Lee's Victory Gives Lesson
on Civility

On the night of November 6 — Election Day, the Bill Lee gubernatorial campaign patiently waited as votes across Tennessee came pouring in. The 57-year-old businessman from Williamson County with no previous government experience was a longshot, to say the least.

 

It was during the primary elections that Lee set himself apart from the rest of the pack. As opposed to running television ads blatantly attacking his opponents, Lee elected to take the high road.

 

In response to ads from Randy Boyd and Rep. Diane Black, the Lee campaign released an ad entitled “Road.”

 

“They’re a great example of what’s wrong with politics,” said Lee in an advertisement. “I’m not going down that road. It’s not who I am. It’s not what a leader does.”

 

It was this ad in particular that Middle Tennessee political science professor Kent Syler believes showed Lee’s political smarts.

 

“I think he did a good job of turning the negative that his opponents ran on them (Lee’s opponents),” says Syler. “That was a brilliant anti-negative negative.”

 

Syler knows a thing or two about political campaigns as he is one of the most respected political strategists and analysts in Tennessee. He continues to describe how Lee’s ad that said he would not attack his opponents not only portrayed Lee as taking the high road but also that those attacking him were, in a way, playing dirty.

 

“The ad says something like… ‘I think these ads say a lot more about the person running the ads than the person in the ads — people that would say anything, do anything to get elected. Is that the kind of person you want as governor?’ That’s a pretty sharp attack,” says Syler. “But it’s not seen as negative because it was justified, and people saw it as justified — he was simply defending himself.”

 

As far as political ads go, Lee’s ads were different and effective. One ad showed Lee talking about how he will take the lessons he learned from personal experiences and tragedies and use them to be a proficient governor. Another showed how much Lee was unlike any other candidate running for governor.

 

The ad was titled “Sparks” and focused on vocational training in the state.

 

“You had all these ads on that all kind of looked and sounded alike,” explains Syler, “and then, all of the sudden, you see on your TV this blue screen with all these sparks flying and this person in a welder’s mask welding.”

 

Right as the ad is about to end, the welder stops welding and lifts the mask to reveal Bill Lee.

 

“That breaks through. That’s different.”

 

Lee, a political outsider and one of the least known gubernatorial candidates among Tennesseans, came out on top for Republicans in the primary elections. 

 

“He was the candidate that most comfortable in his own skin,” says Syler, “he was the best communicator, and he caught fire at the right time.”

 

This wasn’t the first time American saw a political outsider win an election against well-known politicians. Actors Ronald Regan and Arnold Schwarzenegger were both elected as the Governor of California. The current President of the United States was a real estate mogul and reality television host before being elected in 2016. So while Lee’s victory was surprising, it wasn’t uncommon.

 

After his shocking primary victory, Lee’s popularity began to rise. So much so, that immediately after the results of the primaries were released, Lee was a 15-point favorite to win the general election.

 

The election was his to lose, and all he needed to do to secure his place as the next governor of Tennessee was not screw up.

In the time between the primary and general elections, Lee stayed true to his word of not running a single attack against his Democratic opponent and former Nashville mayor, Karl Dean. Dean’s campaign reciprocated in kind with Lee and did not run a negative ad towards Lee. Instead, Dean focused on where he and Lee differed on voter issues.

 

The ads spoke on that while Lee is in support of charter schools and school vouchers, Dean opposes vouchers because he believes “private school vouchers would allow taxpayer dollars to fund private schools, taking money directly away from Tennessee public schools.” They also showed how Dean is for expanding Medicaid, increasing teachers’ wages, and providing more tax-payer funded services to public schools just to name. All while never taking a direct shot at Bill Lee, even though he was behind in the polls.

 

“Karl Dean is the one that really deserves credit,” says Syler, “because I’m sure, if I were running that campaign I’d be telling Karl Dean ‘You know Karl, the only chance you have is to find a way to disqualify Bill Lee. That’s the ONLY chance you have. If he’s still standing at the end of the race, he’s going to win.’ Dean didn’t do it.”

 

Whether or not Lee went along with the majority of political candidates this election season, Middle Tennessee student Hayden Goodridge believes Lee was a shoo-in.

 

“I think Bill Lee was already a popular candidate as an outsider business owner,” says Goodridge, who covered the Lee campaign as a reporter for MTSU’s Sidelines. “While I believe it to be good strategy that he didn’t attack Karl Dean, I think he would’ve won anyways [sic].”

 

The 2018 midterms were heated all across the country, and the major parties spared no expense trying to defeat their opponents. Ad after ad attacking candidates from both sides cluttered televisions sets. Why? Because negative ads are an extremely effective way for a candidate to get a leg-up against their opponent. On average, 80 percent of campaign funds go towards producing negative advertisements.

 

“We get more useful information as voters often from comparative or negative ads than we do from someone who just says, ‘I’m for old people and puppies,’” says Syler.

 

However, there was a break from the aggressive ads in Tennessee governor’s race. No name calling, no character smearing. Just two men pleading their case for the votes on election day.

 

Bill Lee and Karl Dean were political opponents — not each other’s enemy. They refrained from throwing punching and pledged to be cordial with one another. Agreeing to disagree and show mutual respect. In Lee’s final ad before the election, he said, “my opponent is a good man — a public servant” carrying the feeling of respectfulness all the way up to election day.

 

When the results started rolling in on November 6, the easy-going businessman and political novice from Wilson County was elected governor of Tennessee.

 

Were his “no attack” campaign ads that got him elected? Kent Syler doesn’t think so, but maybe it was his overall message of positivity, getting along, and showing mutual respect to your fellow Tennesseans.

 

During his victory speech, Lee challenged the citizens of Tennessee to look to the governor’s race as to how we should aspire to be in the future.

 

“We felt called to serve. And we had a vision for this great state that we wanted to share,” says Lee. “And that’s why we ran a positive campaign from the very beginning to the very last day. Because we wanted to give a picture of what this state could look like if we unlock its potential.”

 

The current climate in America has both sides going at each others’ throats. Name calling, mud slinging, character bashing…the list goes on.

 

But in Tennessee, for a little while at least, the two candidates up for governor decided to leave all of the divisive tactics behind, in hopes that the people of the state will do the same. And in doing so, Tennessee will become a beacon of civility and respect in a world of animosity and chaos.

 

“I believe that Tennesseans — all Tennesseans have more that unites us than divides us.”