by Ray Hill | Jan 8, 2017 | Columnist, Hill, Ray Hill's Archives, Stories In This Week's Focus:
By Ray Hill After having lost the 1972 race for the U. S. Senate to incumbent Howard Baker by a wide margin, Ray Blanton found himself out of Congress. Blanton returned to Tennessee and immediately began planting the seeds for an expected bid for the Democratic...
by Ray Hill | Jan 2, 2017 | Columnist, Hill, Ray Hill's Archives, Stories In This Week's Focus:
By Ray Hill Tennessee had lost a congressional district in the redistricting in 1971. Congressmen Ray Blanton and William Anderson, both Democrats, would likely have run against one another if both sought reelection. Anderson flirted with a bid for the Democratic...
by Ray Hill | Dec 18, 2016 | Columnist, Hill, Stories In This Week's Focus:
By Ray Hill Senator Howard Baker entered the fall general election after having followed a strategy of organizing early and avoiding controversy. Baker’s opponent, Jane Eskind, had won the Democratic primary by self-funding and had tried to take advantage of the...
by Ray Hill | Dec 11, 2016 | Columnist, Hill
By Ray Hill Senator Howard Baker had seen several election cycles diminish Republican gains in 1974 and 1976. Democrats were optimistic about continued success and Speaker of the Tennessee House of Representatives Ned Ray McWherter was asked by President Jimmy Carter...
by Ray Hill | Dec 4, 2016 | Columnist, Hill, Stories In This Week's Focus:
By Ray Hill For much of 1979, Howard Baker was preoccupied with the business of running for president. Senator Baker arrived at the Lyons Township Republican annual steak fry and the temperature was still a broiling 90 degrees as the sun went down. Worse still, the...
by Ray Hill | Nov 27, 2016 | Columnist, Hill, Stories In This Week's Focus:
By Ray Hill Fresh from his titanic reelection victory in 1972, Howard Baker returned to the United States Senate on the cusp of becoming a national figure. Richard Nixon had also won an historic reelection victory, but it quickly unraveled. When the Senate appointed...
