I'd like to second the assessment of Bob Corker's latest press release pointed out by your reader Chris Davis. In fact, I was so struck by the irony of Corker claiming any sense of "connectedness" to average citizens that I wrote a little press release of my own:

Nash Urges Corker To Stay Home and Debate

Likely Republican primary voter Robert T. Nash urged United States Senate candidate Bob Corker to debate fellow Republican contenders Ed Bryant and Van Hilleary instead of going to Washington, DC to witness the President's State of the Union Address today. Mr. Nash said if he were currently running for the Senate, he would make a meaningful stand on the home front by debating his opponents.

"Let's face it," the concerned citizen, property-owning taxpayer and long-registered Republican-leaning voter said. "A deep pockets small-timer with next-to-no name recognition who's looking to transition to the national political arena needs all the votes he can get. If Mr. Corker had done a tour or two through Congress, he might just get away with his cheap and transparent 'I'll be in D.C.' stunt. To me it just smacks of something hatched by some over-priced scheming egghead consultant who doesn't know a constituent from a focus group."

Nash, who has never held elected political office, also called into question Corker's recent decision to sell the bulk of his Chattanooga real estate holdings to Covista czar Henry Luken.

"All his life Corker has traded on his rags-to-riches tale," Nash said. "But now that he's got his sights on something bigger it would seem Bob The Builder is trading his down home 'Aw shucks' and "'Gee whiz' demeanor for the affectations associated with the bright lights and big-spenders of the District of Columbia. Maybe I'm being too harsh; maybe he needs the PAC money that seemingly grows on trees up there to buy advertising to get his name out. It just seems like so much cut and run to me, with money at the root. Make him spend it all, I say."

Mr. Nash, who still relishes the fact physician-turned-politician Bill Frist called Bob Corker "pond scum" way back in the bloody Senate campaign of 1994, said he "continues to emphasize the need for America's newly-minted wide-eyed wannabes and defacto elected officials to be forever mindful of their fundamental obligation to the voters who make or break them come Election Day."

"Look, Washington's a big town," he said. "Zach Wamp has been up there for 12 years and he's just now found the House of Representatives washroom. In my opinion money isn't everything, and - beyond money - Bob Corker simply doesn't have what it takes. In fact, I am confident that anybody but Bob Corker would be a better choice to represent the fine people of The Great State of Tennessee in the US Senate."

Nash, who said "he knows a Napoleon complex when he sees one," also said Corker's notoriously short temper, arms-length interpersonal relationship tactics and lack of any real political heft, inspiration and/or seasoning make him extremely poorly suited at this point in time to hold any national elected office.

"The average citizen couldn't get in to see Bob Corker when he was Mayor of Chattanooga," Nash said. "I have no reason to believe he'll be any more accessible in any political endeavor he may under take in the future. Whether I am in Gruetli-Lager, Nolensville, Pulaski or Jackson, I hear voters say we need a Senator from Tennessee with real attachments, real ideas and some sense of humility. At this point it would seem Bob Corker simply does not pass the smell test."