Category: Politics Beat Blog

Flanked by Shelby County Democratic chairman Gale Jones Carson, who added her straightforward endorsement of the lottery referendum on Tuesday’s ballot, state senator Steve Cohen, father of that initiative and its nurturer for 16 long years, warned Monday at a press conference at his Midtown residence that lottery opponents were up to skullduggery as the vote neared.

As a flashing sign in his front window behind him kept cycling from “EDUCATION LOTTERY” to “VOTE” and back again, Cohen charged that Gambling Free Tennessee, the group responsible for a well-funded campaign against the lottery this year, had been operating under the radar of the state’s election code through a shadow corporation known as GFT,Inc., which, he said, was obligated to file financial disclosures and had not done so. The organization, he said, could be a means of cloaking “illegal contributions or some they don’t want to divulge.” Casino interests he named as the most likely possibilities in the latter category, and he brandished a publication put out by Baptist opponents of the lottery which acknowledged that “gambling proponents” were also in opposition to it.

Whether tongue in cheek or not, Cohen said, “It was through divine intervention that we learned of this today [Monday] and not tomorrow.”

On Tuesday, as rains threatened to hold down voter turnout, Cohen was still on the case, gong from polling place to polling place and reporting, to his consternation, that Sycamore View Church of Christ, had a flashing sign, too, saying “VOTE NO ON LOTTERY” across the church’s marquee. “It’s digital. It works off a computer” a church secretary noted proudly, and in that sense the opposition had something of a lead on Cohen, whose own flashing sign at home had a homespun, neon look..

The polls, however, were still telling a different story, predicting by leads ranging from minute to considerable, that the lottery, whose proceeds would benefit a scholarship fund, would prevail.

Following is the editorial published in last week’s Flyer on the lottery question:

The Lottery’s a Good bet

When we made the decision back in 1990 (the second year of the Flyer‘s existence) to exhaustively cover the various elections of that year, we made a second, related decision: While we would neither dissemble on matters of public import nor attempt to conceal our attitude, we would not tell our readers how to vote.

We have reconsidered our nonendorsement policy from time to time but, ultimately, have found no cause to reverse it. The unexpected good service of some elected officials and the unanticipated follies of others have, in fact, underscored the soundness of our original judgment on the matter.

But the current debate over the lottery referendum on the November 5th ballot touches on matters so much larger than the specific language or limited intent of the initiative itself that we find we must have our say in the matter.

We are partly emboldened to do so because the organized secular opponents of the lottery made a cynical judgment months ago that if they could make the lottery’s chief exponent for the last two decades — state Senator Steve Cohen — the issue and proceed to besmirch his character, they had the battle as good as won. (We’re not making this up; it’s in black and white in a manifesto meant to be circulated only among lottery opponents but which fortunately leaked to the outside world.)

Senator Cohen may have his foibles, like the rest of us, but we only commend his steadfast pursuit of his goal, his overcoming of intractable legislative opposition, and his good-faith willingness to refine the issue. The lottery proposal that ultimately passed the legislature stands to benefit public education, in emulation of Georgia’s highly successful Hope scholarships, which are funded by that state’s lottery.

Senator Cohen has argued trenchantly that the lottery debate is a reprise of those controversies that, in earlier generations, raged concerning female suffrage, integrated lunch counters, rock-and-roll, and the like. Civilization did not decline with the advent of the aforementioned; it measurably improved and strengthened itself. Cohen has persuasively disputed opponents’ arguments that mainly the poor would patronize the lottery, that the sons and daughters of the middle class would be the exclusive beneficiaries of lottery-funded scholarships, or that public interest in the lottery would wane, requiring larger payoffs, more inventive offerings, and increasingly desperate efforts by the state to entice potential customers. He cites figures from the Georgia experience that indicate the reverse of all these tendencies.

The opponents of the lottery are on firmer ground when they question the extent to which the state would actually benefit financially. In truth, Tennessee’s ongoing fiscal dilemma is severe enough that lottery proceeds might be a relative drop in the bucket of need. But that’s no reason to let the cup pass from our lips.

As for the argument that a lottery would corrupt the state or subvert our public morals — please. Tunica, Mississippi, a few scant miles to the south, is already catering to our citizens’ gaming appetites (as has the dog track in neighboring West Memphis, Arkansas) and has so far neglected to channel the proceeds back into Tennessee education or any other publicly useful purpose.

The lottery is, in the best sense, a forward step. It is the right move at the right time for the people of Tennessee, and we think a vote for it is both positive and timely.

Thaddeus Matthews has never kept his opinions to himself. Since his radio rebirth this year, the talk-show host has unceasingly broadcast his disdain for the Shelby County Democratic Party, its effectiveness, and its leadership, thereby angering many of the city’s political leaders. For the sound of Matthews in action, CLICK HERE

Matthews’ show Express Yourself on Flinn Broadcasting’s WTCK AM-1210 is, in his opinion, all about informing the public, specifically African Americans, of their rights as voters and the need for candidate accountability. “One of my strongest statements on the air is that ‘the black politician or leader who is not working for the betterment of African Americans is more dangerous to us than any white politician could ever be,'” said Matthews. “We have a dumbing-down from our politicians. We only see them when they want to be elected … and that’s the large majority of our leadership. They come, they beg for our vote and for our money, then, once elected, they forget about the people who placed them there.”

The daily program, which airs from noon to 2 p.m., has broached topics that Matthews says are not popular in the black community, such as allowing convicted criminals and recovering drug offenders to be reelected to public office. He cites the reelections of city councilman Rickey Peete after his conviction for taking bribes and county commissioner Michael Hooks after admitting to drug addiction. “I think that a lot of our black leadership has built their prominence on the backs of economically depressed people,” said Matthews. “Most radio talk-show hosts, black anyway, will not say that, whether for fear of retaliation or whether they too are a part of the network.”

