Thursday, January 12, 2012

Would You Like Cheese With That Whine?

The Democrats are already whining about redistricting:

This new district map essentially does the reverse, and insures that cities, which are losing population, are not overrepresented in the next General Assembly, hence the real source of the Democrats' concern. There was very little in the way of complaint from Democrats about under-representation of rural Tennessee and East Tennessee back when they drew the districts and drew them to manufacture Democratic majorities that were padded at best and an outright fabrication of reality at worst. Now that it is time to administer the medication to the patient-Tennessee's electoral system-that Democrats made sick with years of neglect and taking their majorities for granted, Tennessee Democrats do not want to take their medicine. As they know very well from experience, the party that runs the General Assembly calls the tune in Tennessee-see how we felt all those years?

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Wednesday, January 11, 2012

If Tennessee wants a say in the Republican nominating process, South Carolina had better save the day:

Contrary to popular belief, the Republican nomination is far from decided in reality. After South Carolina, the series of States which vote on what this year will be Super Tuesday, March 6th, will all have their delegate counts decided on a proportional basis, most by congressional district. That means that if candidates were to campaign well, they could still challenge Mitt Romney for the Republican nomination. The practical reality is that if Tennesseans want a real say in who will be the Republican nominee, it would appear that South Carolina is going to have to be the contest where someone defeats Mitt Romney, because at some point, money becomes a factor for those candidates who would otherwise have a chance to be nominated.

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Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Just Make Sure You Do the Business

Talk of early adjournment of the Tennessee General Assembly is a very good thing:

The Tennessee General Assembly convenes its second session today and gets underway in a matter of minutes as this column is being written. Indeed, by the time we go to press, session will almost certainly be underway in both Houses. Just as the General Assembly gets underway today, there is already talk of when the session will end, with the leadership of both Houses eager to get on with business and get out of Nashville as quickly as possible. Lieutenant Governor Ron Ramsey hinted during today's Senate session in an exchange with Senate Democratic Leader Jim Kyle (D-Memphis) as this column is being written that he was hoping for adjournment as soon as late April.






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Monday, January 09, 2012

The New Congressional Order

East Tennessee will soon have a new Congressional configuration:

With the Tennessee General Assembly set to open tomorrow, Tennessee House Speaker Beth Harwell and Lieutenant Governor Ron Ramsey releasing the likely Tennessee Congressional District map late last week, the the proposal set to become finalized early in the new session of the General Assembly. One thing that doesn't change is the compsition of the First Congressional District, in which this writer lives. Congressman Phil Roe's (R-Johnson City) will remain virtually the same, including taking in the 3rd civil district of Jefferson County (White Pine Precinct). The remaining 2/3rds of Jefferson County, however, won't be in the 3rd Congressional District represented by Congressman Chuck Fleischmann (R-Chattanooga) any longer, but will join Grainger, Claibourne, and part of Campbell Counties in a refomed 2nd Congressional District anchored in Knox County and represented by Tennessee's senior Member of Congress, John J. Duncan Jr. (R-Knoxville).






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