Posted on 07/16/2005 9:22:02 PM PDT by SmithL
In the ongoing political dance with ethical issues, performed to the tune of Tennessee Waltz, Republicans have at this point displayed a somewhat better sense of rhythm than Democrats.
Granted, the Republicans had a head start of sorts. Insofar as indicted legislators go, the Democrats had three, the Republicans just one when the FBI stung those allegedly willing to take bribes.
Not to mention a former Democratic senator plus the other two indicted fellows - "bagmen," to use the language of the indictment - who are also easily tagged as Democrat in orientation.
So you might say that the Democrats started out with a 6-1 deficit in efforts to appear ethical.
A few devoted Democrats will tell you privately, by the way, that they suspect the federal charges are politically motivated by a federal government controlled by Republicans. And there are at least a couple who see race as a factor, observing that five of the seven accused are African American.
Republicans, privately or otherwise, generally dispute this. You'll hear some speculation that there was an active effort to find a bribery-susceptible Republican or two.
Be that as it may, once the dance started, Republicans waltzed quickly onto the floor and began striking ethical poses.
State Republican Chairman Bob Davis called on the only indicted legislator of his party, Rep. Chris Newton, to resign immediately. Republicans have higher standards, he sang.
Some of Newton's House colleagues, following Davis' lead, signed up for a crusade to oust Newton from his seat. The first, Rep. Chris Clem of Lookout Mountain, declared that Newton was never a very good Republican anyway.
The overall House-Senate Republican Caucus, meanwhile, declared that it will donate the political contributions received from undercover FBI operatives to charity - in fact, a charity favored by Andrea Conte, wife of Democratic Gov. Phil Bredesen.
A nifty ethical step, huh? Senate Republican Caucus Chairman Jeff Miller followed that lead with a promise to transform the political cash contribution he collected in FBI money to charity, too.
In contrast, the Democrats have generally stood around on the dance floor appearing rather dumfounded by developments.
By and large, Democrats have looked to Bredesen's lead and, at times, appeared to be dancing the polka while the waltz is playing. No calls for resignation from Democratic Chairman Bob Tuke, for example, but rather talk of innocent until proven guilty and other perhaps out-of-step utterings.
And there has been some stumbling within the administration ranks that has not been good for ethical appearances - most recently the resignation last week of Correction Commissioner Quenton White under something of an ethical cloud.
But the governor is dancing, singing that an ethical opportunity is at hand. He has appointed a 12-member commission to recommend reforms in state ethics laws and is pushing for a special legislative session on ethics.
This may be seen as a step to change the whole performance. If he can take a package of ethical recommendations and charge onto the special session dance floor in the spotlight - well, Phil's polka just might become political rock and roll.
Such seems the plan, at any rate, and there are some indications that the Democrats' lead performer is slowly making headway.
Early on, legislators - on a bipartisan basis - were decidedly cool toward the idea of being called into a special session ethical dance. Now, there seems to be an emerging consensus that such a show should be held.
Most notably, Senate Majority Leader Ron Ramsey - a potential opponent to Bredesen's re-election in 2006 - shifted stance and backed the idea.
The governor-versus-legislator debate now is over the timing. The governor wants an ethical performance in the fall; legislators, Ramsey included, generally prefer to wait and devote a couple of weeks in January to an ethical focus.
Surely that's not too big a difference, meaning the governor and legislators, the Republicans and Democrats will all soon stroll arm and arm onto the dance floor. Then the real contest will begin.
Tom Humphrey, chief of the News Sentinel's Nashville bureau, may be reached at 615-242-7782 or tomhumphrey3@aol.com.
With 3 of the sitting congress critters under indictment from operation TN Waltz how can they hold hearings and vote as a body on ethics legislation? BOTH parties need to step up to the plate and suspend all 3 of them.
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