Why The English Only Amendment Failed According To Eric Crafton
Posted on February 10, 2009 at 10:30 amThe councilman’s self-described “inside the beltway”(!?) opinion:
[T]he opposition’s apparent ignoring of campaign finance law by advocating for the defeat of both charter amendments, while organized as a single-issue committee instead of as a political-action committee, as required by law, was the final nail in the coffin. Why was this harmful? As a single-issue committee, they could accept unlimited corporate campaign contributions, which they did. As a PAC, which is the required entity to advocate for two or more issues, they couldn’t have accepted any money from corporations. It appears more than half of the $300,000 raised by the opponents of the English amendment came from corporations. Oops! That means they would have had only around $125,000 to spend on the election vs. our $51,000. I guess those pesky PAC rules would have been inconvenient, wouldn’t they? In my opinion, taken together, these three strategies ensured the official English amendment’s failure.
UPDATE: Intrepid Metro City Paper reporter Nate Rau informs me that The opposition did go to the trouble of filing two separate single issue committees to oppose each charter amendment on the ballot..
See reports for the committee opposing the first charter amendment here and the second here.
Now, clearly, one committee was used more prominently than the other but there were no flagrant campaign shenanigans at play here such as, for instance, deliberately failing to file financial disclosures at all until after the election.
Just Short Of Two Grand
Posted on January 27, 2009 at 8:45 amThat was all the money that Nashville English First raised that wasn’t from a national activist group:
Nashville English First raised $84,467.76 for its campaign, according to a disclosure being released today.
Of that, ProEnglish of Arlington, Va., contributed $82,500, Davidson County Election Administrator Ray Barrett told The Tennessean this morning after Metro Law Director Sue Cain authorized him to release the disclosure.
SEE ALSO:
Enclave demands and explanation.
Pajamas Media
Belcher
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New York Times Issues Correction On Crafton Claim
Posted on January 18, 2009 at 3:26 pmThe Nashville Scene tells us that the Gray Lady has redacted the assertion made by Councilman Eric Crafton in its pages that California legislators have relied on translators to conduct business.
Of course, we already knew that the assertion was false because Braisted told us almost a week ago.
Living In An ‘Enlightened’ Bubble
Posted on January 16, 2009 at 10:29 amSean Braisted hates to break it to his liberal friends but, in all likelihood, the English Only charter amendment is going to pass:
Last night I made a few phone calls for the cause and ended up calling 50-60 year old people in Hermitage and Joelton. Any guesses on how they’ll likely be voting? Yeah, “tolerance” isn’t exactly a selling point.
In addition, a lot of people are focusing on the early voting turnout in the presumed white liberal areas of the city. Which is all sunshine and rainbows, except those are the districts closest to the Howard School building. When you get to election day, you’ll have a whole host of voters who vote in every election, regardless of the cause, and they are less likely to have sat down and weighed the pros and cons of the two charter amendments. We are in America, and we speak English in American…nuff said.
This isn’t to say that its impossible to stop this measure, anything is possible, but if anyone out there is confident this amendment will fail, you really need a reality check, post haste. Step out the bubble.
SEE ALSO: English Only Comes Down to PR Battle
Are Ya Yella?
Posted on at 10:20 amNathan Moore cannot believe there is no citizen of Nashville willing to go toe to toe with David Briley on public television to defend the English Only charter amendment:
Surely, some commenter on this blog, or from one of the message boards at The Tennessean, The City Paper, or Post Politics, could stand behind that podium tonight and make the case for this amendment.
Or maybe, they can’t.
Like Voting For Obama, Only Not At All
Posted on January 15, 2009 at 1:38 pmIt may not be sexy but Sam Davidson urges all forward thinking individuals to vote against the English Only charter amendment here in Nashville:
But here’s the worst part: you have to actually go vote against this thing. You just have to. No, it’s not as glamorous as voting for Obama. It’s not as prolific as voting for mayor. And it certainly ain’t like picking who’s going to be Homecoming Queen. But if those of us in our right mind don’t take the time out of our day to go and cast a ballot against this amendment (and the second one, as well), then the stupid (as in non-intelligent) bigots (as in racist) will pass this thing.
Good News For English Only Opponents
Posted on at 9:00 amYour people are going to the polls:
According to Jane Nixon of the election commission, roughly 8,200 Nashvillians have cast an early vote on English Only. Now, according to election law, we don’t actually know how those people voted. But, when breaking down the numbers, we do know this: The vast majority came from districts 24 (Sylvan Park) and 6 (East Nashville).
What does that tell us? Well, if we had to assume (and we will), the majority of early, i.e. motivated, voters, are voting against the measure. It’s a theory that Councilman Mike Jameson agrees with, although he is hesitant to say it’s an indicator that the amendment will be struck down.
“I’m not sure we’ve got enough votes to win the day,” he says. “Maybe we’ll get lucky and it’ll snow on Tuesday.”
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Nashville English First May Dodge Financial Disclosure Filing Deadline
Posted on at 8:50 amNate Rau reports:
In fact, according to Davidson County Election Commission employees, a representative from Nashville English First inquired about what the penalty would be if the committee missed the filing deadline.
Although Bellevue Councilman Eric Crafton and other leaders of Nashville English First have been extremely accessible to local media throughout the English Only process, multiple phone calls were left unreturned on the issue of meeting today’s disclosure deadline. Crafton told The City Paper he was merely the spokesman for Nashville English First and not responsible for issues like disclosing campaign contributions and expenditures.
