Exiting a Glencliff-area polling place Thursday morning where she had just voted in the Democratic primary, Virginia Welch picked up on a procedural error in Thursday’s election.

Welch and husband Michael Muldoon, who lives in the same residence and showed up at the voting site a few minutes earlier, had received two different ballots and thus voted in two different races.

Welch’s ballot included the race for state House District 53, featuring Jason Powell and Jason Potts, but her husband’s ballot featured House District 52 in which Rep. Mike Stewart is running unopposed.

“We had gotten different ballots,” Welch told The City Paper. But when she discovered the error, it was too late. “We had both already cast the ballots.”

H/T to Southern Beale on Twitter

Redistricting is causing some headaches in Hamilton County, not only for voters, but for election officials as well.
Daniel Witherow has lived in the Emma Wheeler Homes for the last 9 years, and he’s voted in every election, including Thursday’s. He used to vote at the apartment’s rental office. He knew his polling place had been moved because of redistricting so he cast his ballot at the Bethlehem center, like it said on his Voter ID card. But then, he saw a sign posted at the rental office.
“I was thinking maybe it was a mistake. That’s what I was thinking, hopefully it was a mistake,” said Witherow. That’s because the sign said the location was moved to Calvary Baptist Church, which is all the way in Red Bank.
Daniel had his ID card, so he knew better than to go there, but he was worried others might get confused. “It doesn’t take much for a little thing like this to change the community. Most people, a little thing like that and they’ll just change their mind about voting altogether,” said Witherow.
Charlotte Mullis-Morgan, the Hamilton County administrator of elections, says the new redistricting has caused a few problems like this one.

Barbara was asked for her photo identification. She doesn’t have a photo on her driver’s license so she provided the election workers with her state-issued retirement card and her Metro-issued judge’s pass. The latter included her photo. In spite of the fact that most of the people in our polling place knew us both, she was told she would only be allowed to vote using a provisional ballot.  She had been permitted to vote in March using the same identification she provided today.  She was told that she would have 48 hours to get the proper photo ID and furnish it to the Election Office to validate her provisional ballot.

Barbara had received her voter ID card several days ago and discovered it had been issued to Joe M. Haynes, not Mrs. Joe M. Haynes as she had registered many years ago.  Upon calling the election office, she learned that it was a mistake, and was told to just write “Mrs.” in front of the name and proceed to vote.

To add insult to injury, when I entered the voting booth the machine was set to vote in the Republican primary, even though I had just indicated, in writing and verbally, that I wanted to vote in the Democratic primary.  I called over a poll worker to correct the problem. I then learned that another person who was voting at the same time had the same problem.

Give this to Robert Meyers, the mild-mannered and much-beleaguered chairman of the Shelby County Election Commission: He understands that he is accountable to the public, and he is willing to be a stand-up guy about the numerous ongoing glitches in the county’s election process.

Meeting with members of the media at the Commission’s Nixon Drive headquarters on Wednesday, Meyers, an attorney, offered no false reassurances and took his lumps. “I don’t believe we have completely eliminated the issues. There is some possibility that there will be errors tomorrow [election day], “ he said.

Honestly, you don’t see that very much and Jackson tells you the history, what is happening today and the lumps that Meyers is going to have to take cleaning up this cycle of the election.

Poll workers in Davidson County are calling turnout “light but steady.” Many of the races may be decided by face-to-face campaigning.

Voters are getting calls from candidates who say given the prospect of low turnout, their vote could make all the difference.

Statewide, many candidates for the General Assembly have been wearing out the shoe leather to make the ask in person. South Nashville voter Judy Sullivan says she decided how to vote based in part on who came to see her.

“Means they’ll get out there and work. Those that won’t come door to door, they’re lazy. What is it they called it in the old time? They don’t have the fire in their belly.”

How slow is it at some polling places?

