Monday, November 20, 2006
Beating a dead political horse
I hate to keep beating a dead political horse, but I simply must respond to a letter to the editor that appears in the current Nashville Scene. According to one Keri Cannon, Harold Ford, Jr., aka Junior, should be "congratulated for all he accomplished and recognized for the qualities that almost took him to the U.S. Senate." I'll congratulate Junior for almost making it to the U.S. Senate, but that's the only congratulatory gesture I'll offer him.
If I'd been afforded the opportunity to speak face-to-face with Junior during his campaign for U.S. Senate, I would have asked him this question:
You've served almost ten complete years in the U.S. House of Representatives, and you've failed to distinguish yourself as a legislator in any way. Even the Tennessean, which is firmly pro-Junior in its reporting and editorializing, felt compelled to note that your record as a member of Congress is quite thin. Indeed, no major pieces of legislation have originated in your office; you routinely miss committee meetings and ask very few questions during the committee meetings you do attend; and you missed the fourth most number of roll-call votes during the 109th Congress. You have a terrible ten-year record as a lawmaker. What makes you think that you deserve another two years in the U.S. House, let alone six years in the U.S. Senate?
Truth be told, I did pose a similar question to several Junior for Senate supporters during the 2006 campaign. More often than not, I was forced to endure a lecture on a "new generation of leadership" and other such claptrap. Never once did I hear a person convincingly argue the case as to why a mediocre member of the U.S. House should be rewarded with a seat in the U.S. Senate. And now, even with the benefit of hindsight, Junior's supporters still want us to think about what Junior might've conceivably done if elected to the United States Senate ... instead of what he has - and, more importantly, has not - done in the U.S. House of Representatives.
If I'd been afforded the opportunity to speak face-to-face with Junior during his campaign for U.S. Senate, I would have asked him this question:
You've served almost ten complete years in the U.S. House of Representatives, and you've failed to distinguish yourself as a legislator in any way. Even the Tennessean, which is firmly pro-Junior in its reporting and editorializing, felt compelled to note that your record as a member of Congress is quite thin. Indeed, no major pieces of legislation have originated in your office; you routinely miss committee meetings and ask very few questions during the committee meetings you do attend; and you missed the fourth most number of roll-call votes during the 109th Congress. You have a terrible ten-year record as a lawmaker. What makes you think that you deserve another two years in the U.S. House, let alone six years in the U.S. Senate?
Truth be told, I did pose a similar question to several Junior for Senate supporters during the 2006 campaign. More often than not, I was forced to endure a lecture on a "new generation of leadership" and other such claptrap. Never once did I hear a person convincingly argue the case as to why a mediocre member of the U.S. House should be rewarded with a seat in the U.S. Senate. And now, even with the benefit of hindsight, Junior's supporters still want us to think about what Junior might've conceivably done if elected to the United States Senate ... instead of what he has - and, more importantly, has not - done in the U.S. House of Representatives.
# posted by Joltin' Django @ Monday, November 20, 2006 
