Tag: Election

Categories
Politics Politics Feature

POLITICS: Beating Around the Bush

CREDIT: jb

U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander,
who has spent much of 2007 distancing himself from George W. Bush,
policy-wise, found himself in close proximity to the president on Monday, very
much by choice.

Bush was the guest of honor at an afternoon fundraiser for Alexander that
purportedly raised some $600,000 for the senator’s reelection coffers. The
$1,000-per-head affair was hosted by entrepreneur Brad Martin and drew a Who’s
Who of political. business, and civic leaders, some of whom crossed partisan
lines to attend.

The Bush visit also drew abundant numbers of protesters, most of whom were
bypassed by the president’s circuitous motorcade route to Martin’s Chickasaw
Gardens home.

Earlier Monday, after speaking at a morning assembly at East High School honors
assembly, Alexander was asked about
his point of divergence with the president.

The senator measured his words carefully. “My relationship with him is one of
respect,” he said before continuing, “I said to the people of Tennessee I would
be an independent voice, and I have been.” He went on to note that he had made
public his differences with Bush in several policy areas, notably concerning
Iraq and health-care issues.

As he noted, Alexander, along with Tennessee GOP colleague Bob Corker,
recently voted for an expansion of the federally funded State Children’s Health
Insurance Program (SCHIP) that would have benefited Tennessee and The
Med in Memphis, especially, but was vetoed by President Bush.

Alexander also took issue with the president’s No Child Left Behind program,
which decertifies schools that don’t meet performance standards.

Said the senator: “In No Child Left Behind it sounds like we’re giving out C’s
and F’s. I’d like to see us give out more A-pluses and A’s and B-pluses, because
75 to 80 percent of Tennessee’s students are meeting or exceeding standards.

Citing innovative programs that had just been touted at the East assembly, the
senator went on: “Id like to give more flexibility to schools so they could use
more programs like the tutoring program at East….. I’d like to see more A’s for
effort, as well as A’s for achievement. We ought to honor any school that makes
a grade’s worth of progress in one year.”

Alexander said he intended to introduce “a pilot program that would allow up to
12 states to create their own way of doing things within No Child Left Behind.”
The implication was that one of those states would be Tennessee.

As for Iraq, Alexander has co-sponsored a resolution, along with Democratic
Senator Ken
Salazar
of Colorado, calling for withdrawal of American troops from combat operations in
Iraq and for observance of other recommendations made by the Iraq Study Group,
presumably including the initiation of diplomatic talks with Iran and
Syria.

Alexander said he believed his efforts toward compromise may have borne fruit.
“I can see the effect of them in actions taken by the president,” including a
partial withdrawal of troops now advocated by General David Petraeus.
“I know the president has been a good listener to me. He’s let me make the case
that it’s time to finish the job honorably rather than to continue as we are.

Still, overt support for the senator’s resolution has been hard to come by.
Alexander cracked wanly, “I’ve unified the president and the Democratic leader
of the Senate [Nevada’s HarryReid],
but not in the way I’d hoped to. They were both opposed to my
amendment.”

Alexander was asked about his likely Democratic opponent in 2008, West
Tennessee businessman Mike McWherter,
son of former Tennessee governor NedMcWherter.

Alexander pondered. A thousand-and-one. A thousand-and-two. Then he said. “I
know him. His father was one of my best friends in Tennessee.” He said he and
McWherter had often worked together closely when the latter was House speaker in
his pre-gubernatorial days.

“I’ve known Mike and respect him as Ned McWherter’s son,” he concluded.

Categories
Opinion

One Vote at a Time

There is always a grain if not a rock of truth in everything Mayor Willie Herenton says, no matter how unpopular. He’s right about this: If you are going to stay in Memphis for a while — and not everyone is — then you will have to look at things differently.

Last week, I became a big fan of the Memphis NAACP. They lost but they looked good doing it, and they showed class. No organization or individual had more reasons to be partisan in last week’s election. The NAACP was co-plaintiff in the 1991 lawsuit that abolished mayoral runoffs. Not one but two favorite sons were in the race for mayor: Herenton, a trailblazer since he was a school principal in the 1970s, and Herman Morris, NAACP chairman from 1992 to 2000. Both are black. Carol Chumney isn’t.