But not everyone is a fan of Matthews’ “truth in politics” broadcasting. Shelby County Democratic Party chairman Gale Jones Carson called Matthews’ tactics “pitiful.” Although she has never heard of Matthews or his program, she said his accusations are baseless. “[Matthews] can think what he wants to, but he should just ask the 16 Democratic candidates who ran August 1st. Get their opinion on the Democratic Party and how effective we were,” she said. “This man needs to talk to some of the candidates before he gets on the air making blanket statements that he can’t back up. Who even listens to 1210? … He probably won’t be on long this time either. People have a right to their opinion, but they ought to be based on facts, and his are not based on facts.”

During her tenure as chairman, Carson said the party has raised more than $100,000 and run a coordinated campaign for 16 candidates. As a result, she said more African Americans voted in the August election than in any election in the previous five years. “Our candidates may not have won in the numbers that we would have liked them to, but they were closer than they have ever been before. Fifty-three percent of voters in August were Democrats,” she said. “If all the Democrats who had voted had voted the straight party line, all of our countywide candidates would have won. We ran our coordinated campaign unlike we’ve ever done before.”

Matthews is no newcomer to the radio arena. A lifelong Memphian and assistant pastor of a Whitehaven-area church, he began his radio career in 1985. He became known for his “shock jock” manner and shows with no topic off-limits. A 1993 show on bestiality ended his run on another Memphis station until his return three years ago. That show was canceled due to political content. This time, Matthews is taking no chances. Express Yourself has a solid, one-year contract and is self-financed, with Matthews selling his own advertising. “I think there needs to be someone on the air that is an advocate,” he says.

Matthews has been joined by another self-proclaimed people’s advocate, Jennings Bernard. Bernard, a long-time candidate for various Shelby County offices, is hosting his own program, following Matthews’ slot. Bernard’s Real Talk airs daily from 2 to 3 p.m. The program follows Bernard’s infamous “Democratic Crackhead” phone line instituted after the August election. It contains a recorded message referring to various Shelby County politicians. The message tells callers that the Democratic Party will accept “crackheads,” “thie[ves],” and “drug addicts” for the offices of city councilman, county commissioner, and county clerk. Callers are then asked to leave their “crackhead phone number.”

“I looked at some of our elected and selected officials, and I began to wonder about their principles and those by which I was taught. Did they mean anything?” said Bernard. “The only way that I could bring attention to the situation and the principles that I was taught was through the ‘Democratic Crackhead’ number, to allow the people to know who they are selecting. In an imperfect world, we need to see as much righteousness as possible so we can send a message to young people who will one day seek to be Shelby County leaders. When you say that you can betray the voters’ confidence and they will still reelect you, that’s sending the wrong message.”

Janis Fullilove, Bernard’s county clerk opponent in the Democratic primary, considers the phone line offensive. “I was very offended because he makes reference to me as being a dope addict,” she said. “I considered going to an attorney to bring slander [charges], but then I just dropped it. If he has any anger, it should be against the people who voted, not me.” Fullilove, who is also the talk-show host of WDIA’s Janis Fullilove Unleashed, denied alleged threats made against Bernard and also denied verbal retaliation of Matthews on her show, stating that her only target is fellow talk-show host Mike Fleming of WREC.

She and Carson agree. “Statements like these do not hurt the Democratic Party. They just make the person appear small-minded because polls now show that negative campaigning is not liked by voters,” said Fullilove. “I’m sure if you look in the background of a Thaddeus Matthews or a Jennings Bernard, they probably have things that they don’t want other people to know about either. Like my grandmother always said, the pot can’t call the kettle black.”

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Matthews’ show Express Yourself on Flinn Broadcasting’s WTCK AM-1210 is, in his opinion, all about informing the public, specifically African Americans, of their rights as voters and the need for candidate accountability. “One of my strongest statements on the air is that ‘the black politician or leader who is not working for the betterment of African Americans is more dangerous to us than any white politician could ever be,'” said Matthews. “We have a dumbing-down from our politicians. We only see them when they want to be elected … and that’s the large majority of our leadership. They come, they beg for our vote and for our money, then, once elected, they forget about the people who placed them there.”

The daily program, which airs from noon to 2 p.m., has broached topics that Matthews says are not popular in the black community, such as allowing convicted criminals and recovering drug offenders to be reelected to public office. He cites the reelections of city councilman Rickey Peete after his conviction for taking bribes and county commissioner Michael Hooks after admitting to drug addiction. “I think that a lot of our black leadership has built their prominence on the backs of economically depressed people,” said Matthews. “Most radio talk-show hosts, black anyway, will not say that, whether for fear of retaliation or whether they too are a part of the network.”

But not everyone is a fan of Matthews’ “truth in politics” broadcasting. Shelby County Democratic Party chairman Gale Jones Carson called Matthews’ tactics “pitiful.” Although she has never heard of Matthews or his program, she said his accusations are baseless. “[Matthews] can think what he wants to, but he should just ask the 16 Democratic candidates who ran August 1st. Get their opinion on the Democratic Party and how effective we were,” she said. “This man needs to talk to some of the candidates before he gets on the air making blanket statements that he can’t back up. Who even listens to 1210? … He probably won’t be on long this time either. People have a right to their opinion, but they ought to be based on facts, and his are not based on facts.”

During her tenure as chairman, Carson said the party has raised more than $100,000 and run a coordinated campaign for 16 candidates. As a result, she said more African Americans voted in the August election than in any election in the previous five years. “Our candidates may not have won in the numbers that we would have liked them to, but they were closer than they have ever been before. Fifty-three percent of voters in August were Democrats,” she said. “If all the Democrats who had voted had voted the straight party line, all of our countywide candidates would have won. We ran our coordinated campaign unlike we’ve ever done before.”

Matthews is no newcomer to the radio arena. A lifelong Memphian and assistant pastor of a Whitehaven-area church, he began his radio career in 1985. He became known for his “shock jock” manner and shows with no topic off-limits. A 1993 show on bestiality ended his run on another Memphis station until his return three years ago. That show was canceled due to political content. This time, Matthews is taking no chances. Express Yourself has a solid, one-year contract and is self-financed, with Matthews selling his own advertising. “I think there needs to be someone on the air that is an advocate,” he says.

