Republicans filled the Country Place Restaurant with cheers for unity on Saturday, following a bitter primary that pitted many of the local party establishment against their eventual electoral conqueror, Chattanooga attorney Chuck Fleischmann. Several of the losing candidates took to the microphone in support of the winner, but the one he beat by the slimmest margin did not attend.

She had an excuse, though. Robin Smith had sent a letter to party chair Delores Vinson explaining that she had already made plans to help her daughter move into a college dormitory that day before hearing about the event. But a telling difference between Smith and some of the others who legitimately couldn’t make it was that no surrogate spoke on Smith’s behalf. Veteran political journalist Tom Humphrey noted that Smith “didn’t mention winner Chuck Fleischmann in a distributed post-election statement.”

Even with the obvious hole in the party’s fabric, local and state leaders exhibited a sense that the general election is sewn up. And how could they not? Democrat John Wolfe—not to mention any of the independent candidates—faces a steep climb just to make it to Chuck’s starting point, both financially and demographically. Surely the anticipated ease of GOP victory helps to salve the party’s wounds.

In a show of “UniTea,” Gregg Juster spoke on behalf of the Van Irion campaign. He introduced campaign manager Tony Shreeve and other former Irion supporters, and said that though they are sorry to have lost, they are with the Chuck Fleischmann campaign from here on. Juster then read aloud this message of support from Irion.

Chuck,

You’ve always struck me as an honest man. I believe you’ll put the interests of America before your own. If you do that one simple thing, you’ll distinguish yourself among our country’s leaders. If you turn out to be the man I believe you to be, you’ll be a great Congressman. Congratulations on your victory in the primary. I’ll be praying for you, your family, and our country.

Your Constitutionalist Friend,

Van Irion

On Friday, Shreeve sent his own statement, which demonstrates unity with Fleischmann, but not necessarily with the party faithful (emphasis added):

Many people attacked Chuck for the money he spent in the race. What they didn’t realize is that he cared about his country and the State of Tennessee so much that he was willing to put everything on the line. This shows me commitment and patriotism.

Chuck did what many thought to be impossible. He beat the establishment. This was a punch to the gut to the same old politics as usual, and a breath of fresh air to many of us who have been frustrated with it for so long.

Many of “the establishment” so punched by Fleischmann and his capable team (several of whom dually report into the powerful Mike Huckabee organization) were sitting in that room on Saturday.

“Unity must come,” Vinson beseeched the crowd. Later, Hamilton County Mayor Claude Ramsey intoned, “Unity is here. Unity is here.” Former candidates and additional elected officials took turns upping Chuck, emceed by state party chair Chris Devaney. But for some, it was as if the salt had been left out of the gravy. J.C. Bowman, who did not attend the breakfast and who stayed neutral during the primary, wrote on his Facebook page and on Chattanoogan.com:

[The primary campaign] provided voters ugliness that was bitter and personal. There were some high quality candidates that offered themselves for public service. Yet, still the campaign continues and the animosity grows. I am not sure a Unity Breakfast repairs the damage. Mr. Fleischmann is the winner with less than 30% of the vote, which begs the question: should Tennessee adopt a runoff system where a winner should be required to get over 50% of the vote? I think that may be more appropriate.

I know that no matter how kind, benevolent or gentle political novice Chuck Fleischmann may be from this point forward, he ran a campaign in 2010 that was perceived as ruthless, win at any cost, self-financed with outside political endorsements, and [hired] campaign staff to make him the establishment candidate. No matter how much back slapping or gladhanding gets done at a gathering of former candidates at a Unity Breakfast, that perception is not likely to change any time soon. And if a man will sell civility and principles to gain an office, what will he do to keep that office once he is there in Washington, D.C.? How long before an outsider becomes an insider?

Responses to Bowman on both sites demonstrate that not everyone is happy yet with the way the eggs were cooked. Some have vowed to vote for the liberal Democrat in protest.

Turning again to Tom Humphrey, whose statewide vantage point noted the equally divisive battles in the Sixth and Eighth Districts:

Once upon a time, it was a rare thing to see a Tennessee Republican flagrantly violate Ronald Reagan’s 11th Commandment: “Thou shalt speak no ill of a fellow Republican.”

As this year’s August primaries illustrated, intra-party ill speaking has become the GOP norm. Maybe that’s to be expected now that Republicans have majority status and it’s often assumed that winning the primary is the equivalent of winning the general election. Or maybe it has something to do with the feeding into the supposed angry mood of the electorate. Or both.

Could urgency play a role in how much unity is displayed? Among the three Tennessee congressional districts with “vigorous” GOP primaries, the Eighth District seems at this point to be the one with the least certain outcome. The Democrats could still retain the Sixth, but their candidate there doesn’t have the strength of a Sen. Roy Herron. And the Third is, as mentioned previously, a strong lean for the Republicans. Is it just not that necessary here in TN-03 for Republicans to come together as quickly or as completely?

For their part, local Democrats haven’t even announced a unity event. They didn’t exactly have an “establishment” candidate, but Wolfe undoubtedly rankled more than one organizational faction with his win.

It will be interesting to see how the party faithful coalesce around their respective candidates in the coming weeks.

Background info:
“Candidates’ feud splits GOP unity breakfast” by Larry Henry
“Fincher prepares for battle with Herron” by Stanley Dunlap