4 More Years (For our next TNDP Chair that is)

I’ve had a chance to review the redistricting maps and I’m going to spend some time going through them. Once I’ve done that, I’m going to put up a post about what this mean for our numbers in the House & Senate.

Until then I want to talk about a small, intraparty matter that is flying under the radar.

Sources tell me that this Saturday, the TNDP Executive Committee will vote on a resolution to amend the party bylaws. This proposed amendment would change the term of TNDP Chairman from the current 2-years to a new 4-year term.

I am not a fan.....at least not yet. While it seems innocuous on the surface, I can’t help but feel there's something else going on here. Why else is this being rushed & hushed through the EC (Executive Committee) meeting without any public input? I may be wrong, there may be no ulterior motives here, but no one I’ve spoken with on the EC can articulate for me why this change is needed.

Is it change for change sake? Is it financial? Is it to promote staff continuity? Is it part of the plan from “Big Change Strategies” that we shelled out tens of thousands of dollars for? Any of these could, in and of themselves, be a good reason for changing the term. However, sans an explanation from the TNDP, we just don't know.

And isn’t this just a little ironic? For weeks, the TNDP has railed about a lack of transparency in the General Assembly.  Yet  here we are three days from a vote that would restructure our party and no one outside the I-440 loop has any clue what the hell is happening. Serioulsy, we expect this from the GOP, but not our own party.

I encourage you to call your EC member and ask for an explanation. Find out why this is being rushed & hushed through without any input from the public. I'm not saying it's a bad proposal, but we need some sunlight to disinfect this process.

Side Note: I'm being told that the resolution would not be retroactive, so the next Chairman would be the first to serve the new 4-year term. In other words it would not extend the term of the current Chair, Chip Forrester.

Not Scared, SMART

I had really hoped not to have to blog about this. In fact, given the reception my last posts generated, I would have preferred not to blog again. However, if you have to swallow enough manure, you feel the need to speak up.

Let me start by saying this, I am no fan of Rep. Curry Todd. He is a mean-spirited, ineffective, wrong-headed, hot tempered, and ornery. I do not agree with him on many, if any, issues. He is not my representative and if he left the legislature—much like if Jim Cooper left congress—I would not have any feeling one way or the other.

He also did something illegal and incredibly stupid. He is a hypocrite—color me shocked that someone in Legislative Plaza would be guilty of such a sin. For what he has done, he should be punished just as you or I would be in the same situation. By all indications, this is how things are proceeding at this point.

The news media has done their job. They have reported the incident. They have pointed out the Republican hypocrisy of people like Glenn Casada calling for Rep. Briley to step down in the wake of his incident, but remaining silent on Rep. Todd. The issue has gotten national coverage. A simple Google search for Rep. Todd returns numerous results. The man is down, he is out for the count and his career is at an end.

Yet there are some who believe that more needs to be done. For some people, anything short of a public lynching will not satisfy their thirst for retribution. Tonight, that attack has turned on Rep. Turner and the legislative democratic caucuses. It seems that many on the left are dissatisfied with the way our electeds have chosen to deal with the Todd situation.

Let me say this, I think that Chairman Turner went too far. Had it been me, I would have expressed my condolences to Todd’s family and said let the law work itself out. That, in my mind, would have been more appropriate. That being said, Rep., Turner is entitled to his opinion.

What I take exception to in all of this is the idea that our legislative democrats are scared. These 13 men and women in the Senate and 34 men and women in the House are our bread and butter and they aren’t scared of shit. After getting a solid ass whooping last year, these members could have lie down and let the Democratic Party die. Or they could have taken the TNDP route and focused so much on national issues and personal gain that they make themselves irrelevant. They did neither. Instead, these members put forward serious pieces of legislation, fought valiantly against the bevy of republican nonsense coming through the General Assembly and went statewide to address our jobs crisis. They held a presser last week talking about their aggressive plans for next session, despite their small number. These are not the actions of cowards.

