Tuesday, January 16, 2007
Gray days for Tennessee Democrats
Gray Sasser, son of former U.S. Senator Jim Sasser, was recently elected chairman of the state Democratic Party. According to today's City Paper, Sasser is not only relishing his new job, he's "hopeful ... for the future" of the Tennessee Democratic Party as well. The obvious question is: Why?
Tennessee is not only a conservative state, it is a thoroughly Republican state as well. Yes, but, doesn't Phil Bredesen's big victory last year dispute this notion? Not at all. In 2002, Phil Bredesen was elected on a platform of low taxes and promises to use the power of the market to deal with issues like TennCare. That is, he more or less ran as a Republican. In fact, if an individual knew absolutely nothing about Phil Bredesen except what he or she had seen in the governor-to-be's 2002 television ads, the individual in question would've had to conclude that Bredesen is a card-carrying Republican.
Bredesen's 2006 re-election campaign was chock full of sloganeering on behalf of conservative causes (see illegal immigration), and he easily defeated an opponent will little money and no name recognition. Bredesen, however, had no coattails: Junior lost; Bredesen buds like Bob Rochelle, Mary Parker, and Vince Springer came up well short in their respective bids to defeat GOP members of the State Senate; and Democrats failed to pick up any seats in the State House of Representatives.
The GOP's gaining complete control of the State Senate for the first time in 130-something years has been the topic du jour in the blogosphere recently. Thus, I'll not dive into that subject here. I will say this, however: The fact that a down-the-line Democrat, i.e., Rosalind Kurita, crossed the aisle to support the Republican candidate for Speaker shows that state Democrats currently do not have their heads and their asses wired together. I'm afraid Kurita's defection is only the first crack of many cracks the Democrats will be trying to seal in the months ahead.
One of my fondest political memories is seeing Gray Sasser crying his eyes out during his father's concession speech on election night 1994. Sasser's no doubt a very smart individual, but a tough-talking, tough-minded politico he ain't. His selection as state party chief says a lot about the current state of Tennessee Democrats. Let's just hope, for Gray Sasser's sake, that they've put up a large supply of tissues.
Tennessee is not only a conservative state, it is a thoroughly Republican state as well. Yes, but, doesn't Phil Bredesen's big victory last year dispute this notion? Not at all. In 2002, Phil Bredesen was elected on a platform of low taxes and promises to use the power of the market to deal with issues like TennCare. That is, he more or less ran as a Republican. In fact, if an individual knew absolutely nothing about Phil Bredesen except what he or she had seen in the governor-to-be's 2002 television ads, the individual in question would've had to conclude that Bredesen is a card-carrying Republican.
Bredesen's 2006 re-election campaign was chock full of sloganeering on behalf of conservative causes (see illegal immigration), and he easily defeated an opponent will little money and no name recognition. Bredesen, however, had no coattails: Junior lost; Bredesen buds like Bob Rochelle, Mary Parker, and Vince Springer came up well short in their respective bids to defeat GOP members of the State Senate; and Democrats failed to pick up any seats in the State House of Representatives.
The GOP's gaining complete control of the State Senate for the first time in 130-something years has been the topic du jour in the blogosphere recently. Thus, I'll not dive into that subject here. I will say this, however: The fact that a down-the-line Democrat, i.e., Rosalind Kurita, crossed the aisle to support the Republican candidate for Speaker shows that state Democrats currently do not have their heads and their asses wired together. I'm afraid Kurita's defection is only the first crack of many cracks the Democrats will be trying to seal in the months ahead.
One of my fondest political memories is seeing Gray Sasser crying his eyes out during his father's concession speech on election night 1994. Sasser's no doubt a very smart individual, but a tough-talking, tough-minded politico he ain't. His selection as state party chief says a lot about the current state of Tennessee Democrats. Let's just hope, for Gray Sasser's sake, that they've put up a large supply of tissues.
# posted by Joltin' Django @ Tuesday, January 16, 2007 