But the NAACP’s election-day efforts were all about turnout, not any particular candidate. They lost only in the sense that turnout in the 54 precincts they targeted was not as good as they hoped it would be. In fact, it was dismal — 38 percent overall and in the teens in some target precincts.

Spartan simplicity is not always the rule at local nonprofits, but it is at the NAACP. Their little office on Vance is right across from the Cleaborn Homes housing project. On a day of excess, partisanship, and pack journalism, what better place for a reporter to view the election than a place with no cameras, no candidate signs or leaflets allowed, no bar, and no buffet? And no big screen. The only television was a 12-inch model with an antenna. Lean too close to read the numbers, and it stuck you in the eye. Move it, and you messed up the picture.

Beneath portraits of local NAACP heroes Maxine Smith, Vasco Smith, Benjamin Hooks, and Jesse Turner, volunteers worked on three clunky Compaq computers that were probably rejected by E-Cycle Management. Others worked the phones, reading from a printed script (“We’re calling on behalf of the Memphis branch NAACP to encourage you to vote today for the candidate of your choice”) and offering a ride to the polls. Forget public-service announcements and editorials; in the trenches, turnout means one vote at a time.

By mid-afternoon, the numbers coming in were not good. Wearing a yellow T-shirt that said “Lift Every Voice and Vote,” NAACP executive secretary Johnnie Turner looked worried. With five hours to go until the polls closed, nearly every precinct was hundreds of votes short of its turnout goal.

“Last year, we made almost all of our goals, but the way this is looking, people are not turning out,” said Turner, who has run the Voter Empowerment Project since 2000.

She was writing down numbers and doing the arithmetic, which was considerable. The goal was a 5 percent increase in each precinct. The 1999 election was chosen as the benchmark because the 2003 election was a Herenton blowout with a 23.7 percent turnout. That bar was too low. Or so Turner thought. Now, Asbury, Alcy, Glenview, Gaston — site after site — wasn’t coming close to the 1999 turnout, much less the hoped-for increase.

“We’ll have to regroup,” Turner said. “This election has been strange. I started to say divisive, but maybe it’s kind of polarized. Anytime the community sees discord, they take the attitude ‘I don’t want to be part of this mess.'”

When I went out to eat, I got to watch my first live shooting in a while. At Cleaborn Homes, a young man in a white T-shirt was running between the buildings. Another man with a pistol was chasing him and firing several shots from about 30 feet away, all of which missed. A minute later, the guy who’d been shot at walked past my car with the nonchalance of someone who had just missed getting sprayed with a water hose.

When I came back, Turner had made an executive decision. The original goal had been “overly ambitious.” The new goal would be the 2003 turnout plus 7 percent. In effect, the former teacher was lowering the grading curve.

“Now this is more like it,” Turner said as the polls closed and new numbers came in. “We’re going to make it.” As it turned out, however, the 1999 standard may have been unattainable, but it was not unrealistic. The overall turnout for the election was higher — more than 165,000 voters last week compared to 163,259 in 1999.

At 9 o’clock, when the first returns showed Herenton far ahead and Morris in third place, there was no cheering at the NAACP. And no booing. Soon after that, everyone left, except Turner and a few others.

Nice effort, I said on the way out. “Yes,” she said. “Honest.” And it was.

Categories
Politics Politics Feature

From the 2007 Campaign Annals: The Case of the Horrified Partisan

Bob Schreiber, the financial professional and environmental
activist who just finished a remote second to winner Jim Strickland in the
District 5 city council race, says that he nevertheless enjoyed the experience,
even the daily grind of going door-to-door to promote his candidacy.

He tells this story: At one house, the occupant who
answered his knock, “this lady who was 55 or 60-ish,” immediately demanded,
“What are you, a Republican or a Democrat?” Schreiber says he told her he tried
to be independent, making up his own mind about issues, regardless of party
considerations.

The woman was skeptical and responded tersely, according to
Schreiber. “She said, ‘I am a Republican, and I never in my life voted for a
Democrat! What’s more, I early-voted, and I didn’t vote for you!’ Just
like that. So I said, ‘Well, who did you vote for?'”

