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When A Pledge Is Just A Pledge

By Kleinheider Posted on November 13, 2008 at 12:11 pm

David Oatney explains why just because Rep. Jason Mumpower got 50 Republicans to sign a piece of paper pledging to vote for a Republican Speaker doesn’t mean they shall be one:

There is also a real possibility that Jason Mumpower may be going about this the wrong way. Recall that the rules in both the Tennessee House of Representatives and the Senate state that if no candidate receives a majority of the votes for Speaker, the previous Speaker remains in control. The pledge that Mumpower caused all House Republicans to sign said “we pledge to support a Republican for Speaker.” Nowhere did this document say which Republican they were pledging to support. A backhanded way for the Naifeh Republicans to insure that Boss Hogg remains Speaker of the House is to cast their votes for a third person, something the rules do allow-and it would only take one such vote to return the House to the control of Jimmy Naifeh’s iron hand. All the while the member or members who engaged in such devious behavior could say “I kept my word and voted for a Republican for Speaker.”

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Comments

6 Responses to “When A Pledge Is Just A Pledge”

  1. Sean Braisted writes
    November 13th, 2008 1:24 pm

    Rosalind Kurita pledged to vote for Wilder about 5 minutes before she voted for Ramsey…pledges are only so good as the word of the person who gave them.

  2. Kleinheider writes
    November 13th, 2008 1:30 pm

    When was that? She voted for Wilder within the caucus but that didn’t obligate her to vote for him in the chamber.

    Did she actually make a formal promise or pledge? I don’t remember that.

  3. Sean Braisted writes
    November 13th, 2008 1:43 pm

    Kyle asked her point blank who she was voting for, and she said Wilder. Is there a stone tablet somewhere? No.

  4. Blake writes
    November 13th, 2008 4:39 pm

    Sounds like someone may just be trying to justify something to have a clear conscious…on say…maybe invalidating an election of someone??

    It’s just a theory. :P

  5. LeftWingCracker writes
    November 13th, 2008 11:42 pm

    What does the Senate 22 race have to do with whether a few Republicans bail on Mumpower?

    Not saying it will happen, but it’s certainly an interesting theory, no?

  6. Matthew Hurtt » Blog Archive » A message to David Oatney… writes
    December 1st, 2008 6:53 pm

    [...] you’re doing at this point is giving Kleinheider something to blog [...]

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