(The following is an excerpt from the May issue of the Main Street Journal, a Memphis newsmagazine, covering the 7th Congressional Republican Primary race between U.S. Congressman Marsha Blackburn and Shelby County Register Tom Leatherwood.)
The Politics of Locality: Could Shelby County pose a problem for Congressman Marsha Blackburn?
By: Jonathan Lindberg
On a Thursday morning in April, a group of reporters gathered together at Germantown City Hall to meet with U.S. Congressman Marsha Blackburn. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss an Anti-Earmark Pledge that Blackburn was signing. Though no actual signing took place, handouts were made available at the door.
The Earmark Pledge was being presented by a group called Freedom Works, a political action group from Washington chaired by Dick Armey, the former Speaker of the House. Armey arrived that morning wearing a full-sized cowboy hat and a suit. He looked every bit the former Texas Congressman, despite suburban surroundings.
“The earmark system in Washington is broken,” he said, showing little signs of a Texas accent. “Marsha Blackburn is willing to ask the big questions on the big issues, as well as anyone in Congress. She is one of the hero’s in Washington. I want to applaud her for taking the lead in the fight to reform the corrupt earmark system.”
It should come as little surprise that Blackburn, considered one of the staunchest conservatives in the U.S. House of Representatives, would attach her name to a pledge like this. What was surprising, or rather telling, was the fact that Blackburn had brought in a former Speaker of the House for an obvious campaign stop, and that her location of choice was not Nashville or its suburbs, but rather East Shelby County.
This is, however, election season, and Marsha has a race on her hands. For the first time since winning her seat six years ago in a hotly contested race which saw three Shelby County Republicans split the vote allowing Blackburn to carry the rest of the district, the Congressman (term preferred) is facing strong competition from Shelby County Register and former Republican State Senator Tom Leatherwood.
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