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Former ECD commissioner is the second Republican to get in what looks to be a competitive primary

Photo: Randy Boyd for GovernorKnoxville businessman Randy Boyd, the former state Commissioner of Economic and Community Development, is running for governor.

Boyd announced his candidacy in a press release Monday morning, making him the second Republican candidate to enter what is likely to be a competitive primary. State Sen. Mark Green announced his candidacy in January and state House Speaker Beth Harwell and U.S. Rep. Diane Black are thought to be seriously considering runs as well.

There is not a better time to live and work in Tennessee, but not everyone is sharing in that success. So my campaign will be about expanding opportunities for every Tennessee family and community, Boyd says in his announcement. The opportunity for a better education the opportunity for better jobs and a better opportunity for everyone, regardless of where you live, whether youre from rural Tennessee, the inner city, or somewhere in between. Thats how Ive tried to serve in the past, and that is my vision for an even greater, more successful Tennessee.

Boyd touts the fact that he is "not a professional politician." His campaign, though, will be run by veteran Republican operative and former Tennessee Republican Party chairman Chip Saltsman.

On the Democratic side, former Nashville Mayor Karl Dean has announced his candidacy and state House Minority Leader Craig Fitzhugh is expected to do so.

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Republican Randy Boyd Announces Bid for Governor - Nashville Scene

Dear Kevin: Lately you have been refusing to meet with constituents, mostly because you know you wont like what you hear. The Californian even offered to set up a controlled, invitation-only meeting with a small group (about 30) of mostly friendlies. And you declined that.

And yet, you were more than happy to be interviewed by 23ABC News where you didnt have to face constituents and where you largely dismissed the recent, growing protests as a ploy of the Democratic Party, claiming protesters were mostly people bused in from outside your district. How convenient. (And by the way, David Valadao followed you on that interview and offered the same excuse.)

As the many recent editorials and letters in The Californian have pointed out, your priorities seem to be your own political fortunes first followed closely by the interests of the Republican Party, with your constituents and the American public a distant third. These priorities also are obvious based on your voting record updates, published in The Californian. I realize that yours is a Republican safe district, but in 2018 it may be time for us to consider a different Republican.

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DEAR KEVIN: Time to consider a different Republican? - The Bakersfield Californian

New York Times columnist Paul Krugman asserted on Monday that Donald Trumps presidency has shown that the Republican Party is completely unprepared and unable to enact the policies it has promised voters for years.

In his Monday column, Krugman notes that the Republican Partys failure to pass legislation like the repeal and replacement of President Barack Obamas signature health care reform law has little to do with the temper tantrums and antics of President Donald Trump.

But the broader Republican quagmire the partys failure so far to make significant progress toward any of its policy promises isnt just about Mr. Trumps inadequacies, Krugman writes. The whole party, it turns out, has been faking it for years. Its leaders rhetoric was empty; they have no idea how to turn their slogans into actual legislation, because theyve never bothered to understand how anything important works.

According to the Times columnist, Republicans who promised to repeal the Affordable Care Act and reform the tax code seem utterly shocked to find themselves facing reality.

At this point, then, major Republican initiatives are bogged down for reasons that have nothing to do with the personality flaws of the tweeter in chief, and everything to do with the broader, more fundamental fecklessness of his party.

Faced with the difficulties of making substantive reforms, Krugman predicts that Republicans may just throw a few trillion dollars at rich people instead.

But whatever the eventual outcome, what were witnessing is what happens when a party that gave up hard thinking in favor of empty sloganeering ends up in charge of actual policy, he concludes. And its not a pretty sight.

Read Paul Krugmans entire column here.

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Paul Krugman says Trump exposes GOP dirty secret: The Republican Party 'has been faking it for years' - Raw Story

March 6, 2017, 8:15 a.m.

After weeks of Republican members of Congress catching an earful during their hometown town hall meetings, Rep. David Valadao(R-Hanford) in Californias Central Valley is taking a safer route.

The congressman and dairy farmer plans to hold a huddle with constituents in his district which means hell be camped out in his Hanford district office and will meet with constituents for first come, first served one-on-one meetings. Valadao has vowed to meet with all comers for a maximum of 10 minutes, and will talk with everyone no matter how long that takes.

While my constituents and I communicate with each other in many forms, one-on-one meetings are extremely beneficial as I am able to discuss and address their specific concerns and hear their story firsthand, Valadao said in a statement.

Valadao'sevent comes after he has been targeted by protestors who have criticized him for not holding an open town hall meeting in his districtas other members of Congress across the county have done. Those highly charged meetings have attractedgroups of residents upset about GOP plans to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Actand about the Trump administration's immigration policies.

Only those who live in Valadaos 21stCongressional District will be allowed to meet with the congressman.

Valadao, who represents a Democratic-leaning district, has been targeted by the Democratic Party since he was first elected in 2012. He has won three straight elections. He won handily in November, even though Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton trounced Republican Donald Trump in that congressional district.

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Central Valley Republican congressman invites his constituents to sit down for one-on-one meetings - Los Angeles Times

Saturday Night Live just ran a nearly two-minute liberal's dream sequence disguised as a movie trailer.

The trailer which promises a Republican patriot who will put country over party features a notable omission: a title character.The point is that no Republican has really stood up to President Trump. You get it.

I'll confess that when the trailer began, I wondered if the big reveal would show the Republican to be Ben Sasse and then proceed to make fun of the still-little-known first-term senator from Nebraska. Or possibly it would be Arizona's Sen. John McCain, who has spoken out against Trump in pretty tough terms but who supported him during the campaign even after Trump questioned whether McCain was a war hero and attacked him for getting captured as a prisoner of war.

Neither of these shows of opposition has been sufficientin the eyes of the left.

The truth is that most every Republican is thoroughly gun-shy about going against Trump. Many of them tried to during the campaign when they were convinced, repeatedly, that Trump had gone too far. They were wrong each time.

So when Trump does something beyond the pale now like, say, accusing his predecessor of wiretapping him while offering no evidence their first inclination is to hope it blows over. And that's not exactly blockbuster material.

After Attorney General Jeff Sessions recused himself from any ongoing investigations of the Trump administration's relationship with Russia, late-night hosts Seth Meyers, Stephen Colbert and others chimed in. (The Washington Post)

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SNL has a blockbuster in search of a hero: The Republican who stands up to Trump - Washington Post