Why I Love the Nashville Scene

Reports of the Nashville Scene's death have been greatly exaggerated. Some choice excerpts from their "Best of Nashville" edition:

BEST POLITICAL TRAGICOMEDY: LI’L BOB AND THE BLOG RANTERS

One of the odder things about the latest mayoral race was the whiny aggression coming out of the Clement camp. The ranters promoting Clement online did his campaign no favors with their trash talk about “Fatboy Karl,” the “trophy husband” living off his old lady. Yeah? You got a problem with women having money? Then there was the just plain weird stuff. Choice quote from the Scene’s blog: “BOB CLEMENT is GONNA EAT ALL YOUR BALLS” (poster’s caps). Take heed, future candidates. Send a memo to supporters: “If you wouldn’t shout it on a street corner holding one of my signs, don’t post it online!”

Awww, I'm going to miss all the shills! They were so much fun to toy with! But that last little bit of advice? Genius. I'm going to take that advice to whichever campaign I go to next.

BEST POLITICAL BLOGGER (UNPAID): SEAN BRAISTED

He only recently turned 25, but Sean Braisted, sole proprietor of seanbraisted.blogspot.com, has more political sense than most people twice his age. Serving as both executive committeeman for the Davidson County Democratic Party and regional vice president of the Tennessee Young Democrats, Braisted has turned his fledgling site into a great source for local political coverage written from the perspective of an interested citizen. (His self-description on the site: “I like politics. It’s that simple folks.”) Most impressively, the activist Democrat can discuss his political views and those of others without being a self-righteous partisan pain in the ass, no mean feat in the vast wasteland of the local political blogosphere.

My blog would not have happened but for Sean giving me the opportunity to guest-blog at Nashville21. Anytime someone comes up to me and says, "Oh, you're that girl with the blog!", I'll have Sean to thank.

Also, Kleinheider beat himself to win Best Political Blogger (Paid).

BEST POLITICAL CONSULTANT WHO OUTDID HIMSELF: JIM HESTER

An old rat around the political barn, Hester has worked for more than a few losing campaigns for public office. But with Karl Dean pouring his wife’s inherited wealth into the mayor’s race, Hester finally produced a winner. It’s debatable just how much credit Hester should receive. One school of thought holds that he ran a lackluster campaign, and Dean won in spite of it only because his opponent, Bob Clement, was such a terrible candidate. That may be true, but Hester had a job in an off year for elections and even landed a position as senior adviser in the new administration. Short of a six-figure book deal, that’s about the best outcome a political pro could hope for.

Let me give a little bit of perspective on this. I think Jim Hester got a bad rap for most of this campaign. He's the sort of person you either love or you hate. And it's true, the Dean campaign was not the most exciting in history, and he had the advantage of a self-destructing opponent. But Hester ran a very tight ship the whole time.

Also, he taught me a very important lesson. As I said before, I try to observe the campaign professionals and learn from what they do. Hester taught me the importance of making nice with people from other campaigns. My first instinct, in politics and on the blogs, is to always go on the attack against any opposition. But right after the general election, Hester brought in several aides from other campaigns, most notably Toby Compton from the Buck Dozier campaign. All of those people brought their own perspectives and an understanding of their own base to the Dean campaign, and I think that was as key to Dean winning as anything.