Why Kick Him Out?

By Kleinheider Posted on January 26, 2009 at 11:25 pm

While the Tennessee Republican Party has not yet taken the action against Speaker Kent Williams many expect them to, Rep. Stacey Campfield and others are patiently waiting for the inevitable. They wait for the day that the state party takes away Kent Williams’ ability to appear as a Republican on a Tennessee ballot.

My question is why? Why would a Republican who wants desperately to witness the end of Williams’ political career want the TNGOP to throw him out? Williams may be just a sophomore representative but one needs to be careful when describing him as a political lightweight.

In 2006, Kent Williams unseated an incumbent legislator, Jerome Cochran, to gain his seat in the legislature. Two years later, the same man challenged him again with support from members of the house caucus and again he emerged victorious. And say what you want about how he got there, the man is Speaker of the House. It is a powerful position and one that will allow him, tight budget times or not, to help the people of his district.

Speaking of his district, Carter County is not exactly a haven for liberalism. You don’t run as a Democrat in Carter County. Not if you expect to win anyway. East Tennessee is Republican country, hill country. If the Republicans throw him out, Williams will be able to play the martyr. He will be able to say that he didn’t leave the party but that the party left him.

East Tennesseans are Republicans but they are also independent minded. If the party shuns him he can fashion a narrative as the independent Republican that got thrown out by an overzealous, hyper-ideological party.

If they leave him as a party member, however, that’s when things truly get tricky politically for Kent Williams.

You see, while it may offend the sensibilities of party members, the best way to get rid of Williams is to leave him be. Williams can’t win a Republican primary. He has to run as an Independent. He doesn’t have a choice. He’s not trying to go out like Kurita. So in two years, in 2010, Kent Williams will file for reelection as an independent. He will no longer be a Republican.

So why make it easy for him? Why not force him to leave? Then, not only is he the rogue legislator who colluded with Democrats to make himself speaker, he is the ungrateful Judas, a man who refused the outstretched hand of a forgiving party.

It’s a no brainer. It may be hard. It may be distasteful. But if Republicans really want to hurt Kent Williams politically, they should leave him as one of them.

SEE ALSO: Brainstem

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Tags: Bill Hobbs, Carter County, Kent Williams, Robin Smith, Speaker election, Stacey Campfield  

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