Swati Hasbe is in the midst of moving from Raleigh, N.C., to Seattle with his wife. Hasbe described the couple’s stop in Nashville last Friday on his blog:

The drive was good with perfect late fall colors. The smoky mountains were so beautiful with deep red leafs. We went to Broadway street in downtown Nashville and I was amazed at the music scene there. Every bar had different music which could be heard walking down the street itself. Music city to the core. We went to Robert’s western world and there was this band playing country music. Every song of his made us tap our feet on the floor, truly amazing. We went to BB Kings next. You almost could sense the history and Nashville’s rich music heritage inside these bars.

David Briley mentioned frequently during his campaign for mayor this summer that the New York Times and visitors to Nashville tend to flock to the unique elements of our city that give it its rich character. I don’t spend a lot of time on Lower Broadway (though certainly more than I ever would have 20 years ago, prior to its revitalization), but the area is one of our best local treasures that showcases what you can find in Nashville that you can’t find anywhere else. I’m sure glad it and all the others are here.

At least one former candidate in the Nashville mayor’s race is making an endorsement: Kenneth Eaton.

We Support Bob Clement As Our Next Mayor! Check Back soon for a full Site Update, as Well as a letter of Support from Mr. Eaton. Karl Dean Does not have the Experience to run this city. Karl Dean Is a Continuation of the Purcell Administration. Bob Clement Is the Change Nashville Needs!

Buck Dozier followed the odd tradition of politicians referring to themselves in the third person earlier this week, and Eaton has taken it one step further by opting for the second person “we.” Both Clement and Dean have understandably coveted endorsements that don’t appear to be coming from Dozier, David Briley, and Howard Gentry. Is this an endorsement that Clement wants, though?

I’ve read the phrase a “continuation of the Purcell administration” a few times lately in a negative light. Is following in Purcell’s footsteps a bad thing? Some Nashvillians, and they’re not all in Eaton’s camp, would say yes.

Why would any politician endorse an opponent in a runoff election? One of the questions on many area political watchers’ minds since Nashville’s mayoral election has been whether any of the also-rans will publicly lend their support to either of the “finalists.”

I’d definitely like to know whom each of the former candidates will vote for, but now that Buck Dozier is off the fence about staying on the fence, it isn’t likely to happen. I’m having a hard time coming up with reasons why a candidate should make an endorsement, but I can think of plenty why it’s not a good idea to pick a side once the battle lines have been redrawn:

• Making enemies: Picking one candidate over another might come back to haunt you, especially if you pick the losing candidate. Why would Briley, Dozier or Gentry want to gamble their influence in the next administration on the razor-thin margin of a few hundred votes?
• Alienating your base: How happy would most of Briley’s camp have been to see him endorse Bob Clement? How happy would most of Dozier’s voters have been to see him endorse Karl Dean?
• Swallowing a bitter pill: It’s a rough transition to go from trying to take votes away from an opponent to publicly asking voters to give him more.
• Impropriety: Everyone will wonder what it took, if anything, to”earn” an also-ran’s endorsement. It might be easier to revisit your own agenda down the line if you haven’t made it look like someone’s just returning a much-needed favor.

The reasons I see for making an endorsement, at least in this race, are three: One, you’re convinced one candidate is significantly worse than the other to the extent that it would hurt the city if that candidate won the runoff; two, you want a job in the next administration and don’t mind the potential backlash from such a political pick-and-roll; and three, you’re absolutely not running for anything again and don’t care what anyone else thinks about what you do. Endorsing one candidate over another in such a close race is risking something else: your own political future.

One of those earlier scoops has melted: I have to say that I’m relieved after reading this from Liberadio and this updated item from the City Paper, and Briley’s camp has confirmed it with their own news release, too. Here’s the gist:

Just minutes ago, former mayoral candidate David Briley confirmed that after spending “considerable time talking with both Bob and Karl about their visions for the city, especially as it relates to the environment and sustainability,” he has decided “not to formally endorse either candidate in the race.”

Briley also declared his willingness to help either candidate, if asked, with “issues that are important to the city.” He also felt certain that with or without his endorsement his supporters would choose whichever candidate they felt would move the city of Nashville forward.

I have not kept it a secret that I don’t think Bob Clement is the best candidate to serve as mayor, and I’ve been saying that for nearly a year. I’d have liked to see Briley endorse Dean, but until a little while ago I had expected him to remain ambiguous about his support the way he just did.

