Well, another presidential election has passed, and Republicans locally and nationally are overall very happy, and Democrats are not.
A variety of reasons have been tossed about for President Donald Trump becoming another Grover Cleveland by winning a second non-consecutive term, but people’s pocketbooks or their perception of the country’s economic state likely trumped everything else.
I thought it was interesting to learn that Hamilton County had voted in the mid-50 percent range for President Trump all three times he ran, as well as to see that he did better nationally in all three of his elections than the polls had predicted each time.
And the fact that the Republicans seemed to win most of the area congressional and state offices by about a two-thirds majority made me wonder why candidates on both sides went out and worked so hard at all.
That was likely the predicted result before the races even began, making me think a stuffed elephant would have likely won close to two-thirds of the vote even against the next John F. Kennedy, Franklin Roosevelt, and Estes Kefauver all rolled into one person.
Of course, the same could have been said in reverse in many blue states in other parts of the country if a stuffed donkey had run as a Democrat against the next Ronald Reagan.
Yes, party matters more than the person perhaps more than it has in recent history. But hats off to those who want to step out and make themselves vulnerable trying to make a positive difference in the world by seeking elective office, even against tough odds. Thanks to those on both sides for your efforts.
And as a journalist, I was also impressed and proud at how at least two national TV news networks and one radio network kept their objectivity when telling the slightly surprising news that President Donald Trump had won. I could not tell whom they had supported for president.
Regarding President Trump, I know plenty of Americans from both major parties also hope he can use his obviously natural charisma and charm that made him a successful businessman and presidential candidate to help as many as possible enjoy economic prosperity or comfort. And many also hope that now that he does not have to worry about re-election, he can show charm more than his other less-flattering skillsets and have a presidency as stable as he hopes the economy is. They also hope he does not have a Cabinet that has more turnover than a fast-food restaurant full of minimum-wage employees.
For the second presidential election in a row, my wife, Laura, and I voted early at the Hixson Community Center. I normally like the excitement of voting on Election Day and will probably switch back to that in the future, especially after passing by our normal voting location at the Stuart Heights Baptist Church’s Hixson campus twice on Election Day and seeing no lines.
I jog some over on the grassy field by the Hixson Community Center where the old Hixson Middle School/Junior High once was, and often when I am there, no one else is walking around in that area, although the inside of the facility is being used regularly. The normal barren landscape I enjoy except for seeing an occasional dog walker or tennis couple is a contrast to the last two presidential elections, when several dozen people were regularly lined up outside the building for early and Election Day voting.
Speaking of long lines, one might have thought the new Brothers Bagel place on Hixson Pike between Highland Plaza and Stuart Heights was an early voting precinct, too, as lines have been noticed outside it as well every time I have driven by there before and maybe after lunchtime. I always thought a bagel was simply a bagel, but apparently not. Congratulations to them, and I look forward to enjoying the place when the lines get a little shorter!
I once or twice a month in recent weeks have risen early on Saturday morning to drive 15 or 20 minutes or so to Niedlov’s on Main Street just as it opens at 7 a.m., and there is always a line of at least 10 or 15 people ahead of me there, too. The fresh cinnamon roll and ham and cheese croissant make the time and waits worth it, though.
Maybe if some unsuccessful recent political candidates want to figure out ways to draw more people to their corner, they should open a popular homemade bakery of some sort!
There has also been some good news on the fast-food front for me, as Hardee’s has currently brought back its cinnamon raisin biscuits and Krystal has been offering its chili again. While these two items don’t go good together, they are quite satisfying to me during different parts of the day. Thanks to both of them!
One negative amid the fast-food happenings is that in my never-ending quest to recycle plastic I use and make my footprint negligible, I noticed that one Mexican grill quick-service place has started using plastic plates to serve food on. I hope I did not create a stare the other day when I did not deposit my dirty plate, plastic wear, and plastic cups for salsa in the trash bin, but instead walked out the door with them to rinse them off at home and put them in my orange recycle bag.
Speaking of orange, I thought I was going to get to see the defending national champion Tennessee Vols baseball team play in its Fall World Series intrasquad game Wednesday night at AT&T Field, but the rain canceled it before I could get over there. I also realized afterward I had donated to the UT Vols’ NIL collective by getting a ticket.