Matthews has been joined by another self-proclaimed people’s advocate, Jennings Bernard. Bernard, a long-time candidate for various Shelby County offices, is hosting his own program, following Matthews’ slot. Bernard’s Real Talk airs daily from 2 to 3 p.m. The program follows Bernard’s infamous “Democratic Crackhead” phone line instituted after the August election. It contains a recorded message referring to various Shelby County politicians. The message tells callers that the Democratic Party will accept “crackheads,” “thie[ves],” and “drug addicts” for the offices of city councilman, county commissioner, and county clerk. Callers are then asked to leave their “crackhead phone number.”

“I looked at some of our elected and selected officials, and I began to wonder about their principles and those by which I was taught. Did they mean anything?” said Bernard. “The only way that I could bring attention to the situation and the principles that I was taught was through the ‘Democratic Crackhead’ number, to allow the people to know who they are selecting. In an imperfect world, we need to see as much righteousness as possible so we can send a message to young people who will one day seek to be Shelby County leaders. When you say that you can betray the voters’ confidence and they will still reelect you, that’s sending the wrong message.”

Janis Fullilove, Bernard’s county clerk opponent in the Democratic primary, considers the phone line offensive. “I was very offended because he makes reference to me as being a dope addict,” she said. “I considered going to an attorney to bring slander [charges], but then I just dropped it. If he has any anger, it should be against the people who voted, not me.” Fullilove, who is also the talk-show host of WDIA’s Janis Fullilove Unleashed, denied alleged threats made against Bernard and also denied verbal retaliation of Matthews on her show, stating that her only target is fellow talk-show host Mike Fleming of WREC.

She and Carson agree. “Statements like these do not hurt the Democratic Party. They just make the person appear small-minded because polls now show that negative campaigning is not liked by voters,” said Fullilove. “I’m sure if you look in the background of a Thaddeus Matthews or a Jennings Bernard, they probably have things that they don’t want other people to know about either. Like my grandmother always said, the pot can’t call the kettle black.”

DO DEMOCRATS HEED MAYOR HERENTON?

Scarcely a month after the Lamar Alexander campaign began to feature him as an all-but-formally declared surrogate and supporter and in the same week that his son Rodney Herenton co-hosted a Memphis reception for Alexander, Memphis Mayor Willie Herenton taped a Get-Out-the-Vote telephone message, apparently on behalf of the whole Democratic ticket, to be called into households, especially African-American ones, in Memphis and elsewhere.

Here’s what the mayor said. CLICK HERE AND HEAR IT NOW before it starts to be played into homes via robo-calls during the next few days. (There may be a slight delay while the sound file loads on your computer.)

The text: “Hello, this is Mayor Willie Herenton. We are facing an election that is critical to this great state and our nation. You must vote. If you don’t vote, we lose. It’s that simple. Your vote for the Democratic family will decide these elections. Your vote will get our state moving in the right direction — for better schools, affordable health care, and secure jobs. Take the lead for your family and your community. Please vote.”

Back in September Herenton had scandalized local Democrats by appearing at an Alexander campaign function in Memphis alongside the Republican U.S. Senate candidate and former governor, whom he called “ a very good friend, one I’ve known for 20 years, and who supported educational reform when I was superintendent [of Memphis schools].”

Herenton avoided any direct comment, pro or con, about the Senate campaign of Democratic nominee Bob Clement.

Defending his participation at the event, which co-billed Alexander and himself and at which the mayor talked broadly about a “coalition” with the GOP candidate but avoided any variation on the word “endorse,” Herenton said, “As the mayor of Memphis, I hold a non-partisan position,” and he recalled that prominent Democrats, like members of the locally influential Farris family, had in 1991 supported his mayoral opponent, then incumbent Dick Hackett, who was presumed to be a Republican. “And you have the fact that the local Democratic Party has always been controlled by the Ford family,”

Democrats were privately furious but tried to look the other way and paid no formal note, so as to avoid the kind of intra-party strife that has so often dogged active Democrats in the Memphis area. Subsequently, though, both Herenton’s son Rodney and his close aide Reginald French, who had briefly held the title of Shelby County chairman of the Democratic Coordinating Committee, actively joined the Alexander campaign effort.

Clement and his supporters were hurt but bravely set about soldiering on in the Memphis area, buoyed by the continued support of U.S. Rep. Harold Ford Jr., his father Harold Ford Sr.. the former 9th District congressman, and other members of the Ford family, Herenton’s historical rivals for power among African-American Democrats in

Memphis.

“He’s covering his tracks with this recorded message,” noted one prominent Democrat Tuesday. “If Bob wins, he can cite it as proof that he really gave him valuable support. If Lamar wins, he’ll come right out and claim to have been part of the campaign all along.”

During the 1994 gubernatorial campaign, Herenton kept a conspicuous silence concerning then-Democratic nominee Bredesen and announced publicly that he had “supported” home-town Republican winner Don Sundquist after the election. The mayor has been vocal on Bredresen’s behalf this time around — a decided contrast to his attitude toward Clement.

NASHVILLE — When we go to the polls on Nov. 5 (earlier than that for many of us), Tennesseans will decide more than who will be our next governor, U.S. senator, members of Congress and whether we want a state lottery.

We will determine the philosophical direction of Tennessee, which turned decidedly Republican in 1994 and continues along that path. That brings us to today’s topic: the future of the Democratic Party in Tennessee.

Political experts largely agree that Tennessee is one-third Democratic,

one-third Republican and one-third independent. Exit polls show the percentage for the major parties to be a bit higher, up to 40 percent each.

University of Virginia political scientist Larry Sabato says Republicans have an edge, based on recent voter trends.

“Tennessee leans Republican, but that’s about it,” Sabato said.

“It’s the independents that make the difference. When you push them, they lean Republican and conservative. It produces about a 53-47 percent edge for Republicans in Tennessee. That’s not overwhelming.”

