to the Democratic Party and Democratic candidates in Tennessee. From their press release:

Clayton McWhorter is not just an average Democrat; he is one of their most active leaders and fundraisers in Tennessee. Perhaps Clayton McWhorter is best known for the political ruckus he created when as a potential Democrat candidate for Governor in 1994, McWhorter opined that the reason for retardation rates among children in East Tennessee was due in part to "inbreeding."

The only connection found between Mr. McWhorter and Bob Corker is that they both toyed with the idea, at least for a short time in the 1990’s, of running for Governor as Democrats.

Corker has some 'splainin to do.