At one election day precinct I saw a campaign worker at the 100-foot boundary for campaign activity fast asleep in a lawn chair, his campaign sign dutifully propped up between his knees and his chin.

His chair was to the edge of the driveway and the occasional car driving inches away into the lot was not constant enough to stir him from his sleep.

There are two ways to look at this slumbering figure. The first is to assume he is a paid poll worker – the professional called on by campaigns at the bitter end of a summer campaign in 100-degree heat to get the bare essentials of the job done one more day. The other view is this is a zealous campaign volunteer who has nothing left to give on the last day of the campaign. I’m going with the paid poll worker. What tips me in that direction is he was wearing a hat. Zealous campaign workers rarely approach that level of planning at this point.

Other reports we’ve heard from around the county indicate it is taking a long time to vote in the suburbs not because of the length of the ballot – but because of continuing problems getting the right district races on the ballot in precincts split along city borders. No matter how much the Shelby County Election Commission emphasizes the mechanics, there seems to be a core of election day polling place workers who are not getting the message. This election it is an enormous problem.

A printing error that left a few words off thousands of voter registration cards sent out last month shouldn’t affect voters when they go to the polls today, according to Rutherford County’s elections administrator.

Polls open at 7 a.m. and remain open until 7 p.m. for Republican and Democratic primaries for state legislature and U.S. Congress, as well as county general elections for property assessor, road superintendent, school and road board seats.

(The link leads to a subscription behind a paywall but this should be a free article.)

A few Super PACs are keeping political ads – most of them negative – on the air in Tennessee through Election Day. The biggest spending is in the 6th Congressional District.

Nashville health care investor Andy Miller has spent more than $230,000 attacking Rep. Diane Black of Gallatin. He’s supporting Lou Ann Zelenik, who narrowly lost to Black in the Republican primary two years ago.

ANDREW MILLER: “I honestly believe with my entire heart that she will not be bought out by special interests.”

REPORTER: “Are you a special interest?”

ANDREW MILLER: “I suppose to some degree I am, but my interests are to see the primary process find a more level playing field.”

One of the most heated congressional primaries is between U.S. Rep. Diane Black and challenger Lou Ann Zelenik for the 6th District of Tennessee.

The Democratic nominee for the U.S. Senate is also set to be determined Thursday. Incumbent Sen. Bob Corker has a large fundraising and name recognition advantage over his GOP opponents.

In the state Legislature, Republican caucus chair Debra Maggart faces a strong primary challenge from Courtney Rogers.

Another race to closely watch is in Rutherford County, where embattled property assessor Bill Boner faces one of the biggest tests of his career. Boner has faced accusations of sexual harassment and inconsistent property assessments. He is set to turn himself in Friday on criminal vandalism charges.

In 1894, a Del Norte, Calif., constable was seated by one vote.

In 1882, a supervisor won his seat in that same county by the same margin.

In 1948, President Truman carried Ohio and California by less than one vote per precinct.

In 1960, one vote change in each United States precinct would have defeated John Kennedy.

How much more evidence do you need that one vote in an election can make a difference? If you still aren’t convinced, there are dozens of examples.

People these days feel disenfranchised. They think politicians and office holders don’t listen to them any more, that what they say and feel matters less than what influential contributors say and feel. If indeed people feel that way and don’t vote, their decision not to take part gives those who do seek influence even more of a say in what happens.

Read more: The Mountain Press – EDITORIAL Make your vote count Critically important elections today so get out and choose wisely

While only a small fraction of Sullivan County’s registered voters are expected to  cast ballots in today’s election, it will  be an important test for ballot candidates and election officials, the county’s election administrator said Wednesday.

“It will definitely serve as a great warm-up lap for us as we prepare for the general election in November,” said Jason Booher, administrator for the Sullivan County Election Commission. “We’re ready to go and we’re looking forward to voters coming out.”

