Bob Corker's 2009

(This is the second in a series of year-end-reviews for potential 2012 candidates.

Mitt Romney's can be read here).

In December of 2008, MSNBC talked about the GOP's "new star": first-term Tennessee Sen. Bob Corker, who was emerging as the "folksy, wry" stand-out of the auto bailout talks.

He urged the UAW to make key concessions, pushed debt reduction demands on automakers, and even impressed Democrats with his knowledge of the issue.

Less than a month later, he created an "absolute frenzy" when he visited the Detroit auto show, stirring "the kind of political theater usually reserved for election years".

At least one Michigan paper went further, noting that he provoked more buzz in the state than when Mitt Romney, John McCain, and Mike Huckabee attended the show just before Michigan's 2008 primary.

Nevertheless, the pressure didn't get to Corker, and he stood firm after his trip.

"I was repeatedly asked if my visit 'changed my mind about Detroit.' The answer is no. If anything, it makes me even more committed to the fact that these companies need to be right-sized and competitive because they have great products that will benefit our country."

But January of 2009 also brought a string of votes which hurt Corker's conservative cred.

Most notably, he joined 72 Senators in supporting a massive omnibus bill composed of 160 separate bills (both John McCain and Lindsey Graham voted against the bill).

He also voted to confirm Timothy Geithner, arguing that a President should be given "wide latitude" in cabinet selections. In keeping with that spirit, he voted to confirm Eric Holder, while other conservatives like Jim DeMint and John Thune voted NO. He also voted to confirm Hilda Solis. But in what was his biggest confirmation vote of the year, he opposed Sonia Sotomayor.

He broke from most members of his party by supporting the expansion of SCHIP, claiming it wasn't a perfect bill, but nevertheless a worthy effort.

The American Conservative Union gave him an 83.00/100 on his 2008 voting record (by contrast, Jim DeMint was 98.4/100), and the National Journal rated him the 27th most conservative member of the Senate. A watchdog group gave him a 68% (pdf) on its rating of taxpayer-friendly Senators (DeMint got 98%, McCain 85%, Susan Collins 48%).

In January, The New Republic noted that Corker sounded "more like a Greenpeace activist than anything else" at Al Gore's hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and in March, he talked about the inevitability of global warming legislation. Since then, though, he seems to have moved to the right.

As the stimulus was nearing passage, he foretold its problems, calling it "nothing short of a disaster" that had "nothing whatsoever to do with creating jobs".

And throughout spring, he delivered sharp warnings at the Prez over rumored car plant closings across the nation. Corker was particularly vigilant over the fate of his state's Spring Hill plant. We took a look at who was playing politics on the issue -- Obama or Corker -- and concluded that, yeah, both were (ultimately, the plant was idled, but not closed, and -- after meeting with a top GM exec in May -- Corker expressed faith that politics wouldn't guide such decisions in the future).

Nevertheless, his big roles in the auto bailout hearings, the financial institution crises, and the stimulus negotiations began to build him quiet buzz as a darkhorse 2012 contender.

After Sarah Palin declined to headline a prestigious GOP fundraiser in South Carolina, the party asked Corker to pinch hit, and he did.

CNN's Peter Hamby noted:

The speaking slot offers the senator a chance to impress the South Carolina GOP establishment at the party’s biggest fundraiser of the year, and because of the state’s crucial role in the presidential nominating process, Corker’s visit could spark chatter about his future political aspirations.

U.S. Rep Zach Wamp called it a "landmark beginning into the national political environment for our senator."

In September, conservative blogger Glenn Reynolds interviewed Corker and asked about 2012 possibilities. Corker said he wasn't interested, but only after delivering a lengthy list of his accomplishments.

That same month, the Knoxville News Sentinel asked him if he would rule out a run. He wouldn't be pinned on the issue. He only deflected by noting his wife would be surprised if he ran and that he wasn't planning a trip to Iowa.

In August, he was the only U.S. Senator to take a trip to Afghanistan to observe the elections. He came back, claiming that the U.S. would be involved in the country for at least 10 years, and agreed that Al-Qaida should remain the center of our focus.

"From the standpoint of our future, the Taliban does not pose a threat to the United States of America."

Soundbites: Corker's always up for a good soundbite. A few e.g.'s: "Zombie banking system", on Obama: "It's all 'I', 'I', 'I'." Another one. Canada's "living off us".

Some more ideology: He's pro-life, but a recent convert to the cause. In 1994, he ran for Senate as a pro-choice candidate, but switched positions in 2006 and received the National Right to Life committee's endorsement. Corker advocates off-shore drilling to increase petroleum reserves. He's strongly free-trade, supports the Second Amendment, has encouraged health savings accounts, and has voted no on comprehensive immigration reform.

Chance he'll run: Low. 2012 is too early, and he has enough savvy to keep from diminishing himself with a weak run. A VP bid is also highly unlikely. He's a white, southern male, and his independent streak would hurt with the base.

For more Corker, visit his GOP12 news archive.