'Liddle' guy with no guts? Bob Corker should challenge Trump for president

Jack McElroy
Knoxville

President Donald Trump says Bob Corker “didn’t have the guts to run” for re-election. Maybe Corker should prove him wrong and run anyway … for president.

Some pundits have already raised that possibility with the Twitter spat that started when Trump blamed the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee for the “horrendous” Iran nuclear deal and mocked him as "Liddle Bob." Corker responded by accusing the president of needing "adult day care" supervision and putting America “on the path to World War III.”

Most recently, the hastag #AlertTheDaycareStaff has been trending.

Does Bob Corker challenge Trump in 2020?” asked a FoxNews.com headline Oct. 9.

There certainly are precedents for Tennesseans seeking the White House -- before, after or while in the Senate.

Howard Baker Jr. ran in 1980, losing to Ronald Reagan. Lamar Alexander ran in 1996 and 2000, losing to Bob Dole and George H.W. Bush. Al Gore Jr. lost to George W. Bush in 2000. Fred Thompson ran unsuccessfully in 2008 against John McCain. Bill Frist flirted with the idea before getting bogged down as Senate majority leader.

In fact, the Tennessee senators of modern vintage who haven’t eyed the Oval Office are Jim Sasser and Harlan Matthews, who was appointed caretaker after Gore's election as vice president.

And Corker.

In this Oct. 11, 2013 file photo, Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., speaks to reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington.

Yet before joining the Senate, Corker’s experience was all on the executive side, having served as state commissioner of finance and mayor of Chattanooga, as well as built and run his own company. His time in the Upper Chamber merely rounded out his resume by adding expertise in foreign affairs.

Trump would have reason to fear a primary challenger. They have proven deadly to incumbents in recent history.

Reagan wounded Gerald Ford by running in 1976, and Ford went on to lose to Jimmy Carter. Carter, in turn, was hurt by a challenge by Edward Kennedy and lost to Reagan. Pat Buchanan took on George H. W. Bush, who then lost to Bill Clinton. Lyndon Johnson quit in the face of challenges by Eugene McCarthy and Robert Kennedy. Harry Truman did likewise rather than run against Estes Kefauver, another Tennessee senator who sought the highest office.

More:Was Bob Corker not tall enough to top Trump short list?

Granted, the challengers didn’t fare well in those races either. Only Reagan eventually  made it to the White House. But anything is possible these days, as Trump’s successful campaign proved. Surely some Republican will challenge his re-election. Why not a Tennessean?

True, Corker has some baggage involving financial dealings. But Trump is in no position to criticize him on those grounds.

Donald Trump stands next to Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., during a campaign event at the Duke Energy Center for the Performing Arts on July 5, 2016, in Raleigh, N.C.

In fact, it seems like the basic battle lines already are drawn. Corker would question Trump’s maturity and fitness, raising the specter of war or other calamity. Trump would try to paint Corker as part of the “establishment, globalist clique,” as Steve Bannon put it during the Sean Hannity show.

Sounds like a worthwhile national debate.

So let the race begin. Maybe it already has.

Jack McElroy is executive editor of the Knoxville News Sentinel. He can be reached at editor@knoxnews.com.