The Knoxville News Sentinel files this report on an "informal talk" (in front of 500 invited guests) between Knoxville Mayor Bill Haslam and Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN).

Readers might recall that Haslam's dad "Big Jim" delivered the election for Corker (although it was a squeaker). Readers should also recall that Haslam was just reelected mayor with virtually no opposition, owing to the powerful East Tennessee Republican Machine which discourages opposition candidates from wasting their money.

Anyway, there are some interesting remarks by Sen. Corker that distance him from Bush's policies. There could be many strategeries at work.

One, he's playing up his role as the maverick during his freshman term while he still gets a free pass. (And by the way, Sen. Corker was the ONLY FRESHMAN REPUBLICAN elected in the 2006 elections. Thanks, Tennessee Democrats!)

Two, he's trying to establish statewide, fiercely independent GOP "Not Bush" credibility to help out his pal and colleague Sen. Lamar Alexander in the 2008 elections against an as-yet unnamed opponent. (Although Alexander will have a hard time distancing himself from his lockstep votes with Bush on everything except the environment).

Three, he's planting the seed for a Haslam run for Governor in 2010, followed by a run for U.S. Senate in 2014 (if my election calendar math is correct). The timing seems perfect.

Four, all of the above.

On the other hand, maybe it really was just an informal talk between friends.

All that said, I remember having dinner with someone plugged into state politics at a high level. We were discussing the 2006 senate race. This was sometime around 2004. The feeling was that a Republican would probably win and that Tennessee could do worse than Bob Corker, who acted a little progressive on a few issues. He at least gets credit for his vote on SCHIP. Being anti-Bush, though, isn't much of a risk these days.

OK, then.