Dean serves a side of humor with platform

I am interested in hearing more from Karl Dean, but don't interpret that to mean that he's not a likeable fellow. Maybe he's a little less approachable than David Briley, but he has a funny and self-deprecating sense of humor (another Purcell similarity) that made for some good banter today.

Responding to one question, Dean began to answer by saying, "If I'm mayor." He paused and then corrected himself. "Well, I guess I'm supposed to say, 'When I'm mayor, aren't I?"

When one attendee asked about public transportation, Bruce Barry jumped in to urge Dean to build a subway (an intentionally absurd notion, since Nashville rests on layers of formidable limestone). Dean replied, "No, I want a monorail." He may or may not be a Simpsons fan, but I welcomed a little playful verbal sparring from a candidate for public office. I'm pretty sure that's not in the talking points, but it did earn a few chuckles from the rest of the table.

Another blogger referred to the "other four high profile candidates" in the race (meaning Briley, Clement, Dozier and Gentry, presumably) when asking a question. Dean interrupted to say, "You're confident I'm a high profile candidate?" and laughed. He wasn't being combative, in my opinion. He was having fun. That's refreshing, I think.