An estimated 6,000 to 6,500 out of a total of 86,000 registered voters are expected to vote on various ballot races – highlighted by the primary race for the Tennessee House District 3 seat being vacated by current Rep. Scotty Campbell, who is not seeking re-election. Four candidates are seeking the Republican nomination to face the lone Democrat in November.

Read the rest at TriCities.com

NASHVILLE — The latest development in the bitterly contested state House District 31 GOP primary is that incumbent Rep. Jim Cobb, R-Spring City, and Republican challenger Ron Travis, of Dayton, really do agree on some things.

Both men have reservations about school vouchers, and both say they back anti-abortion legislation.

Beyond that, though, all bets are off in a contest that has attracted statewide attention. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation is probing challenges by election officials of Democrats and other voters who are trying to vote in the Republican primary, which can be done if certain criteria are met.

Read the rest of it as it is getting crazy in that race.

H/T Roane Views

“Shall [name of judge] be retained or replaced in office as a judge of the [name of court]?”

It seems that just enough time goes by between each occurrence of the above question that, when it shows up on the ballot, it gets very little attention and is not well understood. Anecdotally, some voters are even flippant and make selections without seriously considering what their choices mean.

In the interest of generating, if not genuine enthusiasm, at least a fundamental awareness, this column will attempt to sort out the questions surrounding judicial retention questions.

Lance goes into a great deal of detail and it is fantastic.

A campaign flyer for state Rep. G.A. Hardaway, one of the candidates in the hotly contested House District 93 Democratic primary race, drew attacks Wednesday from U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen as “not honest,” while backers of state Rep. Mike Kernell, Hardaway’s opponent, say their names were used without permission in the flyer.

At a press conference held at Cohen’s headquarters, longtime political activist David Upton and Shelby County Commissioner Steve Mulroy, both self-described supporters of Kernell, disputed the flyer’s use of their names as alleged endorsers of Hardaway. Mulroy also noted that his image was used in the flyer without permission.

It’s going to be a rough day especially where allies are now having to run against each other in the primary after redistricting.

Was Your Vote Counted?

process.

That number is 1-877-850-4959.

Election officials staffing the hotline can answer questions about the state’s new photo identification law or any other election-related issues.

“This hotline is offered as a public service to Tennesseans and it is the definitive source for information regarding Tennessee elections,” Coordinator of Elections Mark Goins said. “I hope citizens will use the hotline to resolve any questions they may have about elections, today or in the future.”

Accurate, official election information can also be found on the Internet at: www.GoVoteTN.com.

Press Release from the Secretary of the State

I’m cranking up the time machine, dusting off Speak to Power and will be doing quite a bit of live blogging on today’s elections and commentary from around the state of Tennessee.

Please follow us on Twitter and Facebook today and we will keep you up to date in real time.

Trace Sharp

The future of the state lies in these thumbs <shiver>
Image Credit: Squalto-rant

Considering the huge shift from a nearly 50-50 split house to the 64-34-1 Republican super-majority, there’s gonna be a lot of changes coming our way. As Jeff Woods reports in the Nashville City paper, they may not be exactly what voters expected.

From the article:

On the to-do list:

• Changing state law to restrict eligibility for unemployment benefits and make it less difficult and time-consuming for businesses to deny payments to workers.

• Enacting caps on damages awarded in lawsuits against businesses, including product liability and medical malpractice cases.

• Streamlining or even eliminating some business regulations, particularly regarding environmental protection.

Good times. 10% unemployment means gut the little bit of help that is keeping these unfortunate folks barely treading water.

Tort reform means that if someone sells you something that hurts you, you’ll only get a percentage of what you might have before regardless of how negligent the business was.

As for the third item, I hope you like Selenium in your water.

Woods also draws quotes from Knoxville stuntbaby and newly elected State Senator Stacey Campfield who is continuing to push his extreme socially conservative bills, saying social and fiscal conservatism shouldn’t be mutually exclusive.

Joy.

