Odom’s Role In Williams Speakermaking Questioned
Posted on February 25, 2009 at 2:33 pmBy his colleagues in the House:
Rep. Mike Turner, the House Democratic Caucus Chairman, and Rep. John Litz of Morristown sat down with reporters to give a new timeline, one that leaves Odom almost completely out of the picture. In this version, Litz begins asking around about a Republican candidate who could play the foil to Rep. Jason Mumpower. By the second week of December, Williams comes to Litz to see if the Democrats can deliver, but Litz only tells “Speaker Naifeh and one other individual that day,” according to a timeline he released.
Odom, who says Naifeh was out of the loop, is mentioned once in Litz’s timeline: The two speak during a caucus meeting, during which Odom “informed me that he had spoken to Rep. Williams and mentioned the Speakership to him around Thanksgiving.” Litz says at that point he and Naifeh decided to keep the Williams Plan quiet until the day of the vote.
Turner said in today’s interview that Litz’s timeline was not meant to contradict Odom, but it’s obvious that House Democrats are quickly coming to the defense of Naifeh, and at the expense of Odom.
Is this the first shot across the bow in that attempted coup we’ve heard about recently?
UPDATE: Much more from Woods.
Survey Says
Posted on February 4, 2009 at 12:37 pmKen Whitehouse reports that TNGOP chair Robin Smith has been surveying state house members about whether she should boot Speaker Kent Williams from the caucus. Rep. Beth Harwell, for one, thinks jettisoning the Speaker would be a bad thing. Robin Smith’s letter to member’s is below:
Republican Caucus Members:
It has come to my attention that some members of the Caucus have expressed concern over the continuing deliberations as to the status of Representative Kent Williams.
As you know, following the ascension of Mr. Williams to the office of Speaker with 49 Democrat votes, I was presented with 30 challenges to his bona fide status by members of the State Executive Committee. Under the bylaws of the Tennessee Republican Party, I must rule on these challenges.
It has been my determination to make this process as open, fair and deliberate as possible. Our Committee has had two conference calls and has considered a resolution stating the sense of the Committee as to the form a remedy, if required, should take.
In the effort to gain as much input as possible, I am asking each Caucus member to share your thoughts on the matter by providing written, specifics as to any assistance, support or activity that Rep. Kent Williams has provided the Tennessee Republican Party, the Republican House Caucus and/or an individual candidate in his 2-year tenure as a legislator. If you have a viewpoint as to what action the Tennessee Republican Party should take, I encourage you to email me your thoughts at chairman@tngop.org.
I look forward to moving ahead and working with you to strengthen our majority in 2010 and beyond.
Sincerely,
Robin T. Smith
Chairman
Tennessee Republican Party
If You Believe That Text Message Wasn’t An Offer For Quid Pro Quo…
Posted on February 2, 2009 at 9:39 am…then Rep. Brian Kelsey has another one for you:
“The Democratic Leadership is so unethical they not only dismissed my claim of lying and sexual harassment that they knew was true, but they’re now trying to browbeat the one person in this state that’s standing up for ethics. First they blamed the victim of the sexual harassment for its becoming public, and now they are trying to punish
the whistleblower for filing the complaint. It’s not going to work. I’ve always stood up for ethics in this state, and I always will.”
The Democratic Leadership dismissed his claim? Excuse me?
The ethics committee is comprised of six Republicans and six Democrats. The motion to dismiss Kelsey’s ethics complaint against the new speaker was put to the committee by Rep. Beth Harwell, veteran legislator and former TNGOP chair.
The vote to dismiss was unanimous. Meaning all six Republicans, including the big two, Jason Mumpower and Glen Casada, voted against him.
Democratic leadership? Not exactly.
Harwell Goes Against Kelsey In Ethics Committee
Posted on January 28, 2009 at 1:14 pmAfter legal counsel Doug Himes reiterates that the issue was not properly before the committee, Rep. Beth Harwell moves that the committee not to move forward with Rep. Kelsey’s complaint against Speaker Kent Williams. Rep. Henry Fincher seconds. Committee agrees.
SEE ALSO: Whitehouse
The One Who Brung Ya
Posted on November 6, 2008 at 8:41 amGail Kerr on the bubbling battle betwix state Rep. Jason Mumpower and Rep. Beth Harwell for Republican leader in the state House:
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?
Is this a fair representation of Leader Jason Mumpower? Remember, in 2007, it was Mumpower who unseated the ideological stalwart Rep. Bill Dunn for leadership in the caucus.
It was the conservatives who lined up behind Dunn, not Mumpower, in that fight. Few questioned that Mumpower was fundamentally conservative but was clear who the firebrand candidate was.
Mumpower was chosen because it was determined by a majority of members that a more energetic leader was needed to lead the Republicans to a majority, one who was capable of both leading the ideologically faithful and working with the other side.
By all accounts, Mumpower has achieved this balance during his short time as leader. Now that the majority has been achieved Republicans are going to cast aside the man who brought them to a majority?
Leading a majority is different that leading a minority, to be sure. A different skill set is required to govern than is needed to stand up in exile as the loyal opposition. But what skills does Harwell possess that Mumpower lacks? Do they not share the crucial ability to balance pragmatism and principle?
Is one really that more conservative than the other? Is one more able to work with Democrats than the other?
Mumpower it would seem has done a more than adequate job leading the Repbulicans in the House. His election over Dunn, just two years ago, was made with the eventual achievement of the majority in mind.
What has changed? Is Harwell better qualified to lead or is she merely an ambitious Republican with designs on bigger things who sees the Speaker’s chair as a chance be a true statewide leader without facing the statewide electorate?
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Wrappin’ It Up
Posted on October 7, 2008 at 11:10 pm
It certainly was an experience consuming a debate this way amongst the hustle and bustle of the national media just yards away from the actors on the stage.
