|
|
|
|
EASIER SAID THAN DONE.
August 7, 2006 -
August 14, 2006
On Saturday the three Republican candidates for the U.S. Senate gathered together in Nashville to put their bitter and divisive primary behind them. Ed Bryant and Van Hilleary both pledged their support for Bob Corker and strenuously condemned “liberal Democrat” Harold Ford. Corker graciously thanked them and noted that they were both honorable and decent men. So the Republican Party is now unified behind its nominee and bygones are bygones? Maybe. Or, maybe not.
“Unity” is something that is easier said than done. Theoretically, it looks like a crew of collegiate rowers gliding their scull across a glassy surface with oars hitting the water in perfect synchronization. Reality often bears greater resemblance to taking six cranky kids out in a canoe on a hot summer afternoon. Oars flail about, bulky life jackets get in the way, arguments arise about who sits next to who. Somebody falls in the water and somebody almost certainly ends up crying…usually the adult who came up with the bright idea of doing it in the first place. It is not a pretty sight.
Political unity, particularly after a tough primary fight, requires more than just a photo op and getting the defeated candidates to say a few nice things about the winner. It is usually relatively easy to get that accomplished. But getting the “big dogs” to agree to play nice doesn’t mean unity has really been achieved.
Campaign worker bees put a lot of heart and soul, and blood, sweat and tears into their efforts for their candidate of choice. They become emotionally invested and, not surprisingly, find it hard to immediately go to work with the same enthusiasm for someone who has been the “enemy” for months. It is particularly difficult when the winning worker bees can’t resist the urge to gloat and taunt the losing worker bees over the fact that they picked the right guy to work for while the others did not. Politics is, after all, a blood sport and if you can’t revel in victory why play?
So how does Bob Corker put the fractious and fractured Republican Party back together with only ninety days to Election Day? He’s made a good start. He been a gracious winner and extended what appears to be sincere respect toward Van and Ed and their wives for waging a good, hard fight that fell short. And he has personally made phone calls to many of their key political operatives to enlist their support and assistance in the weeks ahead. Most of them will respond in a positive way.
But the real test of whether Republicans will move toward November in a unified fashion lies in whether Corker’s campaign worker bees will extend an equally gracious and sincere invitation to the worker bees of the Hilleary and Bryant campaigns to get involved in the remainder of the campaign. That outreach is critical, and it has to be immediate to work.
If it is done right and real “unity” is achieved, then the Republicans will soon be celebrating the election of Bob Corker to the U.S. Senate. If not, they will have six long years to blame, second-guess, and finger-point while they try to figure out how to unseat Senator Harold Ford, Jr.
### |
 |
 |
CONVENTIONAL WISDOM? -
July 9, 2006 -
July 16, 2006
The proposed new convention center for downtown Nashville hasn’t received a lot of media attention lately, but that does not mean the proposal has died. Advocates have simply gone underground to line up stealth support for the half billion dollar boondoggle.
The plan for a new convention facility, to be placed south of Broadway, was announced with great fanfare in February. But devilish details threatened to derail it before the public relations campaign was fully underway. The announc... |
 |
|
THE TENNESSEE INCOME TAX ISSUE IS "DEAD?" -
June 6, 2006 -
June 12, 2006
A Tennessee income tax is not on the ballot this year, but the prime proponent of a state income tax IS back on the ballot. Former State Senator Bob Rochelle, who lead the fight for the income tax and later (after he decided he couldn’t get re-elected carrying that baggage) as a member of the pro-income tax stacked Tax Study Commission is running for the state senate again. As he kicked off his campaign last week he pronounced the state income tax a “dead issue.” Riiiiight. There are only two t... |
|
|
THE MORE YOU LOOK AT THE AMNESTY BILL, THE WORSE IT LOOKS. -
May 29, 2006 -
June 5, 2006
Last week the U.S. Senate passed an immigration reform bill that supporters insist is not “amnesty,” even though those who have illegally entered our country, illegally worked in our country, and in most cases committed criminal acts to cover up their illegal activity, are completely forgiven. By any logical definition of the term “amnesty”, that is exactly what the Senate has passed.
But the immigration reform bill does much more damage to our national interests than merely granting am... |
|
|
A GLARING OMISSION. -
May 15, 2006 -
May 22, 2006
During President Bush’s prime time speech on immigration Monday night he threw out a lot of numbers. A 1,200 mile border with Mexico. 6,000 National Guardsmen who will patrol that border under his plan. 6,000 new Border Patrol agents who will be added over the next couple of years. Those are all very interesting numbers. But the most important number was ignored by the President: how many immigrants will be allowed into this country if we follow his lead?
A study conducted by the Herita... |
|
|
GUMBEL'S GAFFE GETS HIM A PASS. -
February 18, 2006 -
February 25, 2006
Despite the nearly hysterical hype by NBC and the sporting world, most Americans have been tuning out of the Winter Olympics. Most television networks chose to air re-runs rather than challenging the expected viewing domination of the Olympics. But those who chose to go head to head with the Olympics have fared very well. “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Desperate Housewives,” and “American Idol” are among the shows that won the battle for viewers by huge margins.
Maybe it is because curling is th... |
|
|
|
|
|
 |
Get Steve’s Daily Notes sent right to your inbox…
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
