Haslam Makes Tennessean's Top Political Movers List

Mayor and GOP gubernatorial candidate Bill Haslam has made Nashville newspaper The Tennessean's list of top political movers in 2009, along with rival U.S. Rep. Zach Wamp.

The paper thinks Haslam's got the best chance to succeed Gov. Phil Bredesen:

The current mayor of Knoxville and a leading contender in the bid for the Republican nomination for governor, Haslam appears most likely to be able to ride Gov. Phil Bredesen's pro-business coattails, despite the different party affiliation. As a son of the wealthy and politically connected founder of Pilot Oil Co., Haslam has already far outstripped his opponents in fundraising and won a coveted endorsement of GOP stalwart Howard Baker.

Here's what it says about Wamp:

More than any other candidate in the Republican race for governor, U.S. Rep. Zach Wamp has made little secret of the fact that he's waging an all-out ideological battle, going so far at one point to say he'd meet federal agents at the state line to defend the state's gun rights. Wamp is using his message to try to tap a strong anti-Obama, anti-spending sentiment among conservative populists.

So that's a little insight into how the big state paper views the candidates outside the K-town bubble--and it's pretty much the same way they're viewed inside it.

I don't know, who'd you rather be stuck in an elevator with?