Oh, but this is only the beginning. Still caught in an economic downturn that has seen the return of huge bonuses for banks execs that were previously mere seconds away from failure while regular folks still struggle to survive, the newly elected Republican majority in the US House wants to make sure things get so bad down at the state level that they can effectively force bankruptcy on states by cutting the availability of low interest bonds and in the process, drive a stake in the hearts of those dastardly unions, that have been seeking to ensure people have a living wage for generations. Welcome to the new era of the Pinkertons.

Here’s Sam Seder, subbing in for Keith Olberman on Countdown last night:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Looks like the next two years are going to be a barrel of laughs.

We’ll be keeping an eye out once the legislature gets back in session. A quick glance at bills already filed may be an early indication, including this retaliation bill against the Memphis City Schools filed by Senator Brian Kelsey.

I’m sure these developments will keep keyboards a clicking over the next six months.

Ok, on to the coffee!

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Extending the Bush Tax Cuts did more for businesses than anyone else. If you don’t itemize your taxes and you’re a homeowner, you may see an increase.

The economy in Memphis is stagnant, or so says a report by the Federal Reserve.

Mississippi is going to teach Civil Rights in all grades. Suggestion, start with your Governor.

Shelby County Commissioner Terry Roland is making shit up again.

Shelby County School Board President David Pickler is promising answers about MCS charter surrender. Of course, he’s perplexed by the whole development, even though a report that his body commissioned with the Memphis City Schools tells the inconvenient truth that he summarily rejects. You can have your own opinion Mr. Pickler, but you can’t have your own facts.

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Ok, have a good day out there. Chances are we’ll be out of pocket until after the New Year.

This may be the end of MCS as we know it, and I'm fine with that.

Twas the week before Christmas and all through the County,
Leaders in the east were assessing their bounty,
The Legislature won by the right wing with care,
In hopes that a Special School District would be there.

The schoolchildren enjoying their Christmas break,
Awaiting decisions that deciders will make,
And I at my computer trying hard to remember,
All the information concerning surrender.

Out in the City there had been such a clatter,
Somehow Mr. Pickler didn’t see what was the matter,
He thought SSD was a forgone conclusion,
And didn’t consider the current resolution.

Ambition became his great miscalculation,
The consequence of which is consolidation,
When what to his wondering eyes did appear,
But the MCS board, whose votes were all clear.

The resolution’s sponsor, Martavius Jones,
Brought the specter of merger which chilled Pickler’s bones.
More rapid than eagles, the vote count it came,
And they voted aloud as they called them by name.

The ayes had Hart, Webb, Gatewood and Jones,
Kenneth Whalum and Williams comprised all the noes,
There were still some votes, whose fate were in question,
Mallott, and Warren and Patrice Robinson.

The vote was all set, it was on the agenda,
But nobody knew if they would approve surrender,
So up to the boardroom the Commissioner they flew,
Voting the fate of the district, and Kriner Cash too.

Ok, that’s all I can write right now. We’ll find out how it all turns out this evening and maybe I’ll be able to finish this epic.

Now, on to the Coffee!

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The Bredesen legacy parade continues on the menu today, Blame storming.

It’s been two years since the Coal Ash Spill in Kingston, TN and the EPA rules are still uncertain, as is the result of the numerous lawsuits that begin next year

Over the weekend the US Senate voted to repeal Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. One former Marine from the Mid-South plans to re-enlist. Also check out this post from Grand Divisions regarding the votes of Tennessee’s Senators and the state of equality in Tennessee. Good stuff.

Spygate: Memphis Police Department Edition.

As I mentioned in the opening, the vote to surrender the charter happens tonight at 5:30. David Waters at the Commercial Appeal says we need to focus on helping our students by helping our teachers. I couldn’t agree more. Also, Smart City Memphis is looking at achievement gaps.

