Megan Barry's Announcement of her Candidacy Challenging Mark Green is not being Greeted with Enthusiasm.

by Rod Williams, Dec. 13, 2023- I would have thought the Nashville Scene would have had a fawning, upbeat piece about Megan Barry's announcement that she was challenging Mark Green for his seventh congressional district seat. I expected The Scene to be a cheerleader. Instead, its reporting is kind of down in the mouth and less than exciting. In fact, it is very critical of Barry. Betsy Smith who wrote the Scene article about Barry's announcement (Is a Megan Barry Candidacy Really a Good Idea?)  is realistic about Barry's chances and not shy about reviving the story of her criminal and embarrassing conduct that caused her to resign as mayor of Nashville. I am not going to speculate about the reason for the tone, maybe it is just an honest expression of how the people at the Scene feel.  Maybe they feel Barry betrayed them by putting her affair ahead of the city and the progressive cause. Here are some excerpts from the story: 

As far as I can tell, Nashville Democrats are excited. Former Democratic Party chair Mary Mancini tweeted that she’s “thrilled.” Other people I love and respect seem to share this opinion.

Am I on drugs? Did I slip into an alternate universe? Megan Barry pleaded guilty to a felony — stealing taxpayer money. Yes, she completed the terms of her deal and the felony has been expunged. That’s great for her, but we still know it.

You will notice that she says Mary Mancini, the former Tennessee Democratic Party chair is "thrilled."  The Scene piece does not report it, but the current Davidson County Democrat Party chair seems less than thrilled. Not by what he has said, but he sent out a fundraiser letter that did not even mention Barry's announcement and instead linked to a Axios Nashville article that had a less than glowing article about Barry's announcement. Here are excerpts from the Axios piece with the downer tone elements of the article highlighted. 

Former Nashville Mayor Megan Barry launched an underdog bid for Congress on Wednesday against incumbent Republican U.S. Rep. Mark Green in Tennessee's 7th district.

Why it matters: In Barry, Democrats have a skilled politician with excellent name recognition to rally behind, although she also has baggage related to her shocking 2018 resignation.

In addition to a large portion of Davidson County, the district stretches from the Kentucky border down to Alabama.

Between the lines: Barry will look to revive her political career, which was knocked off course when she resigned from office following the revelation of an affair with the head of her security detail.

 Back to the Scene piece, Betsy Phillips says Barry betrayed women:

 Megan Barry, Girl Boss, is a great unofficial slogan until you stop to think of the ways she screwed women over in order to carry on the activities that led to her stealing taxpayer money. The women on her security detail who couldn’t get overtime or the opportunity to travel with her because she was giving all that time and resources to her lover? The wife of her lover? To hell with them, I guess?

That is strong criticism. I found this interesting:

A couple of folks have asked me how I think Mark Green will respond to this. I hope for Barry's sake he just ignores her. Because if he gives an intern 20 minutes and asks them to report back on everything they find after Googling “Megan Barry gossip,” he’s going to have a treasure trove of negatives and no reason to be polite or discreet about them. 

A couple of folks have asked me how I think Mark Green will respond to this. I hope for Barry's sake he just ignores her. Because if he gives an intern 20 minutes and asks them to report back on everything they find after Googling “Megan Barry gossip,” he’s going to have a treasure trove of negatives and no reason to be polite or discreet about them. 

I have not googled "Megan Barry gossip," but what we know is bad enough but apparently there is a lot more that is "gossip" and worse than what we know.

With friends like The Scene and the Nashville Democrat Party and Axios Nashville, Megan Barry is going nowhere.  

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