TALKING POINTS: U.S. Congresswoman Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., shown at a recent press conference in Shelby County with county sheriff Mark Luttrell, said her office is working to hold a seminar in Shelby County that would address subprime mortgage and related real estate issues. -- Photo By Bill Dries

It doesn't take long these days before political figures of all stripes go from talking politics to sweating economics.

Former first lady Hillary Clinton did it in Memphis Friday during her speech at Mason Temple, where she invoked the memory of Martin Luther King Jr. in calling for the creation of a presidential cabinet post to fight poverty. The topic also is gaining traction in this fall's race for the 7th U.S. Congressional District seat.

The incumbent is Republican Marsha Blackburn, who began making a name for herself as a Tennessee state senator in opposing a state income tax championed by former Gov. Don Sundquist. Blackburn won election in 2002 as the representative of the 7th District, a traditionally strong Republican seat that covers an area of the state from the suburbs of Memphis all the way to the outskirts of Nashville.

All those hoops

In light of the credit crunch that's picked up steam over the past year, Blackburn said her office is staying in close touch with homebuilders, Realtors and mortgage lenders. Her office also is working to put together a seminar that would address subprime mortgages and related real estate issues, with the goal of providing attendees access to housing resources and various outlets for aid.

"We're trying to work it out so that we can do it in Shelby County," Blackburn said about that seminar. "We're trying to jump through all the hoops you have to go through to get this kind of thing approved by the House administration.

"But it's interesting. Most people tell me in this district - what they will say to do is not to overreact: 'You all overreacted with the passage of Sarbanes-Oxley after Enron,' and 'Let's be a little more thoughtful. Hang in there. Don't step too fast.'"

Hitching his wagon

Meanwhile, a challenger Blackburn has picked up for her seat said she - along with the rest of her colleagues in what was a Republican-controlled House for more than a decade until 2006 - has been generally ineffective in confronting economic issues.

"It's time for her to come home," said Tom Leatherwood, the Shelby County Register of Deeds who will try and snatch away the Republican primary from Blackburn in August.

In material his campaign released last week, Leatherwood lay part of the blame for the rising national deficit and pork-barrel spending projects at the feet of Blackburn.

Other comments he shared with The Daily News in announcing his candidacy - such as the fact that Republicans "had it all" before figures like Blackburn squandered the party's political future - come against the backdrop of what once was a cordial relationship with Blackburn.

Both Leatherwood and Blackburn served together in the state Senate from 1998 to 2000, where they were known for their conservative fiscal philosophies.

Blackburn told reporters during a recent press session that her opposition in this year's election is something most Republican incumbents can probably expect and that public frustration over the economy is one likely reason for that.

"It's kind of one of those years - no one, I think, will be left unchallenged," she said. "The public is frustrated. There are those of us who have been pushing the conservative agenda, pushing for securing the border, pushing for earmark reform, pushing to reduce spending, and, honestly, I am pleased to see the public so engaged on these issues. It's just kind of expected this year."

Accountability: relative

Blackburn has developed a high profile among congressional Republicans that's come partly from her constant presence on cable news shows, something she'll likely continue as the election unfolds. Her star has risen to such a degree that the prominent conservative magazine National Review floated her name earlier this year as a possible running mate for presidential hopeful and U.S. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., calling the Tennessee congresswoman "a staunch budget-cutter, social and fiscal conservative."

Blackburn has said publicly she's not interested in that job.

Speaking with The Daily News recently in response to a question about the appropriate response from Congress to housing-related economic woes, the legislator's answer was short on specifics and long on big-picture conservative ideas.

"One of the constituents I was talking to recently told me what we don't want to do is to end up where it is more difficult for individuals to qualify for a loan - that they have more red tape and that they have more bureaucracy," she said. "The point that was made to me was that there are plenty of different ways of approaching accountability, and we need to be very, very careful that we don't take some laws that have not been overhauled in 50 or 60 years and make them more cumbersome rather than less cumbersome."