Schreiber says the woman immediately answered: “David
Kustoff told me who to vote for.” and that he responded, “Did you by any
chance vote for Jim Strickland?” to which the voter replied with a satisfied nod
and the firm answer, “Yes!” He waited a beat and then said, “Do you realize you
just voted for the past chairman of the Democratic Party?”

The woman, said Schreiber, responded with open-mouthed
shock, as if she’d swallowed poison unknowingly.

As it happens,
Strickland, who indeed was chairman of the Shelby County Democrats a decade or
so back, is the law partner of Kustoff, a former Republican chairman who, as a Bush
appointee, is serving these days as U.S. Attorney for the Western District of
Tennessee.

And, for the record, Strickland clearly had ample support across party lines, polling 73 percent of the District 5 vote.

Categories
Cover Feature News

Chez Chumney

Carol Chumney ended her campaign for city mayor at 10 o’clock Thursday night, in the same aggressive spirit that distinguished her term on the Memphis City Council. Promising to “work with Mayor Herenton any way I can” in her concession speech, she nevertheless took the opportunity to launch a final volley at the city leadership, saying, “We have sent a message that Memphis deserves better.”

The parting shot at Mayor Herenton rallied the crowd of more than a hundred close supporters and volunteers gathered in the Peabody’s Continental Ballroom, most of whom hadn’t seen their candidate in person since the election results were announced on television. For many, it was clearly a cathartic end to a long and exhausting day.

Earlier, as the first few precinct reports trickled in by word of mouth, the mood at Chumney’s election night party was buoyant, if slightly tense, and continued to remain so even as the early returns showed Mayor Herenton with a significant lead. But by the end of the night, with the outcome all but certain, any trace of that early hope had given way to sore discontent.

“I’m disappointed in the people of Memphis,” said longtime Chumney supporter Zenia Revitz. “I can’t believe that they didn’t open their eyes and see what’s going on in this community.” Her reaction may have best captured the mixed emotions felt by those present, as she quickly qualified her remark by adding, “So far, that is. We’re only at 50 percent,” referring to the number of precincts still uncounted. No one at the event was willing to fully give up the chance of a turnaround until it became unmistakably clear that none would come.

Another strong supporter, Joan Solomon, summarized what many at the party saw as a flawed election process, stating, “Everyone who voted for Morris was voting for Herenton.”

A Rasmussen poll commissioned by WHBQ Fox-13, taken just days before the election, showed that in a two-way race against Herenton, either Chumney or Morris would have won with a comfortable majority. Together, the two candidates provided the embattled mayor with the chance to win a fifth term with 42 percent of the vote.

The message of the Chumney campaign was strongly populist, and as such, their election strategy was centered around volunteer support. Noting in her concession speech that she was “outspent probably about two to one,” the councilwoman credited “hundreds of volunteers” with a large measure of her success. Campaign manager Charles Blumenthal was also quick to praise the campaign’s unpaid workers, calling the operation “a well-oiled machine,” adding that out of 14 full-time staff, only four were paid.

Indeed, it was a different campaign from what one usually sees in Memphis. It began with little money and very little financial support from the business community. What fund-raising momentum there was didn’t come until the final month of the race. Chumney’s largest donations came from labor unions and trade associations, with most of the city’s old money going to Herman Morris.

Also remarkable was the fact that compared with the two other major candidates, few current or former elected officials endorsed Chumney, with only two notables present at the election night event. State representative Mike Kernell, long an ally and friend of Chumney’s, was there, along with freshman Shelby County commissioner Steve Mulroy, who appeared with her onstage. Otherwise, the rest of her support appeared to come from family, friends, activists, and more than a few political neophytes.

While there were more whites than blacks at Chumney’s final campaign stop, Chumney was pleased by the support she received from predominantly black neighborhoods. “There were some [African-American] precincts where I was running at 30 percent,” she said. “It made me feel good.”

After the loss, Chumney was upbeat but expressed disappointment in the low turnout: “The people who didn’t vote should be kicking themselves because this was their chance to make a change.”

Ineligible to run for mayor and City Council at the same time, Chumney is out of public office for the first time in many years. After finishing the remainder of her council term, she said she plans to return to her private law practice, but she was otherwise undecided on any future political plans.

