I was gifted with a hearty belly laugh when I heard last evening that Scottie Mayfield wasn't conceding the 3rd District Congressional race because "something wasn't right" in the Hamilton County election returns. Mr. Mayfield and his crackerjack staff just couldn't quite understand why he had won the more rural northern counties and yet fared so poorly around Chattanooga.
This is the second such laugh I've received this week. The first was when I read Roy Exum's preemptive and saccharine attempt to defend Mr.
Mayfield's steadfast refusal to debate his opponents or make himself available to various newspaper editoral boards. Mr Exum has certainly been around long enough that he should recognize the writer Finey Peter Dunne's maxim that "Politics ain't beanbag" - and it certainly ain't pitching ice cream either. Mr. Exum would have served Mr. Mayfield much better if instead of giving us his polemic as to why transparency wasn't necessary, he'd have simply to told Mr. Mayfield to bite the bullet, let the chips fall where they may, and face the Hamilton County voters.
Mr. Mayfield's campaign strategy may have worked in the rural counties, where people may have voted for him simply because they like his "Moose Tracks", but it didn't work in Chattanooga. Both Mr. Mayfield and Mr. Exum are old enough to know that it wouldn't.
Lonnie Hatmaker