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.
Labels: Conservatism, Elections, Local politics, Presidential Election, Republican Party, Tennessee politics
Redistricting Is Here
The Tennessee House and Senate redistricting
plans have arrived:
The real changes appear to be coming in the Tennessee House of
Representatives, especially for those of us in East Tennessee. What
amounts to three new districts will be created in Knox County, including
(if the map
is correct) an 89th District in West Knox County. We won't ask for
details on how 89 is consecutive with 13 through 19. Representative
Frank Niceley (R-Strawberry Plains) won't represent any part of
Knox County anymore, but he will have around 2/3rds of Jefferson and
roughly the northern third of Sevier County as his new 17th District.
Labels: Congress, Conservatism, Elections, Federal politics, Local politics, Presidential Election, Radio show
Wow...
Sometimes that is the only word that comes to mind when the
impossible becomes political reality:
There are times when watching a political result that all you can say
is "wow." Last night's Iowa Caucuses were such a moment. This writer
prays his wife will forgive him for being up until after 4:00am awaiting
the final result. We've been up all night to await election outcomes
before, but I can't recall the last time I was up all night awaiting an
outcome during primary and caucus season.
When the final result came in, even though the numbers showed former
Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney at the top literally by just a few
votes, it is former Senator Rick Santorum (R-Pennsylvania) who can be
the one to claim victory. Within a matter of a month, he came from
around 3% of the vote to effectively tie at the top of the caucus
margins.
Labels: Conservatism, Elections, Federal politics, Local politics, Presidential Election, Republican Party, Tennessee politics
The Ballot Is Fixed
The ballot for Tennessee's
March 6th Presidential primary is fixed:
Tennessee Secretary of State Tre Hargett announced the names
of the candidates who will appear on the ballot Tennessee's scheduled
March 6th, 2012 Republican Presidential Preference Primary yesterday.
The Republican candidates that Tennesseans will have to choose from in
March are Michele Bachmann, Newt Gingrich, Jon Huntsman, Gary Johnson,
Ron Paul, Rick Perry, Charles “Buddy” Roemer, Mitt Romney and Rick
Santorum.
Labels: Elections, Presidential Election, Republican Party, Tennessee politics
Super Tuesday?
Tennessee's influence in the presidential race
may just have increased:
If Cain endorses Gingrich, he may throw more conservative support in Tennessee behind Newt, even as we know that Haslam family money and political push
are behind Mitt Romney. That kind of political pull may wield results
in Statewide races, but in 2008, we saw a clear backlash from social
conservatives against the prevailing establishment wisdom when they
chose Mike Huckabee in the Tennessee primary over John McCain or Mitt
Romney. If more conservative primary voters are in that kind of mood in
2012, and they see Gingrich as their only option against a former
Massachusetts Governor with a liberal record who can't even decide if he
is pro-life this week, they may choose Gingrich as well.
Just as the 2012 presidential campaign is very fluid at this point,
so is the primary race in Tennessee itself. Perhaps the biggest question
for interested Tennesseans may be what kind of role Tennessee will end
up playing in the nomination process. In 2008, Tennessee ended up having
a quasi-major role in keeping former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee in
the campaign for as long as he was. According to the current schedule
of primaries and caucuses, Tennessee appears to be set to vote on March
6th, which-if there are no major changes in the primary calendar before
that date-will be Super Tuesday.
Labels: Conservatism, Elections, Local politics, Presidential Election, Tennessee politics
The Lesson In the Cain
What is happening to Herman Cain should be a lesson to
potential Republican candidates in the future:
If the allegations against Herman Cain do prove to be his undoing
and moot the time he spent in Tennessee, let it be a lesson to anyone
considering running for the presidency in the future: What you consider
your "private life" really matters. If you ran around on your wife years
ago, or you engaged in behavior that was inappropriate at one time but
you'd never dream of doing that now that you've settled down, you had
better approach it openly before your campaign gets serious or it will come back to bite you.