“Who knows?” she said. “We’ll see what the future holds.”

Categories
Opinion Viewpoint

Polls: The Dark Side

The next time a pollster calls you, just say no.

You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say to a pollster can and will be used against you and the democratic process.

Polling organizations have a right to call us. I confess I read the polls and find them interesting fodder for discussion. But I do not trust them, and my usual response when called by a stranger on behalf of a pollster is “none of your business” or something like that. The late Chicago columnist Mike Royko had an even better idea: Lie to them.

Several polls were taken by different organizations prior to last week’s Memphis mayoral election, which was won by Willie Herenton with 42 percent of the vote.

One early poll showed Carol Chumney leading, with lots of “undecideds” and virtually no white support for the mayor. That poll, of course, was designed to convince Herenton to bow out and to get Shelby County mayor A C Wharton to enter the race. Fat chance.

Another poll showed Herman Morris gaining ground but still losing. His handlers were all over that, claiming their man had momentum, as if that is the most important thing in an election.

Yet another poll showed Herenton winning by a whisker. The excitement was almost unbearable! Don’t touch that dial! Stay tuned!

The most outrageous poll, taken by Steve Ethridge and published by The Commercial Appeal just before the election, showed Morris running close with Chumney and within striking distance of Herenton. This played neatly into the CA‘s editorial endorsement of Morris and the Morris yard signs that said “only” Morris could win. As it turned out, Morris could “only” win if the only other candidate was Prince Mongo. Chumney squeaked past Morris by 22,000 votes. And Herenton shocked the world at 495 Union Avenue by getting twice as many votes as Morris.

The CA and Ethridge should be ashamed and disgraced but not because they, in effect, threw the election to Herenton by low-balling Chumney and unrealistically boosting Morris, as some have suggested. They should be ashamed because they used the CA‘s stature as the city’s only daily newspaper to sell a highly dubious piece of partisan polling as big news, knowing full well it would be seized upon by the Morris camp.

Some anti-Herenton voters no doubt felt that they would be “wasting” their vote if they cast it for Morris or Chumney. Pollsters have a name for a poll with an intended outcome: “push” poll.

Some polls are more honest than others, but as far as I’m concerned, the benefit of the doubt goes against all of them. I know far too many people who’ve been involved in campaigns over the years, and winning may not be everything to them but it sure beats coming in second. What all the pollsters and their fans fail to grasp is that, in Memphis at least, voting and responding to a poll are not the same thing.

If a candidate runs a serious campaign and that candidate’s previous accomplishments and present positions on the issues make him or her seem like a worthy public servant, then that candidate absolutely deserves your vote, and polls be damned.

Voters, fortunately, can be pretty discerning. John Willingham, who said he had 10,000 black supporters, got only 1,118 votes in all. You can bet the Shelby County Republican Party, which endorsed him and put out sample ballots supporting him, is doing some hard thinking, if it is actually possible for them to think.

The most accurate predictor, on the other hand, turned out to be Herenton, who said the race was between him and Chumney and he would win it. It was, and he did.

I know, columnists and reporters also call people on the phone and try to get them to open up about all kinds of things. Some of us write opinion columns, like this one. But that’s different from a poll masquerading as news.

This opinion column is worth exactly what you paid for it. In that respect, it has one thing in common with a poll.

Categories
Editorial Opinion

“Fixing” Elections

It seems clear enough that several of the City Council races just run were determined by such obvious factors as name recognition and big-money advertising. On the latter score, so numerous and ubiquitous were one successful candidate’s yard signs that his campaign manager was able to say, only half-jokingly, that some of the signs probably needed to be recycled. That candidate, who campaigned in lieu of attendance at the several candidate forums held at frequent intervals and at a variety of locations, won. Yes, he probably was supported by what could be called “special interests,” but so were several other candidates — well-regarded incumbents and newcomers alike.

Giving all these worthies the benefit of the doubt (and yes, there was a definite correlation between financial support and victory), we have the right to hope that they will act in office with integrity and independence.