Chalk this one up to the rumor mill and, ultimately, to much ado about nothing. See all the trouble that some quick-typing journalists and bloggers can get into when someone hangs out in East Nashville with a political opponent?

The City Paper is reporting that David Briley is about to endorse Bob Clement for mayor. As the first (and possibly only) candidate to endorse either Clement or opponent Karl Dean, this will likely prompt plenty of speculation about how this development affects the campaign.

At-Large Councilman David Briley may be making an endorsement in the Nashville mayoral race later today. Bob Clement’s mayoral campaign issued a press release Saturday saying Clement and former mayoral hopeful Briley, who landed fifth in the Aug. 2 general mayoral election, spent about two hours campaigning together this weekend at East Nashville’s Tomato Art Fest. Briley, when asked this morning if he is leaning toward endorsing Clement, responded simply, “I’m going to issue a press release later today, and I’ll just let that speak for itself.”

I can think of a few questions right off of the bat:

• Will this signal a shift in momentum back in Clement’s favor?
• Both Briley and Dean have maintained throughout the campaign that they are friends. Exactly how nasty did things get behind the scenes between them for Briley to endorse Clement?
• At the West Nashville Presidents Council forum and other events, Briley took repeated shots at Clement for his policies and for borrowing elements of Clement’s “green mayor” platform. Briley did not do the same for the most part with Dean, so what has changed for Briley to make this endorsement?
• How will Briley’s supporters react to this endorsement? Are they likely to embrace the endorsement and vote for Clement?
• How will the public react, given that Briley was last among the five major candidates in the general election? How much weight will this endorsement carry?
• What has Briley earned (if anything), in terms of promised support for future initiatives or even a position within a possible Clement administration, in exchange for making this endorsement?
• Is this a purely political calculation by Briley, or in his heart of hearts does he think Clement will do a better job as mayor than Dean will?
• Will this endorsement have any consequences for Briley with the electorate?

This is perhaps a surprising, if not entirely unforeshadowed, development in the campaign, one that is sure to generate more questions than answers. If nothing else, it means this probably won’t be a quiet week leading up to next Monday’s runoff debate.

I learned two things this morning from reading about the City Paper’s recently conducted mayoral poll: One, the mayoral race is very much in play for at least four candidates, though it may be headed toward a Bob Clement-Karl Dean runoff. Two, a poll is only valid if you like the results it generates. Well, at least that’s what seems to happen every time one is released:

“You can do these polls any way you want to — unscientific and random polls are of little concern to me and my campaign,” [Buck] Dozier said. “We are going after the likely voters who vote in this kind of election — not just people who are registered,” he said.

[David] Briley’s campaign said the race is far from clinched. “Our internal polling continues to show that this is a wide open race. We believe this race will be won on the ground,” said spokeswoman Emily Passini.

In a race where five candidates have significant support, I think there is an element of truth in both Dozier’s and Passini’s comments. I definitely see scenarios where Dozier and Briley can make the runoff. At the same time, though, what else can you say when you are trailing in a poll a week before Election Day except that the poll isn’t accurate?

This may be the first time during the campaign, but I definitely agree with Ben Hall on one thing: “While not directly addressing the poll, Clement spokesman Ben Hall said, ‘The only poll that matters is the one on election day.’” Is anyone else ready to stop pontificating and see how it turns out?

As Nashville Post has described, I do see a disturbing parallel between 1987 and 2007 that I hope will not be fulfilled, but I do see one big difference: In 1987, Nashville did not have early voting.

On July 13, 1987, the campaign of [Bill Boner's] business-supported opponent, former Chamber of Commerce chief Eddie Jones, folded its tents after failing to make significant headway against Boner in the polls.

The field is much more crowded twenty years later, but I have to wonder: Could Karl Dean or David Briley still drop out at this point? Sure, some votes would be wasted, but with every passing day these two candidates (both of whom would make good mayors, in my opinion) are dividing support that they each desperately need to make a runoff. Will both of them be on the outside looking in on August 3rd, wishing that they’d had the courage to do what’s in the best interest of the city today?

That raises another question: Is it more politically advantageous to drop out for the good of the city or to land in fourth or fifth place in a five-candidate election?

I’ll admit that I know very little about District Attorney Torry Johnson beyond the fact that he spent considerable time last year pondering–and then declining–a run at the city’s top office. Reportedly, he was the business community’s top choice and, at least in the media, appeared to be emerging as the insider’s favorite for the job. Compared with what was at the time an underwhelming three-candidate field (Clement, Dozier and Gentry) that was not inspiring much excitement among the electorate, Johnson looked like a safe bet to serve as Nashville’s next mayor.