It would be better, if you intend to involve yourself in major national
politics, to deal openly with your past before you begin. If the
skeletons in your closet are going to stand in your way, it is better
not to waste your party's time or the voters' time.
Labels: Conservatism, Federal politics, Presidential Election, Tennessee politics
The Not-quite Endorsement
Governor Bill Haslam has a favorite, he
just isn't making it official:
Well, let's see, Governor Haslam's father, brother, and a great many
of his closest political friends-people we might consider to be
Haslam's "inner circle" have all made a choice, and their pick is former
Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney-you know, the one who was pro-choice
and became pro-life when it was politically expedient-hed who becomes a
lot of things when it is politically expedient.
Labels: Conservatism, Elections, Federal politics, Local politics, Presidential Election, Tennessee politics
Mitt's Media Problem
If you want to know why Mitt Romney hasn't quite closed the deal with the Republican base,
actions like this may be why:
You'll never find this writer telling a candidate that they can't have a
private fundraiser. However, when that fundraiser just happens to be in
a major public space in the middle of downtown Knoxville, and the
candidate is a major candidate for the 2012 Republican Presidential
nomination, it may not be a good idea to ban all media from an event in such an openly public space. Furthermore, when the Presidential candidate does
come to town, it stands to reason that the candidate and his supporters
will likely get some pretty bad press in the local area where this
occurs if it happens to get out that the news photographer who was
covering the candidate's visit was denied access to the building, and a
news reporter seeking a short interview was apparently escorted away by private security.
Labels: Conservatism, Federal politics, Presidential Election, Tennessee politics
Sinking Ship
Tennessee Democrats
are in deep trouble:
As can be expected, Tennessee Democratic Chairman Chip Forrester tried to put a brave face on those very negative numbers in a statement which said that no Republican got a majority. Obama's negatives are so high, however, that the State's Democrats must be concerned about how a large-scale defeat for the President within Tennessee would impact the down-ticket, especially in races for the Tennessee House of Representatives. In the wake of the 2010 General Election, Republicans won 64 seats in the House. Under the standing rules of the body, it takes 66 votes to cut off all debate, and redistricting will come into play for the 2012 election cycle. Since the GOP only needs two more seats in order to reach the 66 they need in order to pass whatever they please with no credible opposition, it might be that 66 comes as part of redrawing districts. Anger with Democrats over that party's perceived support of the man who may be the single most unpopular President in Tennessee history could push the Republican majority in the Tennessee House to 68 seats or higher.
Labels: Conservatism, Democrats, Duh, Federal politics, Local politics, Presidential Election, Tennessee politics
9-9-9
Herman Cain may be a great candidate, and very well could be the Republican nominee in 2012-but he
might want to rethink the third 9:
As Tennesseans are aware, we are fortunate in this State not to be burdened with a State income tax, and that means that the State is dependent on sales tax revenue for its daily operation, and many counties and localities throughout Tennessee are at least partly dependent on sales tax revenue to keep their books in balance. In Jefferson County, where this writer lives, that means that we pay a combined sales tax rate of 8.75% on non-food items, and-thanks to a Republican effort to lower the grocery tax at the State level-7.25% on our grocery bills. A tax chart from the Tennessee Department of Revenue gives the reader a very good idea of what we pay in combined sales taxes, and it drives up the cost of goods and services quite a bit, though it is worth it to avoid an income tax. However, the Cain 9-9-9 plan would cause the combined 8.75% tax rate in Jefferson and many other Tennessee counties to double to 17.75%, since we would have to add the new federal 9% sales tax to the government's take of our bills for goods or services. The 9-9-9 plan would cause the sales taxes that most East Tennesseans pay to increase anywhere from 100% to 125%-something that Tennessee Republicans would, in recent times at least, call an act of tyranny.
