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Zach Wamp’s children first noticed their father’s odd habit when television cameras panned the floor while the House of Representatives was in session. The veteran legislator happened to be texting in a manner that seems perfectly normal to him. “This is where they first laughed at my style,” says Wamp. “The camera was on me, and my kids said to each other ‘Look at the way he’s holding that thing!’”
Whenever he’s texting—be it to fellow lawmakers, heads of state, or music stars like John Rich and Michael W. Smith— the congressman holds his Blackberry between his left middle finger and thumb.
He uses his left index finger and right thumb to punch the keys. “Sometimes I have to sit it down because my left hand will get tired,” says Wamp, showing off his unorthodox form over a plate of cream
corn and mashed potatoes at the Mount Vernon Restaurant on Broad Street. “I can flat go to town.”
“He is quicker than his kids, I think,” adds Kim Wamp, seated beside her husband.
Wamp, Chattanooga’s own tweeting, blogging, Facebooking, YouTubing and multi-Blackberry toting Republican candidate for governor, says high-tech communications will play an important role
in his primary campaign. He sends his “Tweets” to 3,600 followers on Twitter, and personally replies to messages from approximately 8,000 fans on Facebook. In one frenetic experiment in communications during December, the lawmaker exchanged text messages with members of Lee University’s Voices of Lee between their performances on NBC’s reality show “The Sing Off ,” and tweeted updates to his followers.
He’s even adept at social networking shorthand, summing up in December the gubernatorial races by tweeting 52 characters, “Enough $, vision, passion + love of Tn leads 2 victory.”
But while smart phones and social networks keep him connected to Congress and his campaign, Wamp says his family, friends and Sunday school class at Red Bank Baptist keep him tied to his roots at
home.
A longtime regular at Mount Vernon, an elegant Southside eatery specializing in buttered-up Southern cuisine, Wamp knows the wait staff and most of his fellow diners. When’s he’s not at Mount Vernon,
other favorite venues include Cracker Barrel, Porker’s BBQ, Five Guys Burgers and Fries and Nikki’s. Especially proud of Chattanooga’s downtown district, Wamp says he loves to usher out-of-town visitors
around the district. Even when campaigning hundreds of miles away, the Scenic City’s rebirth is a topic of interest. “The talk of the state to this day is Chattanooga,” says Wamp, who is sometimes called
the regional mayor of Southeast Tennessee.
Wamp and his wife enjoy “walking the bridges” for exercise, forming a loop by crossing the Tennessee River at Market Street and Walnut Street bridges. But he’s not sure how eff ective of a weight loss
technique the route is. “If you start at Tony’s (Pasta Shop), and walk across and have Clumpies (Ice Cream), it’s a net loss,” says Wamp, flashing a grin. For more serious workouts, the congressman favors a five-mile route near his home in Lookout Valley and a seven-mile course around the National Mall in Washington.
Wamp, who has played shortstop for the Republicans during the traditional annual congressional baseball game during the past few years, remains a very fit 52, and runs about 20 miles each week. He
says running, as well as mowing the lawn, allows him to isolate himself and think. Wamp’s idea to change the Capitol’s Great Hall to Emancipation Hall came while he was running. “Men need cave time,” he
says.
But isolation may be hard to come by over the next few months. During his 15 years in Congress, Wamp has tried to spend about half of his time in Chattanooga and half in Washington. Running for
governor and needing to campaign more in Middle and West Tennessee where he is not as well known, his time in Chattanooga is splintered into rare and savored time. Since Aug. 3 Wamp has traveled
more than 20,000 miles in his campaign RV. “Th is is the first year I may not be able to cut my own grass,” he says. “This schedule is so intense.”
Get to know Zach Wamp
FAVORITE REsTAURANTS: MOUNT VERNON, CRACKER BARREL, STICKY FINGERS, NIKKI’s, PORKER’S
MOST FAMOUs PHONE NUMBERS IN HIS CELL PHONE: CHRISTIAN MUSICIAN MICHAEL W. sMITH, JOHN RICH OF BIG AND RICH, NAOMI JUDD, FRED THOMPSON, NEWT GINGRICH, RICKY SKAGGS
CHATTANOOGA EXPERIENCE HE’S NEVER HAD: RACCOON MOUNTAIN CAVERNS AND HANG GLIDING
FAVORITE MUSIC GROUP: CASTING CROWNS
FAVORITE CHATTANOOGA ATTRACTION: THE TENNESSEE AQUARIUM
HOMETOWN: EAST RIDGE
BIGGEST THING HE GAVE UP WHEN HE GOT MARRIED: RIDING A MOTORCYCLE
FAVORITE WINTERTIME ACTIVITY: BUILDING FIRES IN THE FIREPLACE
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