Since that time, progressive candidates David Briley and Karl Dean have entered the race and, according to several polls, rank fourth and fifth among the candidates behind, among others, apparent frontrunner Bob Clement. There has been plenty of speculation that either Briley or Dean ought to leave the race to allow the other an opportunity to make what is expected to be a runoff against Clement.

Did Johnson’s ambivalence about running create the Briley-Dean quagmire that may scuttle both campaigns and result in Clement, whom many regard as an undesirable candidate, landing in the mayor’s office?

From what I have read, I do have the impression that Johnson is a person of integrity who after some legitimate soul searching decided that the timing wasn’t right for him to hit the campaign trail. Nonetheless, the timing of his decision may have a dramatic impact–for worse or for better–on the next several years of Nashville’s future.

Are David Briley and Karl Dean just a “sideshow” compared to the real mayoral race? City Paper Editor Clint Brewer, writing at the publication’s new Political Animals blog, thinks so:

To date, the Battle of Bongo Java has dominated the minds and mouths of the city’s political set - the tug of war between brainy Councilman At-Large David Briley and former Metro Legal Director Karl Dean. Both men appeal to the crowd in town that finds a Clement administration totally unacceptable, more so for the decidedly verbal country twang with which Clement would represent the city than for anything he actually would or would not support. Why most of these same good Democrats were all too happy to see Clement stay for over a decade in the U.S. Congress - voting on little things like the global war on terrorism, health care and the federal highway bill - but cannot now back him in a mayoral race is dumbfounding.

 

The Dean/Briley croquet match is really a sideshow in this race, unless Dean is able to dump an obscene, seven-figure lump of cash into television between July 5 and August. Members of his kitchen cabinet have bandied about a figure of $1.5 million, but that presumably would be for the entire gig - election and run-off race - and he has already spent a fair amount thus far.

As a consistent voter who has never cast a ballot for Bob Clement and would prefer not to see Buck Dozier come out on top, I hope Brewer is wrong. With a field scattered in so many directions and none of the candidates yet capturing the city’s imagination the way Bill Purcell did in 1999, it’s hard to determine anything for certain with the election only a month away.

I think one conclusion is still safe to draw, though: Having two progressive candidates isn’t doing those of us likely to vote for either of them–or the city–any favors.

As often happens, I wholeheartedly agree with Liz Garrigan and her column in this week’s Nashville Scene:

The [mayoral] field is too fragmented, and it amounts to some bad juju for Dean and Briley. So, gentlemen, we know it’s not fair to ask one of the two best candidates in the field to abandon your pursuit. But politics is rarely a fair game. Once Briley’s TV is up and there’s a clear sense of your respective support, one of you needs to get out and throw your support behind the other. Do what’s best for your city. You wouldn’t have to make a pact with the devil—only with one another.

Look, guys, I’ve spent time with both of you on several occasions this year. I think you’re both smart, intelligent people who will lead this city in the direction I’d like to see it go. I wish you were in separate races because I’d likely vote for you both under those circumstances, but unfortunately you’re not.

I fear, as Garrigan does, that neither of you can win while both of you are candidates. If you are genuinely as inclined to act in the city’s best interest as I firmly believe you are, lock yourselves in the same room (leaving your staff members and consultants behind) sometime in the next week or so and figure this thing out. One of you needs to do the right thing for Nashville and leave the race. Whichever one of you does will earn a lot of respect–and future viability–by doing so. Both of you may suffer politically in the long run if you insist on charging ahead in futility.

Mayoral candidate David bakes a mean upside-down cake (above). He surprised a crew of bloggers today that included Sean Braisted, Sam Davidson, Adam Kleinheider, Stephen Moseley and Mary Mancini and Freddie O’Connell of Liberadio with a home baked dessert as part of the lunch he hosted at his home in East Nashville. More details to come.

Kroger may need to ban David Briley, Karl Dean and Howard Gentry from shopping at its stores, because all three of them have large full-color ads in Out and About’s current issue.

I’m proud of all three of those candidates for aiming to represent all of Nashville if elected to serve as mayor. Kroger will have to make a judgment call about Bob Clement, on the other hand, who is featured on pages 12 and 14 waffling about his stance on domestic partner benefits for gay city employees.