Over the weekend there were several blog posts and Op-Eds about the issue. Here’s a short rundown:

MCS Board Member Jeff Warren offers Let’s get MAD about our schools face-off.
Over at vibinc I talked about the trust issue, as well as some of the other issues ultimately asking the board to surrender.
Steffens also had a similar, though decidedly more pointed argument.

There are several others. As I re-find them I’ll update the post.

Regardless of your faith, Ricky Gervais has A Holiday Message for you.

And finally, Memphis says goodbye to a journalistic icon. Over the weekend WREG’s Norm Brewer lost his battle with cancer. Thoughts and Prayers go out to the family.

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Have a good day out there. Do something unexpectedly nice for someone if you have the chance. It’ll make you feel good.

Speaking of yesterday, the “sense of the commission” resolution on consolidation passed 6-3-1. Two commissioners weren’t in attendance at the time of the vote. The matter comes up again on Monday. Send your Commissioner an email in support of the resolution.

It’s been busy and that business isn’t gonna stop until after the 16th. Then it’s time for the “holiday busy” that will, no doubt, ensue. As for me, I’m just ready for this semester to be over so I can sleep for a week.

For those of you not following along in your bulletins…Trace started her new gig yesterday. Keep her in your thoughts, moving ain’t easy (I know, I’ve done it more times than I care to recount).

So what about the title? Yeah, I don’t know, just felt it this morning…

On to the coffee!

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Yesterday was, among other things, World AIDS Day. Mediaverse looks at the numbers with a skeptical eye. One thing to think about, the Ryan White numbers are just those who benefit from the program, not all people infected are included. So in addition to those that don’t know their status, there are a whole bunch of folks who do, but may not be in the dataset. #justsayin’

Unemployment benefits are likely to be cut soon. Think that’ll damage the economy? Probably. Think it’ll make people’s already hard lives harder? Definitely.

Sell the TVA?!?! Not now, they’re just finishing up the first part of their coal ash cleanup.

Pickler, take note…Negotiation CAN work, but only when you’ve got two sides that trust each other.

I noted this a couple of days ago… the blatant fear mongering from the CA. Well, I’m sure in light of that article and this event someone’s head is exploding right now.

Luttrell readys the veto pen for the first time.

Here’s a wholly incomplete and half-hearted attempt at reporting what went down at the County Commission Committee meetings yesterday. For more better coverage follow @mikecarpenter1 or @memphisdaily.

All I can say is WOW.

And finally, Mary Cashiola says goodbye to the Flyer faithful as she embarks on a new gig at the Mayor’s office. Good luck Mary, and cheers!

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I need a donut. Have a great day!

The harsh reality is that, in times like this, people can get Balkanized, in ways that may or may not be in their best interests depending on a whole host of factors, but usually it has more to do with who they trust and listen to (and their take on an issue) than what the proposal actually is.

All of this is complicated in a media environment where the most succinct talking points are parroted endlessly. Retaining the Bush Era tax cuts for all but the wealthiest 1% of Americans is called a “Tax Hike”, and somehow that sticks even though 99% of the population would benefit from the lower rate established in 2003, and the additional revenue collected for those with the least want, would help decrease deficit spending…something that all quarters of the populace seem to endorse.

But once a group of people have made their mind up on an issue and fought passionately either for or against that issue, it’s often hard to remove the emotion from any discussion on the topic. For instance, healthcare reform. There are plenty of people, on the left and on the right, that have and continue to express their disappointment or even opposition to the reform passed earlier this year. The right wants it gone, the left doesn’t think it went far enough. Caught in the middle are people who believe the system is flawed, but don’t really know which way to go. One thing they do know is that the system that has ultimately left over 45,000,000 people without healthcare and led to the massive increases in cost of care, is unsustainable.