Watching the reality of the “Spin Alley” you hear and read so much about up close and personal was an eye opener. Listening to local and national political figures spouting out prepackaged, fluffier-than-fluff instant reactions to reporters desperately sopping every tidbit they could to make deadline or get a story instantly up on the web was something to behold.
Is this process really that conducive to the pursuit of truth? Yeah, that’s a rhetorical question.
Anyway, here are some of the quotations I was able to get amongst the crowds of the national and local press pursuing truth.
Harold Ford, Jr.: “Overall this debate will not change the dynamic of race in any meaningful way. Obama is ahead nationally and in the swing states. Obama did good tonight, very good and I think the polls will bear him out as the winner tomorrow.”
State Rep. Beth Harwell: “Senator Obama, while he performed quite well, really contradicted himself in several meaningful ways tonight. For instance on taxes he said things tonight I don’t remember hearing before. I remember hearing the opposite. I think that will hurt him.”
Phil Bredesen: “[Obama] looked like a president out there tonight.”
The one gem I found out there came in the form of reaction to McCain’s proposal to bailout individual homeowners. Both Bredesen and Ford also seemed intrigued by the idea. Their answers seem to indicate either a departure from or a lack of direction from Obama handlers, although I could be wrong.
Bredesen called it “an interesting idea.” Ford echoed that sentiment, “The way he proposed it tonight by sort of throwing it out it there was interesting. It obviously needs to be fleshed out. I don’t know if it is feasible but it certainly requires some thought.”
As for my take, while McCain certainly delivered a capable performance hitting his talking points and staying on message, Obama really did bring it home with some finely nuanced answers to questions.
Just as in the first debate, Obama took no hits and delivered a presidential level performance. Like I said earlier, tie goes to the man ahead. That man is Obama.
With the economy the way it is without a game changer, either in the final presidential debate or somewhere else, it’s pretty clear where this thing is going absent a serious and unforeseen Bradley Effect.
SEE ALSO: More pics from Spin Alley.
The Green Hills McCain/Palin HQ Grand Opening
Posted on September 28, 2008 at 2:54 pm
Photos available at the usual place:
State Senator Jack Johnson and Representative Beth Harwell helped kickoff the event which featured entertainment from The Redd Hot Mamas. The Redd Hots made Vice President nominee Sarah Palin an honorary member of their group.
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Post Politics: 4 April 2008
Posted on April 8, 2008 at 9:49 amBlogger Mick Wright decides to take the plunge and files a petition to oppose his Republican state Representative Curry Todd in the Republican primary.
On the anniversary of his death, many bloggers embed the YouTube of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s final speech.
Harold Ford, Jr. suggests there is “evidence” Republicans will use to show Barack Obama lacks sufficient patriotism.
Shelby County has already more than double the number of handgun permit holders compared to the rest of Tennessee’s counties.
Frank Cagle explains that “the idea that a private communication between a constituent and a public official should be a public record is media run amok.”
One of the first Governors in the nation to endorse Hillary Clinton for President says that the superdelegates should not vote to overturn the popular vote in the Democratic primary.
Radio talker and NashvillePost.com internet strategist Freddie O’Connell shares thoughts on his former campaign manager’s race for school board and the entry of former Councilman John Summers into the race and discusses whether winning the seat is Summers’ only motive for getting in the game.
A bill enabling a special committee studying the administration of the state’s death penalty to continue its work until October 1, 2009 passed a House subcommittee recently to the joy of one blogger.
Former Howard Gentry for Mayor communications man, Evans Donnell, celebrates the entry of Gentry’s wife into a race for school board.
A conservative blogger doesn’t seem broken up that state Senator Jamie Woodson has drawn opposition this year.
A former East Tennessee Congressman gets his name on a medical building.
A bill seeking the limitation of frivolous medical malpractice lawsuit passed the state house yesterday.
At a conference devoted to wireless technology, former Presidential candidates and Senators Fred Thompson and John Edwards talk about anything but the stated topic.
Blogger Angelia cannot seem to find video on the legislative website of the now infamous recall of the bill which would have closed gun permit records to the general public.
Tennessee Republican Party Communications Director Bill Hobbs has made a public records request for the database on the state’s handgun carry permit holders, information that the TNGOP does not believe should be public. The sponsor of that bill which sparked so much controversy is optimistic for the future of the initiative.
Blogger David Oatney discusses the possibility of a 269-269 electoral vote tie in the upcoming Presidential election.
A tax reform group that has in the past favored a state income tax wants to cut the sales tax on food and close a loophole that allows companies operating in Tennessee to shuffle money around between subsidiaries to avoid high tax bills.
Bellevue native and Cornell student Ilissa Gold notes the last gasps of the Ron Paul campaign on her Ivy League campus.
Katie Allison Granju notes that members of Congress have as much as $196 million collectively invested in companies doing business with the Defense Department.
Metro cop Juan “El Protector” Borges will once again challenge Nashville political scion Ben West, Jr. and intends to make West’s controversial comments on Hispanics last year an issue in the race.
Betty Bean profiles the iconoclastic retiring State Rep. Frank Buck in a piece in MetroPulse.
Despite recent election results showing Democratic strength in the district, a prominent political name decides against taking on former TNGOP chair and State Representative Beth Harwell.
Former U.S. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist announces on his political action committee’s blog that he is “devoting significant energy” to achieving a Republican majority in the state legislature. Frist is rumored to be exploring a 2010 run for Governor of Tennessee.
Finally, if you are not a general peruser of the front page of NashvillePost.com you may have missed ace political reporter Ken Whitehouse churning out as much copy from his office down at the Plaza yesterday as many a fully-staffed newsroom. Click here and scroll for the impressive display.
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