In the gubernatorial race, former Nashville Mayor Phil Bredesen could

benefit from the public’s disdain for Republican Gov. Don Sundquist, who pushed hard during his second term for a Tennessee income tax. Republican Van Hilleary has distanced himself from fellow Republican Sundquist.

“Independents are not firm Republicans. If the Republicans mess up, independents have no hesitation about voting Democratic,” Sabato said

It appears that Tennessee has more Republicans than Democrats, whose top candidates kicked off a statewide bus tour two weeks ago in the Republican stronghold of East Tennessee. Democratic strategists recognize the growing

disparity between party allegiances and are reaching out to moderate Republicans as well as independents.

Bredesen is a good example. He is a conservative Democrat who, philosophically, could have been considered either a “D” or an “R” 20 years ago. He is a successful businessman who wants to keep a lid on state spending and taxation, two strong Republican themes.

There is no question about the Republican credentials of Hilleary, Bredesen’s opponent in the gubernatorial race. If anything, Hilleary is

swinging more and more to the right, and that appears to be what many Tennesseans want in a governor.

That brings us to a Vanderbilt University lecture by Democrat Artur Davis,

34, a Harvard-educated former U.S. attorney who defeated a five-term incumbent Democrat in Alabama’s 7th U.S. House District.

Davis, who like his former opponent is black, has become a student of the eroding Democratic Party in the South. He has perspective: he comes from

modest means and, should he defeat his Libertarian opponent as expected on Nov. 5, will represent one of the poorest districts in the country.

The Democratic Party in the South must work with both ends of the

socioeconomic spectrum, Davis noted. That means working with business leaders while retaining the traditional support of organized labor. It means

meeting the needs of the poor while realizing the limitations of government

spending.

Jobs and education get the attention of those who feel disenfranchised from

the political process. Educate them, and the poorest of the poor can find

work in skilled or high-tech industries. Unskilled jobs those workers once

filled have gone offshore or disappeared altogether.

According to Davis, the Democratic Party also must “recognize that elections

are about very large consequences and values in our society. TV commercials

don’t win elections, values do. And when I say values, what I mean is a

sense of what is important, a sense of what matters.”

He added: “I think the Democratic Party has to always be É the party that

preaches and speaks to compassion in our society. It has to be the party

that Robert Kennedy tried to build in 1968.”

Tennessee’s Democratic Party appears to be working on those themes. We’ll

know on Nov. 5 how well it has succeeded.

In a world of speed Bumps, road-width restricters, and roundabouts, the city council decided to go with old-fashioned stop signs for a cut-through to Walnut Grove.

In an effort to retrain motorists and appease the surrounding neighborhood, the city council voted last week to put in a four-way stop sign at the intersection of Walnut Bend and Walnut Creek. But in doing so, they went against the advice of the city engineer and traffic guidelines adopted by the state of Tennessee.

“I’ve been getting calls about that intersection for the last five years or so,” Councilman Brent Taylor said earlier this week. “I had been trying to get relief for the neighbors by working through the administration, but it had been to no avail. The problem continued to fester. I realized I needed to involve the council.”

When the intersection was part of the county, there was a four-way stop sign there. But after annexation, the city took out two of the signs. According to guidelines set out in the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (the national traffic-control bible) and traffic volume on the streets, the intersection did not warrant a four-way stop.

“Our major concern is if we put in a four-way stop that is unwarranted, it will simply breed contempt for the device,” city engineer Wain Gaskins told the council. Gaskins, who had to be called into the meeting specifically to discuss the intersection, explained that under the manual’s guidelines, the street’s volume simply did not warrant a four-way stop. Instead, the city engineer recommended a two-phase $150,000 project that would first reduce the width of the road from 40 to 20 feet to the tune of $40,000. The second $110,000 phase would be to construct a traffic circle there.

“We decided in committee we wanted stop signs,” said Councilman Barbara Swearengen Holt. “Stop signs should suffice. I can’t in clear conscience approve $40,000.”

In the end, it seemed to come down to simple economics.

“It’s unusual that the council will do what it did and take a different action than that recommended by the city engineer,” said Taylor. “That’s why there was so much discussion about it. It’s not a function of the council to decide where to put traffic lights or stop signs. We didn’t want to set a precedent, but everybody recognized it was an area that needed relief. And relief could be gotten for less than $150,000.”

DESTIN, Fla. Ð Capitol Hill reporters, at least this one, thought Gov. Don Sundquist was joking each time he said he was taking vacation at his “doublewide” in Florida.

Guess what?

He wasn’t kidding.

Sundquist, who since has built a comfortable retirement home near Townsend in the Great Smoky Mountains, really has a doublewide mobile home in Florida. It’s parked off the beaten path about five blocks from the Gulf of Mexico. The structure is the only doublewide sitting in the Destin RV Resort (motto, “Your Sun Sets Here”).

Only one other mobile home is set up in the park, which has 153 spaces for recreational vehicles. The rest are RVs, according to the park manager. Sundquist rarely spends time there these days. Mostly, a daughter and brother-in-law use the mobile home, the manager says.

From outward appearances, Sundquist did not soak Tennessee taxpayers for this spot, which is located near some of the best golf in the Southeast. Tax records show the entire RV park, owned by Arquette Development Corp. of Panama City, Fla., is valued at less than $1.6 million.

The Sundquist villa is a nondescript tan structure with an attached carport. There are better things to do than check out your departing governor’s vacation home during a getaway to the Gulf Coast. But when it rains Ð hard Ð one has to amuse oneself, since one cannot play golf as planned.

That means reading (Tom Clancy’s “Red Robin” is a nice diversion.) and/or watching television, which brings us to our next point. Destin is so close to Alabama that it is nearly impossible to avoid radio and television political ads broadcast from Mobile and Dothan, Ala.

The ads sound eerily familiar. There’s President Bush telling a crowd that Republican Bob Riley is the sort of man who will bring integrity and strong moral values to the governor’s office in Montgomery.

