Posted on 01/13/2007 11:45:11 AM PST by SmithL
Kurita, a Democratic state senator from Clarksville, felt the breath of history last year when she challenged Harold Ford Jr. for the Democratic nomination for the U.S. Senate. The registered nurse would have become the first female U.S. senator from Tennessee had she prevailed over Ford and defeated Republican nominee Bob Corker in November.
It was not to be. Ford vastly outdistanced her in fund raising, Democratic powerbrokers lined up behind Ford, and his charisma and organization proved too much for her quixotic campaign.
Instead, history found Kurita on the floor of the Tennessee Senate when she crossed the partisan divide and backed Sen. Ron Ramsey, R-Blountville, for speaker of the Senate. When the roll was called and Kurita answered "Ramsey," the ever-uncertain vote of Sen. Micheal Williams, R-Maynardville, no longer mattered.
Kurita's vote ended almost a century and a half of Democratic domination. Her vote brought an ignominious end to the three-and-a-half-decade reign of Lt. Gov. John Wilder. Williams voted for Ramsey when his turn came and, by a vote of 18-15, Sen. Ramsey became Lt. Gov. Ramsey.
Kurita told the (Nashville) Tennessean she wanted a speaker who would open up discussion on education and electing constitutional officers. "We will have real direction, and we know where we're going," Kurita said. "This is not about dynasty. This is about the people of Tennessee, and I voted my conscience."
Williams told The Memphis Commercial Appeal he settled on Ramsey only hours before the session. "I decided between 2 and 3 o'clock this morning when I couldn't sleep," he said. Williams told the News Sentinel, "In the end, I did what people in my district had asked me to do."
Making history is messy, and this momentous moment was no different. The Commercial Appeal reported that, minutes before the vote, Sen. Jerry Cooper, D-Morrison, confronted Wilder about whether he intended to run again in two years if re-elected as speaker. Cooper told Wilder, "You've always told me to tell you when it's time to go home. I'm telling you now: It's time to go home." Cooper still voted for Wilder, but Kurita carried Ramsey into the history books.
Apparently as amazed as everyone but Kurita and perhaps Williams, Ramsey told the Commercial Appeal, "It's overwhelming, I'll be the first to admit. Suddenly, you've got a bodyguard, someone driving for you. I am Ron Ramsey from Blountville but suddenly I'm lieutenant governor."
Now Ramsey has his chance to make his mark. He said his agenda includes "a good atmosphere for job growth, a world-class education system and to restore trust in government." He told the Tennessean he would push tort reform, support anti-immigration and anti-abortion measures, oppose a state income tax and side with business when it comes to commerce law. Conservatives got clout in the Senate on Tuesday.
But Ramsey is making some of the same good-old-boy noises under the guise of bipartisanship that Wilder made. If Ramsey truly wants to restore trust in government, he should open ethics investigations to examine the possibility of removing Sen. Ward Crutchfield, D-Cleveland, who was arrested in the Tennessee Waltz sting, and the indicted Cooper from the Senate. He should also investigate Wilder's role in the events that led to Cooper being charged.
Ramsey should shut Democrats out of committee chairs just like Democratic Speaker Jimmy Naifeh does Republicans in the House. It is unfathomable that Republicans would share the power they've waited 140 years to attain. Not one person in America expected Democratic U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi or U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to appoint a Republican to lead a committee. Nashville needs checks and balances just as much as Washington.
But, in these stunning times, perhaps there should be one Senate committee chair available for a Democrat. Ramsey knows her name. She said his name on Tuesday and made history.
Greg Johnson is an East Tennessee native and resident and writes this column for the News Sentinel. E-mail him at jgregjohnson@hotmail.com.
I'm good with that!
Ping
And of course, the democrats are not.
And Republicans, officially, took control of the Mississippi state senate this week for the first time in close to 140 years.
That said I'm glad to see Wilder out and hope His Royal Highness King Neifeh {sp} whom BTW when you call his office neither he nor his workers speak to anyone outside his district is next to go.
No dilemma (and no sympathy) for Williams, he's a slimy little RINO turd whom was all prepared to support a profoundly senile Wilder for another term were it not for Kurita. There was some expectation this time that his payoff for supporting Wilder was a job in the Bredesen regime. In any event, here's hoping he gets cleared out along with the Dirty 7 RINO Naifeh butt-lickers in '08. We've allowed the trash to accumulate in this state far too long.
One word: gerrymandering. The 'Rats haven't received a majority of the vote for state legislative races in well over a decade. Tyranny by the minority.
I'd say you're right and even a major scandle could unseat him unless he went to prison. Kinda like Union County where people lost their entire life savings in Southern Industrial Banking Corp ran by the Butchers. Half the county still thinks the sun rises and sets on that family the other half would bring a rope. That is what Williams was up against. Some thought the sun rose and set on Wilder as they are old FDR DEM hold overs. FDR in this region half the people who are still alive and can remember loved him the other half was forced off their land by him and TVA.
The Republicans have had the majority in the Tennessee State Senate for the past year or two and never acted as if they had the majority. It is time that they start acting as if they held the majority. This is the first step.
Great news BUMP!
I live in the neighborhood. A mile walk out my door puts me in his district. Williams has been re-elected because he has served his district well. If I didn't live where I did my second choice would be in Union County. Low taxes, low population, low crime, no illegals, in short a good place to live. Williams has brought in needed funding to save such vital needs as volunteer fire departments and secured equipment funding and has helped in some very much needed school improvements.
Let me put it another way I'll trade Randy McNally for Williams anyday as my state senator.
Congratulations to Mr. Ramsey.
Unexpectedly the Pubs control the MS Senate, the TN Senate and the Pa. House (sorta)
Good news. But what about the committee chairmanships, and committee majorities? Can any knowledgeable person tell us what will happen with them? Dick Cheney is "president of the Senate," but he sure doesn't control it.
Pardon me, did I miss something or did the article have nothing whatever to do with the title ?
The title, at least as posted, is confusing. Johnson is the author, not the subject.
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