Labels: Conservatism, Economy, Federal politics, Local politics, Presidential Election, Tennessee politics
You Try It and See If It's Easy
Before we make assumptions about why someone decided not to run for office, we need to remember
how difficult it is to run for office:
Even with all of those realities, however, a year is an eternity in politics and Sarah Palin had plenty of time to rehabilitate her image, and even her opponents inside the Republican Party wouldn't question Palin's conservative credentials, merely her readiness. A few Palin supporters have said they were "numb" and couldn't believe the former Governor's decision. Many of her major online supporters
accepted the decision-with some reservations. There were those people-and these always exist-who said that Palin wasn't running because she was making the big money at Fox News now, and that running for President would be a lot of hassle for a job that would essnetially be a pay cut for Palin. The same view was circulated earlier this year when former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee-who is a major talent on Fox-announced that he would not run for the Republican nomination. No one was more disappointed in that announcement than this writer, who can now admit that he would have voted for Governor Huckabee in a New York minute. Huckabee received letters and notes which stated how selfish he was being, and that he was more concerned with making big bucks than with saving our country.
What is most interesting about the people who make such incredibly naive statements is that most of them have never run for political office before in their life.
Labels: Conservatism, Federal politics, Local politics, Presidential Election, Republican Party, Tennessee politics
Occupy Knoxville
And you thought the
protests in New York were a big deal?
The Wall Street Occupiers have turned out to be a diverse lot, one in which the views of the Left may be the majority, but the views of the Right are very obviously heard. The major political factions within the country are joined by people of the Monster Raving Loony persuasion, making for perhaps the most motley crew ever assembled for a public protest. Apparently, Wall Street isn't the only place that protestors are looking to occupy, because both the Occupy Together website and the News Sentinel are reporting that a protest meet up is being organized two days from now. The website says that only one person is going, but the whole affair seems to be taking off on Facebook-helped by a Jack Lail write-up on the News Sentinel website.
Labels: Elections, Federal politics, Local politics, Presidential Election, Tennessee politics
Making the Carter Administration Look Appealing
So much for
hope and change:
News Sentinel columnist Greg Johnson, who can rightly be termed that paper's resident conservative, points out in his column today (which mysteriously has yet to appear online as of this writing) has yet to that the poverty rate in Jefferson County-where this writer makes his home-is an astounding 20.2%. Literally one in five of our neighbors-the people all around us, just aren't getting by and are living by the skin of their teeth, and that is the "official" number. When the cost of getting by on the very margins of financial survival are factored in, the "real" number is probably closer to one in four, or 25%. Few of us who live in these parts do not know someone-a friend or family member-who is having some financial or economic trouble of their own.
Labels: Conservatism, Elections, Federal politics, Local politics, Political correctness, Presidential Election, Tennessee politics
I'm With Kleinheider
The latest victim of the mainstream press attempt to baselessly pick on conservatives has made Tennessee's
most venerable blogger a target:
This writer admits that he has a bias, because like so many bloggers and op-ed writers in Tennessee who have used the internet as a primary vehicle to get their message out to their fellow Tennesseans, and even a national and global audience, he knows A.C. Kleinheider. Before Kleinheider was ever a part of the Lieutenant Governor's staff, he was a blogger first-and was paid to do it. First at Nashville's WKRN, then at the Nashville Post, blogging and aggregating at Post Politics. Kleinheider was the voice of the Tennessee political blogosphere, and no one understands new media the way that A.C. does. Other staffers on both sides of the aisle have admitted that they have had trouble with the lines between State business and the political in positions that are-well, so overtly political.
Labels: Blogging, Conservatism, Democrats, Duh, Elections, Local politics, Presidential Election, Tennessee politics
Suppressing Illegal Voters
Tennessee Democratic Chairman Chip Forrester is afraid that Tennessee's new voter identification law will
suppress Democratic turnout among illegal voters:
When we hear Democrats use code-words like "suppress turnout", they really mean that they can't enhance turnout with the constituency groups most likely to be automatic Democratic votes on Election Day, which is why Chip Forrester and his cronies despise the new voter identification law. The groups who would be denied access to the polls-thus "depressing" the turnout-include illegal aliens, those not resident in the precinct in which they are attempting to vote, non-residents of Tennessee, and those which are known no longer to animate this mortal coil
.
