TennWatch/Volitics

GOP Organization in Shelby County

At the last TFA meeting we heard from Kemp Conrad, chairman of the Shelby County GOP. What follows is the result of a few hastily scribbled notes combined with content from the web site:

The Republicans Party of Shelby County maintains a headquarters all the time. The Democrat counterpart only opens one during campaign season -- after elections they close up shop.

There are 61 members on the steering committee. Terms expire every two years so there is ample opportunity to get involved at a high level in the county organization. The steering committee meets on the first Thursday of every month at the headquarters on Parkplace and Ridgeway at 7:00 (p.m. one would hope, although I neglected to ask).

There are four standing committees (although I count five on the website):

• Grassroots: "Campaign groundwork, organization, and volunteer recruitment."
• Outreach: "Bringing in new people to the party with a special focus on minority communities."
• Finance: "Fundraising for party operations and special projects."
• Candidate Recruitment: "Recruiting the best and brightest candidates for public office and making endorsement recommendations to the full Steering Committee."
• Bylaws (not mentioned by Kemp): "Reviews and recommends changes to Party Bylaws."

Astoundingly, there are 11 Republican clubs in Shelby County to meet the need of just about everyone:

• Collierville Republican Club (they are looking for a webmaster).
• East Shelby Republican Club
• Bartlett/Northeast Shelby Republican Club (does not meet during the summer)
• Southeast Shelby Republican Club
• Lunch Hour Republicans (see you there!)
• Republican Career Women
• Rhodes College Republicans
• Shelby County Republican Women
• Shelby County Young Republicans (for those between 18 and 40, although they'll take your money even if you're over 40)
• Tri-County Republican Women
• University of Memphis College Republicans (the website seems woefully out of date -- maybe they are studying too hard to be tomorrow's leaders)

The GOP has every county office except Mayor and Assessor, although they hope to win back Assessor this year.

Another important race is General Sessions Court Clerk, for which Chris Turner is challenging incumbent Roscoe Dixon [an ex-state senator with high name recognition in the community so this one will be tough].

Cross posted at Memphis Red Blogs

TeamGOP in Tennessee

At the last TFA meeting we heard from Jeff Ward from TeamGOP Tennessee. He is one of the principles of a grassroots effort to get Republicans elected to every level of office throughout Tennessee. They are starting by specifically targeting vulnerable Democrats in the Tennessee House in 2004, with a goal of spending $100K in key state races this year and possibly gaining a Republican majority.

I don't know if TeamGOP knows it, but they are implementing the same strategy as the highly successful Club for Growth, only at the state level.

Is this possible? I believe so as there are a number of House Democrats that are vulnerable and that I would like to see TeamGOP go after, including (but certainly not limited to):

• Speaker Jimmy Naifeh (aka, Mr. "we gotta have an income tax"). Naifeh did pretty poorly against write-in opponent Antonio Lopez two years ago. He then spent a lot of political capital in his nearly successful bid to ram an income tax down the throats of an unwilling citizenry, and is paying the price as supporters have distanced themselves from the aura of failure. Dr. Jesse Cannon has been essentially campaigning for the last two years for this seat. He is well known in the community and has a lot of support (as well as a tiny bit of money from me). Naifeh is going down, and this is the year we knock him off his perch.
• Freshman Kent Coleman won his seat by 38 votes, in part because of an A rating from the NRA based on how he answered a questionnaire. Once seated on the misnamed Constitutional Protections subcommittee, Coleman reversed his position and voted against initiatives he specifically pledged to support during the campaign (thus giving rise to the word "Coleism"). Coleman angered a lot of gun owners in Tennessee and we hope to make his political career a very, very short one.
• Craig Fitzhugh
• Phillip Pinion
• Tommy Head
• Rob Briley

While TeamGOP is concentrating on the House, there are a few vulnerable Democrats in the Senate as well:

• Tommy Kilby
• Roy Herron
• John Wilder (who is also Lt. Governor).

Cross posted at Memphis Red Blogs

District 83 Up for Grabs

There are six Republican candidates for TN House District 83 running in the primary. The crowded field is due to RINO Joe Kent deciding to retire.

Joe Kent is a long-time incumbent, so why is he calling it quits? IMHO it is because Chuck Bates gave him a run for his money two years ago and Joe knows he wouldn't win this time because Chuck is letting people know about his RINO voting record (like his vote for an income tax). Chuck has essentially been campaigning for two years now but he faces a lot of competition.

All six candidates spoke at the Lunch Hour Republicans meeting on Thursday and I took some rather hurried and incomplete notes, which I have detailed below. But first:

AlphaPatriot Analysis:
Pat Collins seems like a nice guy and I'd like to have him as a neighbor, but not as a rep -- not ever. Stan Peppenhorst was unimpressive. Mark White seemed competent but overly focused on small business. Brian Kelsey was OK but didn't appear to have solid solutions. Charles McDonald gave an unimpressive presentation but did well in follow-up questions (which I did not even attempt to transcribe because each candidate's answer was so brief -- except for McDonald, who appeared capable of talking all day if you let him). Chuck Bates had the best list of talking points but didn't propose solid answers (then again, neither did anybody).

