Gubernatorial hopeful Bill Lee released a new television commercial Thursday titled “Conservative Outsider” that emphasizes his twenty-year track record as a successful Franklin-area businessman employing more than a thousand workers.
The ad features several scenes of Bill Lee at work serving many roles from hard-hat supervisor to suit-and-tie executive.
Meanwhile, a voiceover narrates:
Bill Lee is a leader.
He is the only conservative outsider.
The only non-politician running for governor.
He’s built an incredibly successful company with over 1,200 employees.
Bill’s been voted the most admired CEO in Nashville and his Lee Company was named the best place to work in Middle Tennessee.
Tennessee must have a leader as governor.
In a field of politicians, there is only one, Bill Lee.
Watch the commercial:
The campaign said in a statement that the ad is set to run statewide on both broadcast and cable outlets.
Bill Lee is among a total of four candidates vying for the Republican nomination for governor. The other candidates include Representative Diane Black (R-TN-06), Knoxville businessman Randy Boyd, and Tennessee Speaker of the House Beth Harwell. The winner of the primary election in August will face off against either former Nashville mayor Karl Dean or State House Minority Leader Craig Fitzhugh (D-Ripley) in the fall.
The advertisement leaves much to be desired. He has a good message; that all Tennesseans share three common interests: a good job, a good school, and a safe neighborhood. That message isn’t made and it needs to be enhanced with specifics – what is the role of government to make those things happen and why haven’t they happened before, i.e., what makes his leadership unique relative to the current Governor and the other candidates. He has another, even better message, in that he believes in small government and bringing government down to the people. Terrific, but again, what agencies are going to be cut? Which functions are going to be migrated down to the county level? How will that smaller, more local government achieve a better job, better school, and safer neighborhood?
Not being a politician is neither here nor there – it’s a question of the individual’s character. No matter how miserable a politician may be, they do have one proven quality – they won an election. This advertisement doesn’t make a compelling case.