I did get to see the University of Alabama’s Million Dollar Band at Finley Stadium on Oct. 18 and thoroughly enjoyed that. I actually surprised myself by feeling like a Crimson Tide fan for a half hour or so enjoying the music.
I understand the UT Pride of the Southland Band is also planning to play at Finley Stadium on Nov. 15 during the noontime hour on their way to the Georgia game in Athens. My favorite song they play is not “Rocky Top,” but “Tennessee Waltz.” Actually, I like to hear them both.
Speaking of the University of Tennessee, I heard on the radio driving back from Knoxville on Thursday Bob Kesling’s press conference announcing his retirement this spring as the radio voice of the Tennessee football and men’s basketball teams. Congratulations to him on a great career!
He did not have it easy replacing legend John Ward, and nowadays radio announcers do not play quite the role of old due to most games being on TV and the ability to follow scores online. Most of the time I catch him or Scott Howard of my alma mater of Georgia on the radio when I am running around in my car before or after a game or at halftime to pick up a meal. Krystal chili anyone!
Occasionally there might be a situation when I cannot watch Georgia and depend on the announcers, but the days of listening to them during a team’s most frantic moments simply because the game is not on TV are pretty much over for me.
I do listen to sports shows some on the radio when I am driving back and forth from Knoxville to teach my adjunct journalism classes at UT twice a week this fall. Recently, some Interstate 75 bridge construction over the Tennessee River in Loudon County caused me to have to find alternative routes due to bakery-like lines and jams of automobiles.
And I discovered while having to take both U.S. 27 and Highway 58 as alternatives that Highway 58 is by far the prettiest of the three drives, especially between Decatur and Kingston. That is something not mentioned on one’s GPS system. The leaves changing amid the pastoral backdrop were definitely nice.
As an additional sidenote to Mr. Kesling, I got to interview him once on the phone a little over a year ago when I was writing a story for the Knoxville News Sentinel/Shopper News about the late announcer Lindsey Nelson. Mr. Kesling was very kind and gracious and easy to talk with as he told me about getting to know Mr. Nelson even before Mr. Kesling became the voice of the Vols. He said he picked the elder announcer’s brain about the world of radio or TV sports announcing.
He said he even tracked down Mr. Nelson once at a Regas restaurant, knowing he would be there eating.
During his press conference, Mr. Kesling also mentioned about his early years of working for John Ward and the Vol Network and having to put together interviews for the pregame radio shows in apparently the antiquated days of merging or splicing reel-to-reel tapes. He said he had to take the finished tapes down to Chattanooga, where they were shipped or distributed to the various stations in the state. It would be neat to know which local business he was referencing.
I also had a chance to interview recently over the phone for the same publication the noted SEC Nation TV and radio host and longtime Southeastern journalist Paul Finebaum. Although he is known for his honest criticism of coaches or teams that he thinks are not doing well and some investigative pieces over the years as a newspaper columnist in such places as Alabama, he actually went to UT.
I interviewed him for nearly 20 minutes about his experiences as a student at UT in the mid-to-late 1970s getting started working for the UT Daily Beacon newspaper. Although he decided to write for the paper almost on a whim, he quickly took to the work, he said, and even stirred up a little controversy or turned a few heads even back then by such columns as one critical of the UT basketball program under interim coach Cliff Wettig.
During our conversation, he was nice and gracious, although in a much different manner from Mr. Kesling, and had an obvious sentimentality for his days with the Daily Beacon and how it helped him get on the road to such a high-profile and successful media career.
He also said he knew East Ridge High graduate and former News-Free Press reporter Steve Holland, who now covers the White House for Reuters, and that they had recently appeared at a function together in Washington, D.C. Mr. Holland had been an editor of the Daily Beacon when Mr. Finebaum worked there, and I went to Bright School with Steve’s wife, the former Lucie Stephens.
From football to politics, to lines and pretty drives, to even baseball line drives, the fall is always full of a plethora of activities – even as the trees become empty of leaves.
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Jcshearer2@comcast.net