AlphaPatriot Pick: Chuck Bates
I don't know that I would have picked Chuck if my only contact was from this lunch, although it seems extremely likely. He had a good grasp of the range of problems facing this state. His only problem is that he didn't project well (being in radio that is understandable -- you can't do that in front of a microphone).

In addition, I've known Chuck for several years. I supported him in his campaign two years ago in which he almost unseated an incumbent because he worked really, really hard to do so. I've heard Chuck talk about his political views and theories (can you say "confrontational politics"?) and his values. I personally know how hard he works and how passionate he is about the issues. He will make a fine public servant.

Brian Kelsey, lawyer.
Worked in the White House Counsel’s Office during the first Bush's administration and also worked in the offices of Senator Frist, Senator Thompson and Congressman Bryant. He touted the idea of bringing an attitude of service to the office, the fact that he brings political experience and the ability to build coalitions. Talking points:

• Taxes: We are overtaxed and yet the state is running a surplus. These funds should be refunded to the taxpayers.
• Education: Need to prioritize funding and direct it to the teachers and classrooms, not administration and waste.
• Jobs: Need to bring jobs to the state. One way to do this is to continue to fix things like workman's comp.

Stan Peppenhorst, educator for 33 years and active in protecting neighborhoods.
Talking points:

• Education: Train and reskill workers in Tennessee reeducation centers.
• Families are important
• Perseverance: Quoted Edison as saying, "We haven't failed. We've tried a thousand things that haven't worked so we are that much closer." [Actual quote is "I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work." but you get the gist.]
• Experience: Said that he served on several state committees. If you stress education then technology and jobs won't leave the state.

Chuck Bates, Executive Vice-President of Information Radio Network
Served in the first Bush White House in the Office of Political Affairs. Talking points:

• Experience: Strong background in finance and economy.
• Taxes are the number one issue. $277 billion surplus over the last ten months.
• Jobs: Tennessee is not a "business-friendly" environment
• TennCare: $167 billion this year for TennCare, and is projected to take 90% of the budget in ten years.
• Qualities: Common sense and leadership are needed in Nashville
• Tort reform: Losers of frivolous lawsuits should pay the costs of bringing the suit.

Pat Collins
Talking points:

• Healthcare for senior citizens and everyone else (facts missed due to FedEx flight overhead)
• Taxes: Back bill brought up by Bryson [no doubt a reference to the Taxpayer Bill of Rights]
• Education: Needs fixing
• Crime: Needs money to stop crime
• Patience: There is no quick fix
• Dedication: Collins is retired so he can dedicate 24 x 7 x 365 to the job

Mark White, Educator and businessman
Talking points:

• Communication: All the candidates have a vision, we need someone who can communicate it.
• Experience: 54 years old and taught for 30 years. Was a teacher, principal, child support counselor, and then [I think] provided counseling services as part of a private business startup.
• Taxes: Held up a TN tax form that his business must fill out and explained how it has become and how a $3,500 new tax just showed up one year.
  • The economy runs on the backs of small business
  • 60% of people employed are employees of small businesses
• Observable: We need people who know small business needs and can catch things like new hidden taxes

Charles McDonald, Lawyer for 15 years
Talking points:

• Waste: Held up Commercial Appeal and pointed to article about nine new schools were "thrown up", were over budget and now are developing cracks [actual article details that costs were $135/sq. ft -- twice that of original estimates -- and that Germanshire Elementary, built on portions of an old lake bed, is sinking. The school board faced time constraints to meet state class size mandates, hence the hurry.]
• MLGW: Pointed to the photo on another CA article and said that the new head of the MLGW looks just like the Mayor. Mayor Herenton might as well take over and draw two salaries.
• Press: Pointed to a CA editorial which says that the MLGW decision has been made and it is time to "move on". The CA does not back up the people.
• Qualities: We need a fighter, not someone who needs to be liked

Cross posted at Memphis Red Blogs

Tennessee ID Confusion

Our legislature has muddled things up again.

The policy of granting drivers licenses to illegal immigrants (and terrorists) has proven to be downright unpopular, so Tennessee will begin issuing "driving certificates" in place of licenses. These are to be used only for driving and have printed right across the face "not valid for ID". This has thoroughly confused everyone from law enforcement agencies to banks and insurance companies.

First is the issue of legality:

''There's a question about Tennessee's ability to tell other states, other police departments, private businesses, and even the federal government what they can or cannot accept as an identification,'' said Tyler Moran, policy analyst with the National Immigration Law Center, an immigration advocacy organization.

''The result is going to be massive inconsistencies in how this document is interpreted across the country and even within the state of Tennessee.''

Insurance companies are attempting to determine whether they can accept the certificates, as are airlines:

Another purpose of the law was to prevent certificate bearers from boarding airlines. Southwest Airlines said it would not accept the driving certificate as ID; other airlines, such as Continental and American, weren't aware of the new law when contacted this week.

And of course, law enforcement in and around Tennessee is deciding what to do:

In Tennessee border states such as Arkansas, where officials had heard of the document, officials also were making up their minds about what to do with it.

''They would be allowed to drive, but they might be arrested for being here illegally,'' said Mike Munns, administrator of the state's Office of Motor Vehicles.

In other words, the "driving certificate" is a useless waste of taxpayer dollars.