Labels: Democrats, Duh, Elections, Local politics, Presidential Election, Tennessee politics
"Waaaaaaaaaah...I Want My Naifeh"
Cue the crying Democrats
over redistricting in 3...2...1..:
When Democrats controlled the General Assembly, they allowed Democratic
Congressmen to decide their district lines and threw Republicans the
scraps. When determining legislative districts, former House Speaker
Jimmy Naifeh (D-Covington) had a goal not only of protecting Democratic
incumbents, but especially those that were personally loyal to him.
After the Naifeh crew got through carving up the House to protect
themselves, Republicans would get the leftovers, and if you happened to
get drawn out of your district, oh well...it meant you probably gave
Boss Jimmy trouble in the first place.
Labels: Conservatism, Democrats, Duh, Elections, Federal politics, Local politics, News Media, Presidential Election, Republican Party, Tennessee politics
Aiding and Abeting
Apparently, the mainstream media wants to aid and abet subversives
who hate our Constitution:
Perhaps the most vile and subversive aspect of this so-called movement is that its leaders clearly show no regard for the Constitution or for the institutions and mechanisms of American federalism. If those who are supportive of National Popular Vote truly believe that the electoral college should be done away with, they are free to believe that and promote that idea, and even to support political officials who agree with them, but the only right way to go about that process is to draft a constitutional amendment, get it through 2/3rds of both Houses of the Congress and pass the Legislatures (or conventions) of 3/4ths of the States-that process is how the federal Constitution is supposed to be amended.
Labels: Conservatism, Democrats, Elections, Local politics, Presidential Election, Republican Party, Tennessee politics
Ron's For Rick
Ahead of this past weekend's Iowa Straw Poll, Tennessee Lieutenant Governor Ron Ramsey practically begged Texas Governor Rick Perry to announce he is running for President. Perry did get in the race, but far too late to participate in the test vote in Ames, Iowa Saturday. In spite of that,
Perry still got votes:
Despite not having an official presence at the Ames Straw Poll, Governor Perry received 712 votes as a write-in, more raw votes than the so-called national Republican front-runner, former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, who finished 7th with 587 votes.
Labels: Conservatism, Federal politics, Local politics, Presidential Election, Tennessee politics
In the Crapper
The real reason the Obama Administration is trying to say that Standard and Poor's is somehow wrong is because S&P essentially
says we are in the crapper:
In other words, Standard and Poor's essentially believes that the situation in this country is (for lack of any better words to describe it) in the crapper, and that barring a miracle, our debt situation-which is already untenable-is likely to go from the crapper to the sewer line in very short order. Once we move into the economic and fiscal sewer there is no turning back, and without drastic reform of our entitlements system in this country-something S&P says in their report that they doubt we have the political will to accomplish-we have a one-way ticket to an economic version of the world of Mad Max. S&P essentially tells its investors in the that the United States either must drastically cut entitlements, including Social Security and Medicare, or we must very drastically raise taxes, and that the latter would be no cure-all if it induced anymore spending at all.
Labels: Conservatism, Democrats, Duh, Economy, Federal politics, Local politics, Presidential Election, Tennessee politics
Censored Mints
Joe Armstrong used his strong arm to censor novelties
criticizing the Great Leader last week:
Where on earth would Joe Armstrong get the idea that the free exercise of speech is limited to educational material, or that somehow the right to political expression and association does not exist at the University of Tennessee bookstore, or that the removal of a printed product expressing a legitimate political point of view does not also violate the freedom of the press? Oh, we understand now. Armstrong believes that everyone has the right to free speech, free association, and freedom of the press, except when those tools are used in a way critical of the Great Leader, Comrade Obama. This is especially true on a State college campus, which is suppose to be a place for the marketplace of ideas to flourish-except when some of those ideas clash with the Great Leader and the Party faithful.
Labels: Democrats, Duh, Federal politics, Local politics, Presidential Election, Tennessee politics
