Phil Bredesen pulls sound bites from Republicans in latest ad in Tennessee US Senate race

Joey Garrison | The Tennessean

Show Caption Hide Caption Latest Phil Bredesen ad uses the words of Republicans The latest ad from Democrat Phil Bredesen in Tennessee's U.S. Senate race uses the words of Republicans.

First up is conservative political commentator Scottie Nell Hughes. Next comes retiring Republican Sen. Bob Corker and then U.S. Rep. Chuck Fleischmann, R-Chattanooga.

None, of course, are Democrats. But glowing words from each is featured in Democrat Phil Bredesen's latest ad in the Tennessee U.S. Senate race, and his first following last week's primaries.

In a new online ad released Monday, the Bredesen campaign has taken snippets of praise directed the former Tennessee governor's way during television appearances from a slate of notable Tennessee Republicans who back his opponent, Republican U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn.

They're seen talking up his record as governor and possible crossover appeal.

"Folks do not realize this, but a lot of Trump supporters are also Phil Bredesen supporters," begins Hughes, shown speaking as a panelist on Nashville's Fox17. "We had two Republican governors who fought for an income tax, fought for a gas tax. You never saw a tax being fought for by Phil Bredesen."

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The ad, dubbed "What Republicans are saying about Phil Bredesen," will play on digital platforms only, not television, for now. It comes as Tennessee's high-profile race for the U.S. Senate enters its final three months and as Blackburn, the Republican nominee, has aired her first television ads.

The ad also highlights footage of remarks from former state Rep. Debra Maggart of Sumner County and Republican lobbyist and consultant Bill Phillips of Nashville.

None of the people featured in the ad has endorsed Bredesen, and the ad was made without their knowledge. The clips don't include the full context of their remarks.

Bredesen, a centrist former two-term governor from 2003 to 2011, has bemoaned "hyper-partisan squabbling," as he vies for support from Republican voters to win in politically red Tennessee.

But Blackburn's campaign has pushed back, attacking him as an out-of-touch liberal. President Donald Trump, who held a rally in Nashville for Blackburn in May, has called Bredesen "a tool" for Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.

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“This election is not about the past," Abbi Sigler, a Blackburn campaign spokeswoman, said in response to the ad. "It is about the future, and Chuck Schumer has already bought and paid for Phil Bredesen’s vote in the Senate. If Phil Bredesen were to get to Washington, his first vote would be for Chuck Schumer for Majority Leader.”

Blackburn has been endorsed by each of the state's Republican officeholders including Corker, whose seat Blackburn and Bredesen are seeking and who has criticized Trump.

Corker quoted calling Bredesen 'very good mayor, a very good governor'

Corker's initial endorsement this spring was tepid. But Blackburn and Corker were among Tennessee's top Republicans at a party "unity" event in Nashville on Saturday that included gubernatorial nominee Bill Lee and the GOP primary opponents he defeated.

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"Phil Bredesen is a friend of mine, OK," Corker is seen saying in the ad. "I have worked with him for 23 years. We worked together to bring the Titans to our state. When I became a senator, and he was governor, we brought Volkswagen to our state.

"He was a very good mayor, a very good governor, a very good business person."

Corker handed Democrats the ready-made sound bite at a Christian Science Monitor breakfast in April. The remarks infuriated fellow Republicans at the time they were made.

Fleischmann, who represents Tennessee's 3rd Congressional District and has served alongside Blackburn since 2011, endorsed Blackburn months ago. But the Bredesen campaign found footage of him saying nice things about her opponent.

"He had a very strong fiscal relationship with a lot of the business people in this state, and he did a good job as governor," Fleischmann says in a clip that appears to cut his sentence short.

Fleischmann issued a statement Monday after the USA TODAY NETWORK - Tennessee reported on the ad, calling Bredesen "wrong for Tennessee," pointing to his past campaign donations to Hillary Clinton and saying Bredesen was "personally recruited by Chuck Schumer."

“I wholeheartedly support Marsha Blackburn for Senate," he said. "She is the only candidate Tennesseans can count on to stand up for our values."

Maggart's clip in the ad is from a June appearance on a panel with WKRN's Bob Mueller. She says Bredesen "did a lot of good things in our state like fixed TennCare."

Maggart's full remarks — not displayed in the ad — were: "He did a lot of good things in our state, but he had a lot of Republican support. I was there. We helped him do things that the Democrats absolutely refused to do like fix TennCare.”

Maggart, a Republican state lawmaker from 2004 to 2012, accused the Bredesen campaign of chopping and slicing her remarks: "So much for 'really working across the aisle' when he had to manipulate my point to serve his purpose.

"I support Marsha Blackburn for Senate 100 percent," she said in an email to USA TODAY NETWORK - Tennessee.

Phillips, talking on the same panel as Hughes in the ad, is shown saying he's been "surprised at the number of (Republicans) who say, well you know, he was a pretty good governor."

A spokesperson for the Bredesen campaign said they plan to pay in the "six-digit territory" to run the ad online.

Bredesen Press Secretary Alyssa Hansen said the video "summarizes what Tennesseans — Democrats, Republicans and Independents — know to be true about Phil Bredesen: He’s a proven leader with a track-record of getting things done for our state.”

Reach Joey Garrison at 615-259-8236, jgarrison@tennessean.com and on Twitter @joeygarrison.