by Joe Sullivan
The web sites of Bill Haslam and Madeline Rogero provide one indication of how their respective mayoral campaigns have progressed to date. At billhaslamformayor.com, visitors get an enthused greeting from the candidate keyed to the theme "It's Knoxville's Time!" along with a bio-graphy and positions on numerous issues. At madelinerogeroformayor.com, the only message for the nonce is "Elect Madeline Rogero for Mayor."
Another indication comes this week when the two declared contenders to succeed Mayor Victor Ashe in next fall's election are required to make initial disclosure of their campaign contributions. As Metro Pulse went to press on Wednesday, Haslam had already posted on his web site contributions totaling over $300,000 from more than 1,300 donors. Rogero said she won't be prepared to disclose how much she has raised until Friday's deadline. But she conceded that, "We got started later on our fundraising than Bill did so our end-of-year [total] is going to be small."
Then there are all of the orchestrated endorsements from elected officials of all stripes that have been flowing Haslam's way. Although city elections are nominally non-partisan, Haslam is well-known to be a Republican and Rogero a Democrat. Yet nearly every elected Democrat in Knoxdom has declared support for Haslam, making for some exceedingly odd-couple pairings with his Republican backers. Consider, for example, Haslam's support from Democrat District Attorney General Randy Nichols coupled with the backing of Nichols' oft-times nemesis, Republican Sheriff Tim Hutchison. Former county executive Tommy Schumpert, a Democrat with close ties to business leaders, is also on the list. But so is maverick Republican Scott Davis who ran for county executive in 1998 on an anti-establishment platform that included branding Schumpert as the candidate of the "lucky sperm club." (Mayor Victor Ashe and County Executive Mike Ragsdale are expected to remain officially neutral.)
From all of these indications, it's easy to jump to the conclusion that the mayor's race is all but over at a time when it would customarily just be getting started. Yet while railing against a Haslam campaign strategy that she believes is designed to create such a perception, Rogero remains undaunted. "We don't have to beat Bill Haslam in January or February or March," she says. "We have to beat him on Sept. 30 [election day]."
As much as Haslam has going for him, it's entirely possible that some of his campaign assets could turn into liabilities. Take his much bigger campaign war chest, for example. As the scion of one of Knoxville's wealthiest and most influential families, he's vulnerable to the perception that Haslam money and connections are trying to buy him the election. And while his lofty position at his family's hugely successful Pilot Corp. credentials him for executive leadership in making it "Knoxville Time!," it also creates the impression that he's come down from on high to lead a city that might prefer a mayor who's risen from the ranks of ordinary citizens.
The campaign could just get cast as "The patrician verses the populist"—a casting that Rogero doesn't initiate but readily embraces. She's proud of the youthful years she spent as a volunteer organizer for Cesar Chavez' United Farm Workers Union before moving to Knoxville in 1981. And her grassroots organizing skills were manifest in her 1990 campaign for County Commission in which she defeated an entrenched incumbent. Attracting and mobilizing cadres of dedicated volunteers were, and remain, a Rogero hallmark.
Now, as then, she will be portraying herself as the candidate of the people. "I believe in opening up our decision-making process and engaging our citizens in a truly meaningful way [because] I believe a strong engaged citizenry...produces decisions of higher quality and a mandate to making things happen," she told a gathering of some 100 supporters at a bistro on Market Square last week.
Rogero also has a multi-issue message to convey but acknowledges that it's going to take money to get that message out. By her reckoning at least $200,000 will be required, and she voices confidence that she can raise it. Here again, though, volunteerism is her ally. Rogero has attracted creative ad man Tom Jester to handle her media on a pro-bono basis. One of his recent pieces of campaign handiwork was a TV spot depicting State Sen. Tim Burchett stopping his pick up truck to avoid hitting a turtle, then getting out to move the turtle to safety on the roadside. It's safe to predict that he'll portray Rogero as a caring person also.
For his part, Haslam is seeking to avoid the perception that he's trying to steamroller his way into office with money and a mandate from on high. In disclosing his campaign contributions, he takes care to point out that they are not exorbitant by mayoral election standards in other cities Knoxville's size. He notes that Chattanooga mayor Bob Corker spent $600,000 on his campaign two years ago. Haslam says his goal is to raise $500,000.
Haslam's warmth and folksiness are anything but condescending. "When I met him for lunch at Wright's Cafeteria, I was struck by how good he is with people," says Democrat State Rep. Harry Tindell. And he seems just as outreaching as Rogero in welcoming meetings with neighborhood groups and in his plans for campaigning door-to-door. He has also promised not to avoid joint appearances with Rogero.
Dozens of candidate forums and debates can be expected as election day draws nearer, and these should be the venues for letting voters decide what each candidate has to offer. Rogero has it right when she says, "Our community deserves a vigorous debate on the issues, and for anyone to discourage people from getting involved by saying the race is already over is irresponsible."
January 30, 2003 * Vol. 13, No. 5
© 2003 Metro Pulse
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