Jon Crisp, former chairman of the Davidson County Republican Party and fellow leader of the English Only movement, failed to return multiple phone calls for this story.
The group filed a committee formation document with the Election Commission last year. The filing listed Lewis Lampley as the group’s treasurer. When reached by The City Paper Wednesday, Lampley said he had no comment on the “rumor” that Nashville English First intended not to file.
Last year, Crafton acknowledged Nashville English First had been supported by the advocacy group Pro English. The group was founded by Dr. John Tanton, who is allegedly tied to hate groups according to the Southern Poverty Law Center.
SEE ALSO:
Moore Thoughts
The Scene
Enclave
Why Does A Turkey Fear Thanksgiving?
Posted on January 14, 2009 at 1:54 pmCouncilman Mike Jameson on why Councilman Eric Crafton is ducking a debate on English Only:
“When you sit down in front of a well-informed moderator and a capable opponent that are clearly going to discuss the minutiae of your argument, it’s only natural for your blood pressure to spike,” he says. “I mean, why does meat fear the meatgrinder?”
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Eric Crafton On Lou Dobbs
Posted on at 8:57 amA review by Caleb Hannan:
I have to say: all in all, a little disappointing. Yeah, sure, there were some high(low)lights. But somehow, the combination of America’s favorite Nativist Creamsicle and Nashville’s Somnambulant Xenophobe seemed to promise so much more.
SEE ALSO: Crafton on Fox
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Haterade
Posted on at 7:55 amGlen Harness takes umbrage at Tennessee’s First Lady’s description of the English Only charter amendment as “legislating hate.”
Well, the First Lady (and I guess I’m using that term loosely, since she wasn’t very ladylike) of the Great State of Tennessee didn’t call me a hater directly. She called Metro Charter Amendment 1 “legislating hate”, and by extension, anyone who supports it, a hater.
How dare she.
RELATED:
Enclave
Beverly Keel
English Only Savings
Posted on January 11, 2009 at 8:42 pmAttorney Nathan Moore crunches the numbers and determines exactly however the charter amendment will save Metro Government:
This means that the passage of English Only could only affect 0.045% of the money spent, which means that Metro would save $495 per year. Or, we could just give back $250 million in federal funds each year.
SEE ALSO:
Ilissa Gold
It’s Not The Stupid, Stupid
Posted on January 8, 2009 at 1:23 pmKatherine Coble notes the argument advanced by opponents of English Only which almost led her to support the measure:
I’ve heard a lot of people on the “English-Only Is DUMB!!!” side ramble a bit about how we Americans are so dumb and stupid that we only know one language and that ignorance is WHY we have to have such bills. No argument makes me angrier, and I have to tell you that on more than one occasion I was tempted to support the English-Only bill just to say a loud “Up Yours” to that particular train of thought.
Here’s the thing. A large number of Americans speak only one language. Many Europeans speak multiple languages. I get that it can make you feel inferior, but it’s not about stupidity. It’s about Geography. In most of the United States you have to drive for several hours before reaching a place where another language is predominant. In most of Europe you have to drive like two hours before you cross into “what the hell are they saying?” territory.
Trust me. If everyone in Tennessee had to speak Latin in order to do business in Atlanta, I would guess that many of us would sound like Roman senators. If everyone in Indiana had to speak French to do business in Michigan, well, voulez-vous couche avec moi? (Yeah, I know I misspelled that. I haven’t had French since Jr. High and I hate the remake of that song.)
Not Very Christian Of You
Posted on at 12:35 pmSarah Moore chastises religious conservatives for being for the English Only charter amendment:
I humbly assert that this bill is not in the mold of a Reagan conservative and neither is it very Christian, as 154 ministers will assert during their public opposition today. So, Christian conservatives, where do you really stand and why?
The English Only Divide
Posted on at 8:01 amJeff Woods breaks it down:
So let’s see, the lines are pretty firmly drawn now on this English Only issue. Against it are the mayor, every liberal in the city, all the biz pigs and the entire media establishment (which has worked itself up into a constant state of tizzy by the way). On the other side? Eric Crafton, Jon Crisp and probably about 70 percent of the population.
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Taking English Only Downtown
Posted on January 6, 2009 at 4:56 pmNate Rau reports from the debate amongst fellow conservatives on English Only:
Crafton argued that the state law didn’t explicitly state local governments must do their business in English. He also said the charter amendment proposal should be boiled down to whether a voter believes all government business should be done in English.
“Obviously, I consider what Nashville English First has done, through lawsuits and multiple petitions, that we’ve won a victory making sure people can go out and vote so the community can have this dialogue.”
Davis asked the first question during the open forum, and wondered if Metro wouldn’t be on a slippery slope where future government communications could be done in other languages were the proposal not to pass.
SEE ALSO:
Nathan Moore
Sarah Moore
Video
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David Briley Uses Mayoral Race Mailing List To Rally Progressives Against English Only
Posted on December 17, 2008 at 9:41 amFormer councilman and mayoral candidate David Briley has just sent a letter to his 2007 Mayoral run mailing list urging opposition to Eric Crafton’s English Only Metro Charter amendment. From the missive:
I have not written you since the 2007 election but I am writing now to ask you to get involved in an issue that is important to me and our City. I am asking you to Vote Against the English Only ballot referendum that will be held on January 22. Personally, I oppose English Only for many reasons but here are the main three.
Read the full message here.
UPDATE: I’m told that the entire 2007 list was not used, only parts of it.
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