TNGlockman
11-06-2008, 14:30
I guess that I was so bummed out about the presidential election that I didn't even think about the Tennessee state elections until I read this column today in the paper.
Maybe with Naifeh gone we can get that bill passed that would allow us to carry in restaurants where alcohol is served. :cool:
Being known as D-Covington just doesn't have the same ring to it as speaker of the House.
But Jimmy Naifeh is about to get used to all sorts of new things. Like a smallish legislator's office instead of Suite 19, with its conference room and expensive new carpet. Like waiting on low-level state Democratic Party officials to return your call rather than having an open door to the governor's office. Like getting a giant "na-na-na-na-boo-boo" from Republicans whom he has routinely shunned for sweet committee appointments.
If what goes around does, indeed, come around, it just did.
Unless Naifeh can put together an alliance of Republicans and Democrats to give him back the gavel, he's out of there, thanks to election returns that gave the GOP its first majority in the Housesince 1971.
Naifeh became speaker in 1991, promising sweeping ethics reform and a return to decorum on the House floor. He pushed for a dress code and banned popcorn fights and vodka-laced Donald Duck orange juice cans.
But over the years, those vows for a new way of doing things grew mushy. As Naifeh's power grew, he became a master of the political game — with staying in power the prize.
Political brawl around corner?
The speaker controls the committee system, which controls what bills live or die. Naifeh's been an unabashed partisan, sending GOP legislation to the deadly "black hole" subcommittee with a nod and a wink.
He's a good ol' boy who hosts an annual coon supper, a fellow who thawed what was initially a chilly relationship with the governor to become acloseally.
All of that adds up to a guy that state Republicans will take great delight in ousting. Naifeh is already working to try to pull together a bipartisan collection of votes to stay put. That will fail. How do you bargain with a burned bridge? Two Republicans want the job, and it looks like Tennessee is in for a good old-fashioned political brawl.
Minority Leader Jason Mumpower, from Bristol, leans toward the far right on the conservative meter. He can be dogmatic and in-your-face. Former state GOP Chairwoman BethHarwell, a veteran Nashville lawmaker who was co-chair of John McCain's campaign in Tennessee, is a moderate with deep relationships with Davidson County Democratic lawmakers.
Tennessee may be a red state, but it is also a moderate state. There is already talk that the GOP's marquee players will step in and push for Harwell, out of concern that Mumpower is just too out there. She also is considering a run for governor, and being speaker would be an excellent trampoline.
But Mumpower is the highest-ranking Republican in the House, and it will be hard for them to turn him down. The state's Grand Old Party looks a lot like the dog that finally caught the car it was chasing. It was a lot of fun getting there. But now what will they do with it?
Maybe with Naifeh gone we can get that bill passed that would allow us to carry in restaurants where alcohol is served. :cool:
Being known as D-Covington just doesn't have the same ring to it as speaker of the House.
But Jimmy Naifeh is about to get used to all sorts of new things. Like a smallish legislator's office instead of Suite 19, with its conference room and expensive new carpet. Like waiting on low-level state Democratic Party officials to return your call rather than having an open door to the governor's office. Like getting a giant "na-na-na-na-boo-boo" from Republicans whom he has routinely shunned for sweet committee appointments.
If what goes around does, indeed, come around, it just did.
Unless Naifeh can put together an alliance of Republicans and Democrats to give him back the gavel, he's out of there, thanks to election returns that gave the GOP its first majority in the Housesince 1971.
Naifeh became speaker in 1991, promising sweeping ethics reform and a return to decorum on the House floor. He pushed for a dress code and banned popcorn fights and vodka-laced Donald Duck orange juice cans.
But over the years, those vows for a new way of doing things grew mushy. As Naifeh's power grew, he became a master of the political game — with staying in power the prize.
Political brawl around corner?
The speaker controls the committee system, which controls what bills live or die. Naifeh's been an unabashed partisan, sending GOP legislation to the deadly "black hole" subcommittee with a nod and a wink.
He's a good ol' boy who hosts an annual coon supper, a fellow who thawed what was initially a chilly relationship with the governor to become acloseally.
All of that adds up to a guy that state Republicans will take great delight in ousting. Naifeh is already working to try to pull together a bipartisan collection of votes to stay put. That will fail. How do you bargain with a burned bridge? Two Republicans want the job, and it looks like Tennessee is in for a good old-fashioned political brawl.
Minority Leader Jason Mumpower, from Bristol, leans toward the far right on the conservative meter. He can be dogmatic and in-your-face. Former state GOP Chairwoman BethHarwell, a veteran Nashville lawmaker who was co-chair of John McCain's campaign in Tennessee, is a moderate with deep relationships with Davidson County Democratic lawmakers.
Tennessee may be a red state, but it is also a moderate state. There is already talk that the GOP's marquee players will step in and push for Harwell, out of concern that Mumpower is just too out there. She also is considering a run for governor, and being speaker would be an excellent trampoline.
But Mumpower is the highest-ranking Republican in the House, and it will be hard for them to turn him down. The state's Grand Old Party looks a lot like the dog that finally caught the car it was chasing. It was a lot of fun getting there. But now what will they do with it?