As I recall, Bush did much the same for our own Van Hilleary, and that shows up time and again in Hilleary’s television ads. The Alabama governor’s race appears to be at least as intense as Tennessee’s battle between Hilleary and Democrat Phil Bredesen. Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman, a Democrat, accuses Riley of failing to pay his taxes for nine years. The Siegelman ads say Riley paid the taxes only after “authorities” forced him to do so.

Riley denies that, and targets Siegelman for non-bid state contracts to campaign contributors.

An intelligent, mature lawyer from Huntsville, Ala., brought up the Alabama governor’s race and called it the nastiest he’s even seen. That includes the bitter battle over an Alabama lottery, which was defeated three years ago.In Tennessee, as we well know, Hilleary tries to create the impression that Bredesen, who became wealthy and created thousands of jobs as a health care entrepreneur, is just an “HMO millionaire.” That label is supposed to paint Bredesen as a bad guy on two fronts: he’s rich and he’s been involved with HMOs, which we are supposed to despise.

The Sundquist-Bredesen campaign of 1994 was hard-fought but didn’t plunge to the low level of these two gubernatorial races. Negative campaigning works, but why must candidates Ð or their political advisers Ð take it to such distasteful levels?

The Nov. 5 election is less than two weeks away. We must take the claims, as my grandmother used to say, with a grain of salt. There may be some truth in there somewhere.

Meanwhile, Sundquist is enjoying his last months in office away from the political wars. His support of a state income tax made him persona non grata, even to his own political party. Hilleary has TV commercials showing Bredesen morphing into “BredeSundquist.” Now, the Hilleary campaign is passing out bumper stickers that say, “No More BredeSundquist.” When he was shown the commercials, Sundquist paused and said, “I regret it, if Hilleary has his people doing that. He ought to know better. Shame on him!”

Sounds like the sun hasn’t yet set on Don Sundquist.

They’re looking for excuses to change their vote.” That was the blunt assessment of Shelby County Commissioner Bruce Thompson concerning a majority vote by his colleagues that overturned a previous vote disapproving a subdivision proposal for east Shelby County.

The first vote — which saw commissioners deadlocked at 6-6, with one absentee — occurred on September 23rd amid a great deal of talk about creating a “line in the sand” on new homebuilding projects in the outer county. Thompson was one of a hard core of four commissioners — the others being Deidre Malone, Joyce Avery, and Michael Hooks — who insisted that no new development should be approved unless a mechanism was at hand to provide funding for the additional county classrooms that would have to be constructed to service the new residents.

The matter was submitted to a revote Monday by virtue of Hooks’ motion at the intervening meeting of October 7th to allow a reconsideration. Hooks did so, he said then, at the request of Commissioner Julian Bolton, who had been absent on September 23rd and desired an opportunity to vote on the project, which would allow an additional 60-odd homes to an existing subdivision project of developer Kevin Hyneman in Cordova.

Hooks, Malone, and Thompson voted no again Monday, when the project came back up, but switched sides. Avery switched sides, however, and her vote, along with Bolton’s and that of John Willingham, who had passed on the proposal last month, helped provide a comfortable 9-3 margin for the additional units. (Commissioner Linda Rendtorff, another no voter on September 23rd, was absent.)

What seemed to offer a basis for the commission’s approval was an argument by Michael Fahy, a spokesman for Hyneman on the Lee Line Farms subdivision project, that a county school system document had overestimated the number of students currently being served by county schools in the affected area. Fahy was supported by Commissioner Marilyn Loeffel, who said she had checked Fahy’s arithmetic by calling the schools in question and finding, as he did, that surplus space was available instead of there being a situation of overcrowding.

Maura Black, director of planning for the county schools, countered that Loeffel and Fahy had overlooked another portion of the document, which allowed for a temporary drop in enrollment at certain schools because of others coming into line this year. But the report still suggested, she said later, that the overall impact of new development might be to force new school construction.

The discussion concerning the two sets of school numbers left some observers (and commissioners) more confused than enlightened. “These numbers are hard to follow,” Avery said afterward. “I had planned to vote no, but when he [Fahy] presented the facts on the schools, I changed my mind. I don’t want to vote to stop growth. I just want smart growth. I just want to make sure taxes are not growing sky-high because of building in the area.” Loeffel, too, found enough discrepancy to justify her repeating her earlier yes vote for the subdivision units, while yea-sayers Willingham, David Lillard, and Joe Ford cited the need not to deter legitimate development nor to impose restrictions that forced it out of the county.

None of that satisfied Thompson, who said, “The idea seemed to be that bad development is better than no development.” He said that the uncertainty over the school numbers should have been an argument for deferring the vote rather than, as Loeffel seemed to suggested, for siding with the developer so as to avoid unfairness.

“And too much emphasis was placed on the issue of the schools alone,” said Thompson. Yes, new school construction and the need to fund it are compelling reasons to be cautious about new development, but those aren’t the only costs the county — and the taxpayer — will have to furnish. There’s a good deal of infrastructure that will be costly in and of itself.”

At one point during the discussion of the issue Monday, Hooks, a property appraiser by trade, announced to his colleagues the results of his own arithmetic concerning the new units. New tax revenues would be $300,000, he said. New costs to be borne by the county would be $900,000, for a net deficit of $600,000 overall.

Unlike the case with the school numbers, these figures drew no contradiction Monday.

Cohen Wins a Prelim

In an opinion released last week, Tennessee attorney general Paul Summers supported state Senator Steve Cohen in the senator’s defense of his right to use his office facilities in campaigning for the forthcoming state-lottery referendum on the November 5th election ballot.

In his opinion, Summers said explicitly, “It is not a violation of any law for a state legislator to use his or her office for fundraising calls for a not-for-profit entity formed to promote the lottery referendum on the November 2002 ballot” nor “to use his or her office to disseminate information regarding the state lottery referendum.”

