The lead story in the Nashville Tennessean on Sunday stemmed from some sleazy political hack who, in just the past week, mailed the newspaper's political writers a copy of Zach Wamp's arrest photo in an unmarked envelope. As far as I am concerned, that same photo is probably the greatest reason I would vote for Zach as the next governor of Tennessee.

The mug shot was taken in 1983 when Zach, who I knew best back then, was thrown in jail for getting into a silly fight in a bar. This was when he was a fraternity boy at the University of North Carolina and, at the time, he was running not for office, but, instead, was running in a way that is politely called "wide open."

Some of my dearest friends today were the same way back then and, if the truth be told, I came close to being the points leader myself on occasion. I don't make it a big secret that I "lived large" back in the day and whenever I'd run into Zach 25 or 30 years ago I remember we were always laughing about some sort of mischief.

But just like puppies grow to be dogs and kittens soon become cats, Zach and me and a host of others outgrew our shenanigans. The fact our Congressman has now been sober for 26 years after his bout with substance abuse tells me more about his character, his determination to stand tall, and his zeal for what's right than any TV ad, anonymous letter, or ancient mug shot ever will.

I want to be real careful here. I am not in the business of endorsing candidates and - for the record - I am a long way from deciding for myself which candidates will get my votes in August or November. But I'll guarantee you I'll pick a "real" one over a phony every time.

That said, it is pretty obvious that of all the people now running for governor, Zach has already done more for the people of Tennessee than any other in the race. C'mon, he's been in Congress - that's not an endorsement; it's a fact.

Whether he'll get my vote, or that of any other person who takes the time to read and to think, will come down to three simple questions. The same questions will hold true for any other person who is running for any political office this year, as well as for any person who I have any business or personal dealings with in the future.

Those three questions are simply these: Can I trust you? Do you care about me? And, where are we going from here? It's that simple. Anything else is a sub-topic, something of lesser importance that will fall under one of my main three standards.

Increasingly, I find I could give a fat and happy hoot if somebody got in a bar fight in 1983. Some of the finest people I know once failed in business, have endured the agony of a divorce, have a child in prison, suffered from a bad decision or a stupid mistake. I adore that now they are successful, happily married, and stand tall for the Lord.

Trust me, those are the people I find I love the most because, in conquering drug addiction, swearing off the bottle, going back to school, or picking themselves out of the dirt they are who I feel are life's biggest winners. They can give me much better counsel than some pious old prune who's never had a pimple.

Let me tell you about life. All of us dream about floating gently down the river on a sunny summer day, but a great psychiatrist once estimated each of us will have at least three major crisises occur in our life every year we live. Either that is the greatest understatement that ever was or I'm a crisis all-star. Life isn't easy, not at all.

So the ones I turn to are those whose fingers are bent and gnarled from a factory accident or the ones who've watched their children die. I want my leaders to know what bullets sound like, who watched their best friends get killed, who've already "run the rapids" and can tell me what rocks and shoals to avoid.

The only thing I want to know about anybody's past is what they've learned from it. What can they share that would ease my burden, help me walk the extra mile? Their lessons are almost always solid, and the experiences they have endured not only is the best source of character, it best defines who they are today - and will be tomorrow.

I don't put value at all on some grainy photo-copy of a mug shot that was taken 27 years ago. That is, unless I find out who it was that slithered from underneath a slimy rock and actually mailed it to a newspaper. That would tell me a lot about them, not Zach, because it would help me determine my answers to three questions.

Can I trust you? Do you care about me? Where are we going from here?

royexum@aol.com