WASHINGTON — Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen, in town for the National Governors Association conference, said he expects Monday’s meeting of the governors with President Barack Obama to be much more illuminating than previous years’ sessions with former President George W. Bush.

Gov. Bredesen said President Bush’s meetings with the governors were highly structured, with the president reading from prepared comments and the governors allowed to ask two questions, one from a Democrat and one from a Republican.

“From knowing (President Obama), I think he’s likely to have a more free-ranging discussion,” Gov. Bredesen said.

DAVIS NOT AFRAID OF GERRYMANDERING

Rep. Lincoln Davis, D-Tenn., said he is not worried that Republicans may gerrymander his rural district after the 2010 Census if they have majorities in both the state House and Senate.

“My district is not a Republican or a Democratic district,” he said. “It’s composed of people like me who are moderate to conservative.”

Besides, he said, his district is already well-defined as the rural areas between Chattanooga, Knoxville and Nashville. Redrawing the lines would only put more Democratic-leaning areas into it, he said.

“How would you reapportion that district?” Rep. Davis said. “Where are you going to put it? You can’t make my district any more moderate to conservative than it is today.”

He also noted that in the 1976 presidential election, his district had the second highest margin of victory for Democratic winner Jimmy Carter.

WAMP VISITS JORDAN

Rep. Zach Wamp, R-Tenn., this week visited the Middle East as part of a bipartisan delegation that included Sens. John Kerry, D-Mass., and Richard Lugar, R-Ind., and Rep. Howard Berman, D-Calif.

Rep. Wamp said the trip, which included a visit with King Abdullah II of Jordan and policy experts from the region, was “one of the most instructive, timely and beneficial sessions that I have participated in during my 14 years in Congress.”

He said the issues facing the Middle East will have great impact on the world’s economic future.

“The reality of the world we operate in today is that our nation must do a better job of deciding where and how we intervene in the world, outlining our objectives in each case with a clear understanding of how success will be defined and measured, what it will take to succeed and what is required to exit,” he wrote in a release distributed to the media.

WAMP ALSO CALLS FOR FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY

In his piece, Rep. Wamp also continued to criticize the economic stimulus package, saying the country cannot borrow its way to prosperity.

“Prudence would call for fiscal responsibility at home so that the greatest nation in history will remain strong enough economically to lead the world out of this downturn with attention to freedom, human rights, global security and our national sovereignty,” he wrote.

Compiled by Washington correspondent Herman Wang.

E-mail Herman Wang at hwang@timesfreepress.com