Former ambassador Joe Rodgers, a representative of the anti-lottery group Gambling-Free Tennessee, had argued in a debate with Cohen at the Jewish Community Center earlier last week that Cohen was in violation of state law in using his state-assigned facilities on behalf of the lottery. Rodgers had cited a previous opinion from Summers suggesting it was unlawful to “use … state facilities to prepare and distribute only material that directly advocates voting for a particular candidate, party, or referendum issue.”

Rodgers had gone further, using the last few seconds of his time during the debate to suggest that Cohen’s alleged violation might be “criminal” and stating, “I think, Senator, you and General Summers have something to talk about.” Cohen, who was prevented by lack of time from responding during the debate itself, called the charge “sleazeball” and said it was misleading. For one thing, Cohen said, Rodgers’ citation omitted some key succeeding words from the prior Summers opinion (responding to a request from state Representative and Republican chairman Beth Harwell) — specifically, the follow-up clause “unless access to the facilities is provided to all sides on the topic” and the even more explicit sentence, “Further, the statute prohibiting the use of public buildings or facilities does not apply to popularly elected officials such as state legislators.”

Cohen and Summers did, in fact, have “something to talk about,” though it resulted in the explicitly stated follow-up opinion from the attorney general that would seem to license fully pro-referendum activity by Cohen, chief legislative proponent of the lottery for almost two decades. The senator crowned 16 years of effort when, as the last step of a multistage process, he persuaded a two-thirds majority of the state Senate last spring to authorize the forthcoming referendum.

At a press conference following receipt of Summers’ latest opinion, Cohen announced that, while he would honor commitments to debate the lottery issue with opponents “of good will, sincerity and moral purpose,” he would no longer participate in public forums with members of Gambling Free Tennessee, whom, on the basis of Rodgers’ debate remarks and other statements made during the campaign, he regarded as lacking in those qualities.

(That meant that Monday night’s debate on WPTY-TV Channel 24 had to be reconfigured, with state Representative Kathryn Bowers and Memphis School Board member Hubon “Dutch” Sandridge taking the pro-lottery position in Cohen’s stead and Bill Wood and the Rev. Bill Bouknight opposing the lottery.)

Cohen also used the occasion of his press conference last week to rebut lottery opponents’ contentions that poor citizens are disproportionate purchasers of lottery tickets in other states and that lottery participation tends to diminish year by year. In Georgia, whose lottery-funded HOPE scholarships provided the model for his own legislation, the reverse has been the case, said Cohen: Participation and the resultant revenues have risen year by year.

The lottery in Tennessee, if voted in next month, would establish scholarships on the Georgia model. Next year’s General Assembly would still be required to pass enabling legislation to establish the machinery for the lottery.

* The issue of whether to build an arena for the NBA Grizzlies may have been resolved, but the question of how to build it is still a matter for some dispute — at least in the minds of union representatives who fear that local workers will get short shrift as the project wears on.

A rally will be held under the auspices of the Memphis Building and Construction Trades Association at the arena site south of Beale Street on Friday, November 1st, says Edward Panis, business agent of Ironworkers Local 167. “We just want to be sure that there is participation by local workers as they proceed to further stages of the project. I’ve talked to several of the contractors doing iron work on this project, and it seems they’re prepared to bring their own people down here from elsewhere.”

Panis also said some Memphis workers involved in preliminary stages of the project may have been misclassified by out-of-state contractors and paid wages less than they are entitled.

I guess it’s my background as a defense attorney,” said Shelby County mayor A C Wharton in an interview with the Flyer Saturday, “but I’m not ready to write off Tom Jones.” Indeed, said Wharton, if current allegations against Jones are dispelled, “I’ll be the first to give him an apology and would be ready to offer him a substantial position in county government.”

The former public defender and recently inaugurated county chief executive acknowledged that he had badly wanted to employ Jones, a chief adviser to former mayors Bill Morris and Jim Rout, in his own administration and was dissuaded only by the enormity of the public reaction to a controversy over possible credit-card abuses that caused Rout to suspend Jones with only a week to go in the Rout administration.

“I just was unwilling to spend the first year of my administration dealing with this,” Wharton said of the controversy over Jones, now under investigation by the district attorney general’s office for purported use of his county-issued credit card for private purchases. Jones is also accused of improperly accessing a county fund set aside for liaison with a Chamber of Commerce project.

Meanwhile, Wharton says, he has chosen not to replace Jones in the uniquely authoritative position, which, under Rout, saw Jones occupy multiple positions — including public-affairs director and deputy executive assistant.

* If Republican nominee Marsha Blackburn, currently a state senator from the Nashville suburban community of Brentwood, wins her 9th District congressional race, she is adamant about one thing (well, one more thing): No gender-specific or gender-neutral title for her. No “congresswoman.” No “congressperson.”

“I’ll be a congressman,” she said categorically while attending a picnic in east Shelby County Saturday. “In the state Senate, I haven’t been a ‘senatress.’ I’ve been a senator.”

While serving as a senator, Blackburn won wide recognition as a determined opponent of a state income tax, and that reputation, plus some assiduous campaigning in Shelby County, won her an easy victory over five GOP opponents in the August primary. She finished second in Shelby County, in fact, where she maintains a part-time residence on Highway 64.

Blackburn, who is opposed in the general election by Democrat Tim Barron of Collierville, indicates she may be a mite more flexible than some observers would have believed. Like many Republicans in this depressed stock-market era, she has backed off the word “privatization” in relation to Social Security, though she still calls for “a portion” of an individual’s Social Security account to be administered as the individual sees fit.

And, though she wants President Bush’s tax-cut package to be made permanent, she acknowledges that unforeseen expenditures of the war on terror could justify a “continuing-resolution” vote that would leave that outcome for future consideration, especially if action against Iraq (which she would support) takes place.

* Democratic gubernatorial nominee Phil Bredesen isn’t conceding that his onetime considerable lead over GOP foe Van Hilleary has “evaporated” (as at least one recent neutral poll indicates), but he acknowledges that some dimunition has occurred, which he credits to his opponent’s negative campaigning.