Another feature of this and other recent political campaigns was the prevalence of attack ads on TV. Results in this sphere were hit-and-miss, though there was little doubt that the persona of Jerry Springer, television shlockmeister nonpareil, was a downer for any candidate his name was coupled with — whether a candidate was bragging of a connection, as in one case, or imputing an unsavory relationship, as in another.

Then there were the polls. Heated controversies erupted between the camps of competing mayoral candidates, both as to the reliability of these supposedly scientific surveys and to their sponsorship, acknowledged or unacknowledged. We are not in a position to judge the latter question — nor, for that matter, the former. All we can say with certainty is that the results on election day were somewhat out of kilter with any and all of the published surveys.

Today’s financial-disclosure laws exist to provide curbs on overt special-interest support. The public media are similarly required to make space and time available on a non-discriminatory, first-come/first-served basis. As far as attack ads and polls are concerned, there is very little remedy, except for voters to outfit themselves with abundant supplies of those proverbial grains of salt.

In the end, it is the people themselves — not hucksters, not pollsters, not technicians, and not even the ever-burgeoning class of campaign professionals — who are charged with the duty of electing our public officials. There have been several intriguing proposals made of late for re-charging our electoral process — ranging from a guaranteed-instant-runoff formula (dependent on multiple-choice ballots for voters) to proposals for mandating majority turnouts.

But the remedy we continue to take most seriously is the one we hear the most about but which rarely gets acted upon anywhere — and in Memphis and Shelby County, never. That is the idea of publicly financed elections. Chances are, unfortunately, that the newly elected crop of City Council members will lend an open ear to the idea of continuing PILOT (payment-in-lieu-of-taxes) subsidies for new industry. Even a small fraction of the money thereby given away would pay for publicly financed elections.

Categories
Letters To The Editor Opinion

Letters to the Editor

Best of Memphis

Once again, the Flyer‘s “Best of Memphis” issue has both entertained and infuriated me. I realize that polling is an imperfect art and the (sometimes) lowest common denominator will determine the winner. And yes, I like Huey’s hamburgers.

But seriously, how can a multi-million-dollar golf course such as Spring Creek Ranch possibly be tied (for third-best golf course) with a goat track like Overton Park? And how can a pedestrian “Italian” restaurant like Pete and Sam’s possibly be in consideration for “Best Italian” in the same garlic breath as Ronnie Grisanti’s?

I could go on: “Best Service” had Texas de Brazil first, followed by Chick-Fil-A??? Holy crap! That’s just insane. And Mud Island Amphitheater winning third in “Best Place To Hear Live Music”? Yeah, like what, twice a year?

I know the Flyer doesn’t have any control over the voting, but, people, please — show some common sense!

Ricky Gardner

Memphis

I want to know how Geoff Calkins and Wendi Thomas win “Best Columnist” every year when the Flyer offers us such stellar and superior talents as Jackson Baker, John Branston, Mary Cashiola, and Bruce VanWyngarden?

Haven’t you people ever heard of stuffing the ballot?

Mary Warren

Memphis

War Ethics

As I watched the excellent PBS Ken Burns series The War this past two weeks, I was struck how American expectations and standards seem to have changed since World War II. Think about what President Bush is reviled for in Iraq.  

Under an order signed by Roosevelt, well over 100,000 U.S. citizens — mostly based solely on their race — were sent to concentration camps and much of their property was stolen. For years after Pearl Harbor, Americans weren’t told the extent of our losses in men and ships. GIs in Europe, three years after we got into the war, had such lousy equipment to fight in winter, they were stealing from the German dead to try to keep from freezing.

The Allies killed 35,000 German civilians in one night in one city. A million Japanese civilians were burned out of their homes in one day in one city. German Army prisoners were executed out of hand, and an experienced U.S. soldier protesting this was warned he might get shot too.

“Intelligence failure” hardly seems an adequate term for the massive surprise military attack on Pearl Harbor after FDR had been in office for years. Of course, the U.S. in 1940-’41 had a military smaller than Romania’s, years after Germany and Japan were arming to the teeth.

If you don’t like Bush, fine — there’s a lot not to be happy with. But maybe think about what you accept without reservation in one president before you curse another.

Herbert E. Kook Jr.
Germantown

Air America

Because I still mourn the loss of Air America Radio, I am writing in response to the letter from the gentleman in Germantown (“Letters,” September 27th issue) and his reference to a “disgruntled” listener (and the three other listeners).

