I support this idea:

Silence can say more then a thousand words… On April 30th, 2007, the Blogosphere will hold a One-Day Blog Silence in honor towards the victims of Virginia. 33 died at the US college massacre… This day shall unite us all about this unbelievable painful & shocking event and show some respect and love to those who lost their loved ones… The Blogosphere is in deep mourning.

Update: Steli Efti is one of the people behind this creative and heartfelt effort.

Buck Dozier led off his remarks by saying that he grew up in Sylvan Park and that he didn’t come from “great wealth or a political pedigree,” subtle but clear shots directed at Dean, Clement and Briley. Perhaps taking a page out of Purcell’s original campaign book, the one where Purcell used a desk to make his case for being Nashville’s neighborhood mayor, Dozier said that the symbol that best represents his campaign is a table, one where everyone in the city could sit down to solve Nashville’s problems. Dozier explained that the table makes sense for his campaign because he is a “natural consensus builder.”

As every candidate did, Dozier said that education would be his top priority as mayor. A teacher and coach for 10 years and a youth minister for 14 years, he discussed his innovative and ambitious Athens project intended to raise a $1 billion endowment for public education during the next 10 years that would not be used for “brick and mortar projects.” Dozier said that public safety would be his second priority in office and noted his experience as Metro Fire Chief in making the case that he would be the best candidate to make Nashville the “safest city in the nation.”

Dozier wrapped up his opening remarks by describing his management style as “steel and velvet” because leadership requires both great courage and great compassion. I tend to agree with that statement, and I’m only worried about one and not the other when it comes to Dozier: I sense that he has plenty of courage given his public service background, but I wonder whether he has the open-mindedness and the compassion required to lead an increasingly cosmopolitan and progressive Nashville. Seeing Dozier tonight for the first time as a candidate, I’m not sure whether he does or doesn’t, yet.

Bob Clement, widely considered the frontrunner in Nashville’s mayoral race because of his considerable war chest, followed Karl Dean by thanking the Metro Council members and other elected officials in attendance sprinkled among the crowd of 200 or so people. It was a small thing, and admittedly I’m probably stretching here, but it struck me as telling that Clement chose to open this way: While the rest of the candidates sounded like local community leaders ear to share themselves and their ideas to an audience of potential voters, Clement sounded like a man who wants to be back in the “club.” Doing little to dissuade me from this initial impression, he went on to say that he’d spent half his life in business and half in public service developing the “contacts to work on Nashville’s behalf in Washington and overseas.”

After sprinting through campaign priorities that included a “developed riverfront, connected communities and a 24-hour downtown that is safe,” Clement emphasized that he is running for mayor “for all the right reasons” (without explaining what those are) and that he considered “all of the candidates to be [his] friends.”

Clement then claimed that his opponents all had “good ideas” and that he didn’t care who got the credit for implementing all of them. His approach as mayor, he explained, would be to identify good ideas and run with them regardless of where they originated. The irony emerged when Clement answered a question about mass transit a few minutes later. “I was the guy,” he said, reading his prepared response, “who got the federal funds for mass transit. I’m the guy who coauthored legislation for walking and biking trails across the nation. I’m the guy to take Nashville from good to great.” For someone who doesn’t care who gets the credit, Clement had plenty to say about his accomplishments.