“Van’s history is to go hard, hard negative in the last month of a campaign, and that’s what he’s doing here,” said Bredesen after addressing attendees at the monthly Dutch Treat Luncheon Saturday at Willingham’s Restaurant at Perkins and American Way.

Former Nashville mayor Bredesen, who has emphasized his nonsupport of a state income tax, “both implicitly and explicitly,” said that 4th District congressman Hilleary was attempting to mislead voters by “making the issue about taxes.” Bredesen defended a recent TV commercial of his own, criticized by some Democrats, in which he called his opponent by name and defended himself against Hilleary’s income-tax charge. “That may violate the canon of political-advertising practice,” Bredesen acknowledged, “but I’ve never been unafraid to violate political canons.”

In his presentation to the conservative-oriented luncheon group, Bredesen emphasized what he said was his superiority to Hilleary in three areas: management experience, support of education, and job creation. He reemphasized his opposition to legalized gaming and welcomed the recent Supreme Court decision calling for equalization of teacher salaries in Tennessee as “a good thing.”

The ruling would prove beneficial to the state if Tennessee is allowed to make “one move at a time” to implement it and if the state works within the structure of the existing Basic Education Plan to incorporate the funding changes.

* Not all local Democrats approved of last week’s vote by 9th District U.S. Representative Harold Ford Jr. for a congressional resolution authorizing use of force by President Bush against Iraq. There was considerable private grumbling, but most of it stayed that way — private.

For the record, Ford issued a statement doubting administration claims of a connection between Iraq and al Qaeda but endorsing the idea that “America’s national security is at stake” and supporting the president’s call for national unity.

Off the record, one observer acquainted with Ford noted a distinction between the current congressman and his father, former Rep. Harold Ford Sr., who voted against a similar resolution in 1991, but pointed out, “Harold Sr. wasn’t planning to run for the Senate in 2006 in a Republican state.”

* George Flinn, who ran unsuccessfully for county mayor as a conservative Republican, has had a change of heart — sort of. Flinn had an operation last week to implant a pacemaker device. Even in his preparations for the operation, however, the 2002 GOP nominee maintained his partisan connections. When Vice President Dick Cheney who has had a similar operation, visited Memphis recently, Flinn asked him for an opinion. “He told me who should do it, and I did it his way, and, politically, I should be as good as he is,” Flinn joked to Saturday’s attendees at the Dutch Treat Luncheon.

We’re a strange crew, those of us who count ourselves among the U of M football faithful. We show up in remarkably large numbers, year in and year out, to root on our heroes. We enter each and every season full of hope, only to watch those hopes get dashed to bits, like so many leftover Cinquo de Mayo pi–atas.

Why do we do it? Over the years, I’ve been asked that question a hundred times, by dozens of family members and friends, people who genuinely care about my well being. They are always particularly concerned after heart-breaking losses like the one the Tigers suffered at the hands of Louisville, 38-32, in the Liberty Bowl last week.

Why, they ask, do you persist? Why, they say, don’t you take up a pastime more satisfying? Something less painful, say, like ritual self-mutilation?

No, I quietly explain, every time I’m asked: Being a Tiger football fan is more than an avocation; it’s a way of life. Better yet, it’s a metaphor for life. For what we do is tough — way more difficult, and way nobler, than anything any Big Orange supporter, for example, could possibly imagine.

Hey, it’s easy to be a UT fan. You win eight times out of ten, ten years out of twelve, and plan your holidays around a bowl game, year in and year out. How hard is that? Lots of good times, lots of glory.

But, I ask you, is real life like that? Of course it isn’t. Real life is about winning and losing, and, frankly, there’s usually a bit more losing involved than winning, for nearly all of us. And keep in mind the bottom line, as an existentialist friend of mine likes to say, about life on Planet Earth: “Nobody’s getting out of here alive.”

See? What could be a more perfect way to train for real-life adversity than by supporting a college football team whose entire modern history has been an exercise in near-futility?

You’ve all heard the adage: “Almost” only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades? Well, it could be a U of M football mantra. So near yet so far, so many times that the faithful among us have long stopped counting.

Tuesday last week, for example, there we were, on the verge of victory, with a couple of minutes left, the Tigers having clawed their way back into a football game half of the 44,081 in attendance had already abandoned. All around us in Section Eight, folks were going berserk. We had the ball on the Louisville 26, down just six points, first and ten, and…

“Damn,” I heard a voice next to me say, “it’s starting to rain.” Sure enough, out of nowhere on a brilliant autumn evening, a storm cloud had materialized, just in time, as it turned out, to dampen our hopes yet again. Alas, the Tigers went four and out, failing even to get a first down, and going down to defeat for the fourth time this season.

All around us, there were many long faces. We regulars, however, were altogether calm about the outcome. After all, the last time Louisville visited the Liberty Bowl (in 1999) the Cardinals administered a painful 32-31 coup de grace with a TD completion in the end zone as time ran out. So for loyalists, this was a preferable death, the kind Dr. Kervorkian could appreciate. “Must’ve been that damned cloud,” said a long-suffering colleague as we filed out silently, the rain stopping as suddenly as it had started.

But they say that every cloud has a silver lining, and this one, certainly, was no exception. Who knows what the future holds, but at least three things stand out as positives from an otherwise distasteful evening at the ballpark:

The Tigers showed up to play. In sharp contrast to the “Sham in Birmingham,” the U of M this time around played with grit, heart and intelligence, overcoming yet another special-teams goof in the first ninety seconds to take the lead at halftime, and roaring back from an 18-point fourth-quarter deficit to take control of its own destiny in the game’s final minutes. Two second-half turnovers were fatal, but the defense played an inspired game, led by Tony Brown, whose switch from defensive end inside to tackle reaped huge dividends.