There were actually a lot more than three listeners and would probably have been many more if we had been made aware Air America wasn’t going to be available in our area. He mentions “hate,” and I won’t say there wasn’t some in evidence, but I guess it was just the wrong flavor for him, because I didn’t hear it directed at homosexuals, minorities, pro-choicers, Jews, Muslims, Catholics, or war protestors.

The “bile” being spewed was more directed at those who were perceived to be failing in their duty to protect and defend our Constitution and to respect our country as a nation of laws. How can dissent be un-American? Is that not what created this country? I would ask the gentleman, and anyone else, if you had been around in 1776, would you have stood with the king or the colonists?

Linda Cowart
Germantown

Iran and the U.S.

I keep hoping the damage the elected heads of state of Iran and the U.S. can do is reaching its limits.

It is a sad commentary on democracy when an “Ahmadina-Bush” is chosen. For my part, I vow never to vote for a Republican again, as I did in several races in the last general election.

Let’s send a message and work to take back our country from the election thieves of 2000!

Greg Williams

Memphis

Categories
Politics Politics Feature

Analysis: The Memphis Mayoral Election, Precinct by Precinct

Mayor Willie Herenton had a strong political base, taking 75 percent or more of the vote in scores of black precincts, plus getting thousands of white votes.

Carol Chumney was a bona fide challenger, winning 70 percent or more of the vote in some white precincts.

And Herman Morris was a spoiler with no political base who had just two precincts that could truly be called a stronghold, where he won more than 60 percent of the vote.

That’s what the unofficial precinct-by-precinct returns show for last week’s mayoral election. The results were released by the Shelby County Election Commission Tuesday.

An analysis by the Flyer shows that Herenton won in a time-tested fashion. He established a base and held it, rolling up thousands of votes and 75-percent majorities in predominantly black precincts. And that was enough to win, although overall Herenton got just 42 percent of the vote.

Call it The Rule of 75. In Memphis, a successful mayoral candidate must be popular enough to get 75 percent or more in several precincts

Simply put, neither Chumney nor Morris were able to do that. In general, they split the anti-Herenton vote, although Chumney had much more of a base than Morris. Chumney finished with 35 percent and Morris with 21 percent. Neither challenger could put together those key 75-percent margins needed to run even with Herenton.

At Trinity Methodist Church in Midtown, for example, Morris (who lives two blocks away) got 49 percent, Chumney 44 percent, and Herenton 6 percent of the more than 1700 votes cast.

In 11 precincts where at least 300 votes were cast, Herenton actually got more than 80 percent in of the vote (Gaston Community Center, Lauderdale Elementary, Southside High, Riverview Junior High, Pine Hill Community Center, Annesdale Cherokee Baptist Church, Westwood High, Lakeview Elementary, Raineshaven Elementary, New Nonconnah M.B. Church, and Double Tree Elementary).

Call those “home runs.” He got at least 70 percent of the vote in scores of other precincts, which offset the precincts where he got less than 10 percent.

Chumney won two precincts with more than 80 percent (Wells Station Elementary and Kingsbury Elementary). But those two home runs were better than Morris could muster. He played small-ball and picked up 65 percent of the vote in his best precinct (Christian Brothers High School) where at least 300 votes were cast.

Voters are not racially identified, but an educated guess can be made by targeting precincts where the voting population is either almost all white or all black. An examination of such precincts indicates that Herenton got thousands of white votes despite polls showing him with virtually no white support.

Categories
Politics Politics Feature

POLITICS: Something for Everybody

CREDIT: jb

Let’s be optimistic. The new city council may turn out to
be ideally balanced between Memphis’ disparate races, social groups, and special
interests.

Among the outright winners last Thursday night were:

District 4: Wanda Halbert, an African
American and a seasoned school board member whose inner-city concerns will be
balanced with knowledge of mainstream issues;

District 5: Jim Strickland, a lawyer whose
whopping 73 percent total over five opponents gave some indication of the
widespread appeal enjoyed by this white former Democratic chairman (whose law
partner is U.S. attorney David Kustoff, a former GOP chairman).