Yet, today these members are being called ‘scared’ because they stayed out of a situation that was already being handled and to which their comments added nothing to the discussion. What would it have profited Mike Turner to call for Curry Todd’s resignation? What would it have done for the democrats or the public sphere for our electeds to put in their two cents? NOTHING. The only thing it would have done is pissed off the Republicans, who hold the redistricting pen.

Noting this reality is not cowardice, but a real assessment of the situation. Our party is in disarray and our number one priority should be to defend what we have. Saying something snotty about Curry Todd would have done nothing but make this more difficult to do just that.

So yes, the legislative caucuses could have made a big to-do like the overly dramatic Chip Forrester, but instead they took the high road, noted that we weren’t adding anything to the public discourse by pounding on Todd and lived to fight another day. We have real issues in this state and very few dems to fight those issues. This is nothing but a damn sideshow. So let’s buck up, move on and lay the fuck off the only people fighting for us in this state.

Staying Focused, Making an Impact

Let’s have a conversation today about staying focused.

In a former position, I worked for someone fond of saying that we basically have two choices in life. We can focus on a lot of things and do them with mediocre results or we can focus on a few things and do them really well. I have always been a proponent of the latter.

As progressives, we can’t get distracted by what I like to call shiny issues. Shiny issues are a lot like shiny objects in that both serve as distractions from the real goal. Take for instance the Wisconsin recall elections. No Democrat would disagree that what Governor Walker did in Wisconsin is a tragedy of the first degree. And no one would disagree that these Senators need to be sent into retirement. However, how much time, effort and money did this take from Democrats across the country-including in Tennessee-that could have been better spent advocating progressive causes in their own state? How much time did we spend as Tennessee Democrats discussing this, when we could have been talking about a strategy for the next legislative session?

My point is this: we had a myriad of horrible, terrible, no-good legislation come out of the Tennessee General Assembly this session. We limited people’s access to the court, completely ripped apart teaching as a profession, tore the already weak organized labor groups down to bare bones, dictated reproductive health to women, overruled local governments, made ‘gay’ a swear word, set science curriculums back to the dark ages and put public schools on the path to bankruptcy all while managing to completely ignore the 10% unemployment rate in Tennessee. We have enough crap to deal with from here to kingdom come without ever looking for issues elsewhere.

Let’s face facts. Barack Obama isn’t going to win in Tennessee. We are not going to beat Bob Corker in 2012. We have ZERO say in redistricting. So as Tennessee Democrats, let’s get focused on things we CAN do. Instead of spending time phone banking for the President, let’s phone bank for someone in House District 40 where James Hale almost beat Rep. Weaver in 2010. Instead of sending $5 to fight Prop 8 in California, send $5 to the Maury County Democratic Party to help send the bigoted Rep. Butt back to Columbia.  Instead of focusing on national issues and campaigns, follow the lead of groups like the National Firefighters Union and get involved on a local level where we can actually have an impact.

I say this from place of love and, as my minister says, I am as guilty as anyone of doing what I am advocating against, but we have got to get focused as Tennessee Democrats. I love the President. I hope Elizabeth Warren wins the Senate seat in Massachusetts. I hope Scott Walker gets recalled, we win the special election in New York and Prop 8 gets overturned in California. But right now, I’m more concerned about Republicans screwing up the HOPE scholarship for my sister. I am more concerned that my cousin-a first year teacher-won’t have basic classroom supplies she needs to be effective. I am more concerned that members of the General Assembly think a sexual orientation is a swear word, that any jobs bill from a Democrat is socialism and that we should really go back to the days before that disastrous Scopes Trial. These are issues that affect my daily life as a Tennessean. These are issues where I can have a real impact.

Over the next weeks, I am going to begin talking about issues that we can affect as Tennessee Democrats. I too love a good fight at the national level. I support many progressive causes that are going on around the country, but right now I want us to examine what is really going on in Tennessee and how we can make a difference. The issues won’t always be sexy, but they will be substantive.

Let the conversation continue.