If I were asked who has been the greatest public servant of all time, who is the best elected official I have ever known, I wouldn’t even have to pause before I would say, “Bill Knowles.” For nearly 36 years he’s been the Hamilton County Court Clerk, and, in every election he’s ever been in, he has won by a greater percentage than any other winner on every ballot.

But now he’s running scared and that scares me worse than it does Bill Knowles. You see, he’s an incumbent, and, in case you haven’t noticed, it's “open season” on that collection of dandies. Bill is also a Democrat, which is tough for many in Hamilton County when it's mostly conservative voters who watch how folks like Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid and Barbara Boxer sometimes act.

But what scares Bill – and me – is a number that appeared on the chattanoogan.com web site - 34.

As of 5 a.m. this morning with 1,528 responses, a poll asking, “For county clerk of Hamilton County, do you favor?” the poll showed Bill has a comfortable 66-34 margin over his Republican rival, Chester Heathington. What everyone with any knowledge of Hamilton County knows is, that last number is insane.

When 34 percent say they’ll pick a character like Chester over a saint like Bill, it shows Hamilton County is just 17 percentage points away from a majority in Chester’s favor and complete idiocy. That should scare the dickens out of any registered voter in America, not to mention every soul who loves our country.

I have known Bill Knowles for most of my life. I know there is already a building named in Chattanooga for his daddy. I know his brother Joe was this town’s finest fire chief and that when another brother, Bud, died as the head of the election commission late this spring, Democrats and Republicans alike wept openly.

I’m not going to bash Chester Heathington, but let’s just say he’s been to the courthouse a bunch and it ain’t been as a visitor. I’m told he still owes money for some past criminal transgressions and, if you want to glance at his “sheet,” you’ll see in rather dramatic fashion it is tragic he’s even on the ballot.

The Republican Party is embarrassed about it, but, sadly, there is nothing they can do. Once Chester declared he was a Republican and filled out the paperwork, he qualified for the race. I suspect the fact that Chester is black has a lot to do with his 34 percent, because the “race card” is now played with such despicable abandon all across the nation.

But the greater worry is that anyone who votes a “straight ticket” by party, or has such vehement disdain for any incumbent, threatens to usher in some more bozos like the South Carolina guy who just won the Democratic nomination for the U.S. Senate before being charged with serious pornography charges the very next day.

Alvin Greene - a 32-year-old black Army veteran who lives at home with his parents, raised no money and had no campaign website, staff, leaflets or signs. But he got over 100,000 votes this week in the most outlandish display of election vulgarity ever witnessed, when he was chosen over opponent Vic Rawl, 64, a veteran South Carolina politician and judge.

Some swear Mr. Greene is a “cropper,” a set-up guy who was intentionally elected by crafty “party switchers” to greatly embarrass the Democrats and cast the other party candidates in a most unsavory light. But let those people worry about where the unemployed and obscenity-minded Mr. Greene got his $10,400 entry fee. That ain’t my problem.

No, what I worry about – not to mention a great host of others – is that when the finest politician I have ever known is just 17 percentage points away from being nipped by an unfortunate character, what does that forebode for our county, our state and our nation?

Again, I’m not trying to belittle Chester. All I care about at this stage in my life is where we are we going from here, and I hope Chester has now got a handle on his colorful life. But to have him seemingly threaten the “best of the best” is a frightening thing indeed.

That’s what scares Bill Knowles. He knows, deep in his heart, he’ll win in August, as well he should. He’s spent 36 years in elected office doing what is fair, honest, proper and right. His service and courtesy to every person, regardless of race, social status, or creed, has made him “the greatest public official of all time” in a lot more hearts than mine.

But doesn’t the whole thing scare the willies out of you, too?

royexum@aol.com