Stanley's Gone, Here Comes Kelsey
Tennessee State Senator Paul Stanley has yielded to the voice of both his constituents and his party, and has announced that he will resign in the wake of intern-gate:Asking for the forgiveness of his constituents and his wife, and a week to the hour after news first broke of his affair with a young legislative intern, state Sen. Paul Stanley announced Tuesday evening that he is resigning from the legislature on Aug. 10.
The Germantown Republican delivered his resignation in a three-sentence letter to Senate Speaker and Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey, who forwarded it to Gov. Phil Bredesen to call a special primary and election this fall. Voters in Senate District 31 — a large swath of Germantown, Cordova, Bartlett and southeast Memphis — will elect a successor for the remainder of Stanley's term until the November 2010 general election. At that time, they will elect a senator to a full four-year term.
Stanley's resignation saves the Senate and the Republican Caucus from the awful specter of having Paul Stanley hang over the party's collective head. The predictable catcalls from the Left wing of the Democratic Party have begun as it is announced that the GOP's most outspoken and controversial House member, Brian Kelsey, will seek Stanley's Senate seat in the special election. It is not known who may run against Kelsey in the special called Republican Primary. Liberals and moderates may discount Kelsey's chances, but these people never believed Brian Kelsey could get where he is to begin with. As controversial as Kelsey is, he also knows how to get effective media attention, and is one of the most personable and approachable men on the Hill.
Brian Kelsey may win or he may lose, but the Left-wing blogosphere makes a terrible mistake when they discount him. However, I would invite these folks to continue making these predictions about how badly Brian Kelsey is going to lose. Some of these same people predicted that Stacey Campfield was going to lose in the Republican Primary in 2006, but Campfield won in a massive landslide. Schree Pettigrew was supposed to beat Campfield, but Campfield crushed her at the end of the day. One of the most popular men in University of Tennessee circles, Ron Leadbetter, could not even defeat Campfield after years of the opposition deriding Campfield as an embarrassment. His opponents are gone, but Stacey Campfield is still standing and has officially seen bills that he sponsored pass the House.
Brian Kelsey is capable of victory on his own, but I would actively encourage his detractors to continue believing otherwise.
Labels: Conservatism, Republican Party, Tennessee politics
posted by Deacon David Oatney @ 2:26 AM
3 Comments:
Thanks for the insightful commentary David!
Around the State Capitol it is common knowledge that, about 14 years ago, married man Frank Niceley had an extra-marital affair with a married woman in Sevier County. That affair produced a child, who is now a teenager.
That illicit pregnancy exposed the affair and led to a divorce for the woman. She had the child though and it goes by her last name.
Rep. Niceley has been known to say around the Capitol that: "My wife [Cindy] knew she married a stud when she picked me and that I would be hard to keep in the corral."
Now, in a previous column on Stanley, you write: "When a person demonstrates such a glaring lack of mental capacity, they are not fit for public office."
The question for you: Does the same apply to your buddy Frank?!
If not, why not?!
Oatney,
You're wrong if you think liberals want Brian Kelsey to fail in his bid for Paul Stanley's Senate seat.
They want badly for him to win it.
Nothing would serve the interests of Democrats more than giving Brian Kelsey a bigger megaphone.
David,
This race won't be about Brian Kelsey against the Left wing of the Democratic Party. More than likely it will be Steve McManus (R) against Brian Kelsey (R) in a special election (low turn out). There are hardcore conservatives that like both men, should be a good race. I think the race will focus on the temperament of the candidates. I like Steve.
Post a Comment
<< Home