District 7: Barbara Swearengen Holt-Ware, a
black veteran and firm ally of Mayor Willie Herenton who easily turned
aside an energetic challenge from four opponents.

Super District 8, Position 1: Whether he’s profiting
from the cachet of the former Criminal Court judge and current TV jurist who has
the same name as himself or, alternatively, is just well liked for his stout
attention to inner-city neighborhood concerns, Joe Brown made it back
easily over two opponents.

Super District 8, Position 2: More moderate than her
reputation in some quarters, Janis Fullilove has been a fixture on the
airwaves for almost two decades, and her name ID by itself was enough to
overpower seven well-qualified opponents, including interim incumbent Henry
Hooper.

Super District 8, Position 3: Myron Lowery, a
hard-working fixture on the council for a generation and a pillar of both
mainstream and minority concerns, had no problem with his two opponents.

Super District 9, Position 1: Scott McCormick,
the likely new chairman, outpolled all other council candidates and prevailed
easily in a battle in which his ex-military opponent made few public
appearances.

Super District 9, Position 2: Shea Flinn,
Democratic son of a Republican county commissioner, outpointed runner-up Kemp
Conrad, who had GOP support, thanks to his big-bucks campaign, his own
appeal, and an impressive run from “Memphis Watchdog” Joe Saino, who
harvested liberally from Conrad’s conservative base.

Super District 9, Position 3: The winner here was
developer Reid Hedgepeth, whose campaign spent bigtime and had so many
yard signs that Hedgepeth’s campaign manager, retiring councilman Jack
Sammons, wryly suggested recycling some of them at a late fundraiser.

Though he may have lost some votes to challenger Lester
Lit, Hedgepeth saw his main competitor, lawyer Desi Franklin, sharing
enough crucial votes with fellow Democrat Mary Wilder to have to
settle for runner-up status.

Still to be determined:

There will be runoffs on November 8 in four district races.

District 1: School board member Stefanie Gatewood,
an M.O.R. black, vies with teacher Bill Morrison in a northern-suburb
district whose demographics now tilt African American. Educators won’t lose
either way.

District 2: The survivors from a multi-candidate
field in this eastern-edge district are, as expected, former assessor and
veteran civic figure Bill Boyd and hard-charging well-supported lawyer
Brian Stephens, who had the early head start. A tossup.

District 3: Though still youthful, Harold Collins
is a veteran of public service and has much influential support, while teacher
Ike Griffith has some grass-roots strength of his own. Collins is
considered the favorite.

District 6: Another teacher, Edmund Ford
Jr., now a graduate student, had a sizeable election-day lead over runner-up
James O. Catchings, himself a well-known educator. It remains to be seen
whether the current legal predicament of Ford pere, who is leaving the
seat, will be a help or a hindrance in the runoff.

  • Wasting no time: Three of the newly elected
    council members – Strickland, Hedgepeth, and Flinn – met Monday for a working
    lunch at The Little Tea Shop, a downtown restaurant.

    The trio compared notes on the campaign and discussed
    issues, agreeing that crime control would be the dominant issue for the newly
    configured council.

    Hedgepeth, a 30-year-old developer and political newcomer,
    took criticism during the campaign for avoiding all the scheduled candidate
    forums. He acknowledged he had relied heavily on the advice of Sammons and
    co-campaign manager Nathan Green. But he quipped, “I’ll be at all the forums
    from now on!”

    Those, he was
    reminded, will be scheduled on Tuesday at regular two-week intervals.

    • Categories
    Politics Politics Feature

    Fred Thompson Announces Campaign Chairs; “Macaca” Allen and Liz Cheney Among Them

    From Politico.com: Fred Thompson’s campaign will announce this morning their “National Campaign Leadership Team.”

    Among the four chairs — former Sen. George Allen (VA).

    The one-time presidential hopeful has had warm things to say about Thompson since the Tennessean first considered a bid this summer, and recently had his former colleague on while guest-hosting a radio show in Richmond.

    It’s fitting that Allen would back Thompson. They occupy much of the same space politically — folksy Southern mainstream conservative — and Fred got in the race in no small part because Allen’s absence created a vacuum for a candidate with such qualities.

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