Recently, Chattanoogan.com published an opinion about whether Democrats could win all significant county offices, including the mayor's office, this election cycle. Usually, the answer would be no. But given Weston Wamp's credentials, it's possible.
Remember when Weston Wamp wore a "wire" and recorded a private conversation with Scottie Mayfield during one of his two losing campaigns against Chuck Fleischmann? A lot of people do.
Is that how an honorable candidate behaves?
What about Weston's claims of success in business? On his campaign website, he takes credit as a "founder" of the Dynamo Fund. Before becoming an early investor several years ago, I met with others who started Dynamo and continue to run it today. Weston was not among them and departed the Fund completely about that same time. It's therefore my impression that he's blowing his own horn about his impact on Dynamo way too loudly.
Then consider Weston's tweets critical of President Trump as well as his involvement in Issue One, a liberal establishment organization deeply critical of recent laws enacted to strengthen and legitimize election integrity. Wamp even appears on its web site as a "truthteller". (You can't make this stuff up.)
And don't forget those vicious, slanderous mailings against his opponents before the April primary election. (Am I too skeptical to think Weston must have known about them?)
Weston's campaigned consistently on "improving public education" which is just another way of saying he will raise your taxes, and he has shied away from making a pledge not to raise them - so hold onto your wallet.
Most recently, Weston relied on crossover Democrat votes in the Hamilton County Republican mayoral primary to defeat the two real conservatives in that race - even then winning by only the narrowest of pluralities. Sixty five percent of primary voters chose someone else, and his vote tally was only 321 more than his closest competitor.
That's a lot of baggage from this Republican's point of view, especially for someone as young as Weston. I have voted straight down the Republican ticket for 30 years and will continue to do so - except I cannot vote for Weston Wamp. He impresses me as a liberal, opportunistic RINO (Republican In Name Only) and I think a lot of other Republicans feel the same way. Can Weston squeak by again if Democrats vote for their own "real" candidate instead of crossing over party lines in the general election? Are Hamilton County Republicans going to turn out given how things have gone? Those are the big questions.
To his credit, Democrat Adams has not pretended to be something he's not - at least not as far as I can tell. I don't endorse Adams, but if he wins and performs poorly he'll be easy to defeat in the next county election or recall before then.
Maybe the best answer is write someone in. I wonder if Mayor Coppinger is still available.
Morgan Smith
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The writer with a dull axe to grind over Weston Wamp brings good points.
Of the Former President, I like what John Kelly, a chief of staff, said of him in 2020,“The depths of his dishonesty is just astounding to me. The dishonesty, the transactional nature of every relationship, though it’s more pathetic than anything else. He is the most flawed person I have ever met in my life.”
Republican in name only is an attribute best given to people who are steadfast to make low measure of a person who calls a past leader what he is or was. That is really indicative of the decline of political morals in this country. I realize party holds dear to many in our county. I voted today and I kept party out of my vote. I voted for the best people I saw for the job, and whether they wore a wire in conversation with another candidate in the past had no bearing on my choice.
Todd Gardenhire made eloquent points about Weston when he mailed an endorsement before the primary. One thing Todd said was that former Senator Bill Brock had his start as a young man and did well in his career.
The writer Jon Meacham sums up political discourse best. He speaks of intellectual honesty. That is being able to speak truth about what you don’t like about a leader of your party as openly as you would of a leader of the opposition. That is sadly missing in today’s political dialogue. I differentiate the previous writer with what is true versus what verges on slander.
Prentice Hicks