ESPN2 got to showcase a big-time quarterback. No, not Louisville’s Dave Ragone, but our own Danny Wimprine, who’s on course to break every modern U of M passing record if he doesn’t get killed running the football first. Wimprine out-passed and out-led Ragone, and had Travis Anglin not mistakenly thought he was auditioning for a Butterfingers commercial, the Tiger quarterback may well have been all the rage on “Sports Center” Tuesday night.

C-USA is all shook up, as Elvis might say. Look at last Saturday’s screwball results: Tulane beats Cincinnati? South Florida knocks off Southern Miss? Who’s in charge here? Evidently, no one. Which means that even three conference defeats may not be the end of the world for the U of M.

Okay, so maybe that’s a stretch. But that’s what makes U of M football fans so, um, unusual. We’ll be back in droves at the Liberty Bowl Saturday evening, as the Tigers face off against Mississippi State, expecting the worst, but always hoping for the best. Hey, at least we’ll never need a reality check.

“I guess it’s my background as a defense attorney, but ,” said Shelby County Mayor A C Wharton in an interview with the Flyer Saturday, “I’m not ready to write off Tom Jones.” Indeed, said Wharton, if current allegations against Jones are dispelled, “I’ll be the first to give him an apology and would be ready to offer him a substantial position in county government.”

The former Public Defender and newly inaugurated county chief executive acknowledged that he had badly wanted to employ Jones, a chief adviser to former mayors Bill Morris and Jim Rout, in his own administration and was dissuaded only by the enormity of the public reaction to a controversy over possible credit-card abuses that caused Rout to suspend Jones with only a week to go in the Rout administration.

“I just was unwilling to spend the first year of my administration dealing with this,” Wharton said of the controversy over Jones, now under investigation by the District Attorney General’s office for purported use of his county-issued credit card for private purchases. Jones is also accused of improperly accessing a county fund set aside for liaison with a Chamber of Commerce project.

Meanwhile, Wharton says, he has chosen not to replace Jones in the uniquely authoritative position which, under Rout, saw Jones occupy multiple positions — including public affairs director and deputy executive assistant.

(For more of the interview with Wharton, see this week’s print edition of the Flyer.)

MORE POLITICS

If Republican nominee Marsha Blackburn, currently a state senator from the Nashville suburban community of Brentwood, wins her 9th District congressional race, she is adamant about one thing (well, one more thing): No gender-specific or gender-neutral title for her. No “Congresswoman.” No “Congressperson.”

“I’ll be a congressman,” she said categorically while attending a picnic in East Shelby County Saturday. “In the state senate, I haven’t been a Ôsenatress.’ I’ve been a senator.”

While serving as a senator, Blackburn won wide recognition as a determined opponent of a state income tax, and that reputation, plus some assiduous campaigning in Shelby County, won her an easy victory over five GOP opponents in the August primary. She finished second in Shelby County, in fact, where she maintains a part-time residence on Highway 64.

Blackburn, who is opposed in the general election by Democrat Tim Barron of Collierville, indicates she may be a mite more flexible than some observers would have believed. Like many Republicans in this depressed stock-market era, she has backed off the word “privatization’ in relation to Social Security, though she still calls for “a portion” of an individual’s Social Security account to be administered as the individual sees fit.

And, though she wants President Bush’s tax-cut package to be made permanent, she acknowledges that unforeseen expenditures of the war on terror could justify a “continuing-resolution” vote that would leave that outcome for future consideration, especially if action against Iraq (which she would support) takes place.

Democratic gubernatorial nominee Phil Bredesen isn’t conceding that his onetime considerable lead over GOP foe Van Hilleary has “evaporated” (as at least one recent neutral poll indicates), but he acknowledges that some dimunition has occurred, which he credits to his opponent’s negative campaigning.

“Van’s history is to go hard, hard negative in the last month of a campaign, and that’s what he’s doing here,” said Bredesen after addressing attendees at the monthly Dutch Treat Luncheon at Willingham’s Restaurant at Perkins and American Way.

Former Nashville mayor Bredesen, who has emphasized his non-support of a state income tax, “both implicitly and explicitly,” said that 4th District congressman Hilleary was attempting to mislead voters by “making the issue about taxes.” Bredesen defended a recent TV commercial of his own, criticized by some Democrats, in which he called his opponent by name and defended himself against Hilleary’s income-tax charge. “That may violate the canon of political-advertising practice,” Bredesen acknowledged, “but I’ve never been unafraid to violate political canons.”

In his presentation to the conservative-oriented luncheon group, Bredesen emphasized what he said was his superiority to Hilleary in three areas: management experience, support of education, and job creation. He re-emphasized his opposition to legalized gaming and welcomed the recent Supreme Court decision calling for equalization of teacher salaries in Tennessee as “a good thing.”

The ruling would prove beneficial to the state if Tennessee is allowed to make “one move at a time” to implement it and if the state works within the structure of the existing Basic Education Plan to incoporate the funding changes.

Not all local Democrats approved of last week’s vote by 9th District U.S. Representative Harold Ford Jr. for a congressional resolution authorizing use of force by President Bush against Iraq. There was considerable private grumbling, but most of it stayed that way — private.

For the record, Ford issued a statement doubting administration claims of a connection between Iraq and Al Quaeda but endorsing the idea that “America’s national security is at stake” and supporting the president’s call for national unity.

Off the record, one observer acquainted with Ford noted a distinction between the current congressman and his father, former Rep.Harold Ford Sr., who voted against a similar resolution in 1991, but pointed out, “Harold Sr. wasn’t planning to run for the Senate in 2006 in a Republican state.”

George Flinn, the radiologist/broadcast executive who ran unsuccessfully for county mayor this year as a conservative Republican, has had a change of heart — sort of. Flinn had an operation last week for implantation of a pacemaker device.

Even in his preparations for the operation, however, the 2002 GOP nominee maintained his partisan connections. When Vice President Dick Cheney, who has had a similar operation, visited Memphis recently, Flinn asked him for an opinion as to how he should proceed. “He told me who should do it, and I did it his way, and, politically, I should be as good as he is,” Flinn joked to Saturday’s attendees at the Dutch Treat Luncheon.