And that’s where we find ourselves today on the issue of consolidation. You don’t have to go very far to find someone that believes our current political situation here in Shelby County is broken. That is, in fact, one area where just about all sides agree. Where people disagree is on the details. This was made both clear and cloudy with the recent failure of the Metro Charter in the November 2 election. In effect, the majority of folks in Shelby County aren’t opposed to dancing (reform), they just don’t like the music the last DJ played. In fact, the opposition was strong enough that the County Commission passed a resolution opposing the plan.

The question we have to ask ourselves is, are we REALLY against dancing (reform), or just against the playlist the last DJ played?

To that end, Commissioner Steve Mulroy has proposed a resolution. The resolution doesn’t seek to establish a new Charter Commission, or any other formal body exploring the subject of Consolidation. Rather, it seeks to simply clarify that the County Commission isn’t wholly and completely against the idea, even though it was against the LAST idea, just like a majority of the County electorate was against the LAST idea.

Here’s the meat of the resolution:

NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the Shelby County Board of Commissioners supports the concept of consolidation, and is open to the idea of revisiting
a Metro Charter process in an upcoming election cycle, provided that:
(a) The City Council and County Commission have greater input into the selection of
members of any appointed Metro Charter Commission;
(b) Greater efforts are made to achieve racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic diversity
among any Charter Commission appointees;
(c) Appropriate efforts are made to avoid any undue influence of corporate interests
on the process; and
(d) The issue of school consolidation, if still applicable, should be given weight equal
to that of any other major issue in Charter Commission deliberations.

Nowhere in there does this resolution call for a new Metro Charter Commission despite reports to the contrary.

What I’d like to see is the pro, the con, and the undecided come together and talk about what they want local government to look like in the next 20 years. What future are we working towards, and what things can we do together. The rhetoric on this issue has gotten too hot. In order to come up with some kind of future that will ultimately benefit all of us, we have to look for ways to work together and build some bridges. Where that leads, who knows? but one thing is for sure, if we don’t put down our pitchforks and start working together to better our community, we’re going to lose more ground than any possible gains, and that is truly unsustainable.

See also:
Memphis Daily News
Commercial Appeal
LeftWingCracker

On to the coffee…

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Worst Re-election Strategy EVAH!

The SCOTN (Supreme Court of Tennessee) issued an order to halt the executions of 4 death row inmates over the recent lethal injection ruling.

Insight into the mind of an elitist Teabagger – Shorter version…Property owner = voting rights, recently foreclosed = disenfranchised.

The race for HD98 is on. Here are your candidates so far…

Shelby County School Board President David Pickler is officially crapping himself. It’s so bad that even Norris and Lollar backed down. While they’re backpedalling, we should still call their bluff to ensure they never try to hold us hostage again.

–

Have fun stormin’ the castle. I’ll see ya on the flip side.

Gobble, Gobble...

Black Friday and Cyber Monday will ultimately give way to “Whoopsie Wednesday” (12/22) and “I can’t find anything I want Friday” (12/24).

As someone who used to co-own a retail establishment, I can tell you this is the time of year that I most dreaded and looked forward to. When times were bad the cash infusion that the holiday season brought was a Godsend. When times were good, it was like an end of the year bonus. Retailers, especially the mom and pop joints that used to heavily populate the retailing landscape, rely on this time of year to make it through.

Even though we’ve seen a steady decline in these mom and pop shops in the past 30 years, the ones that remain still rely heavily on the end-of-the-year boost the holiday season provides.

In a tip of the hat to the small businesses of the world, American Express launched Small Business Saturday over the weekend to help small businesses compete with the huge marketing power of the big box retailers.

Even though the promotion has passed, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t stop by your friendly neighborhood locally owned business. These are the shops that help make your town unique. Without them, your town is just another anonymous exit on the retailing bypass.

Take some time over the next 27 days of frenzied spending to pay your favorite locally owned business a visit. You’ll be glad you did, and you’ll be helping out a neighbor that is truly invested in the community.

Ok, on to the coffee!

–

If you think the crazy political season is over, think again. The State Legislature goes into session in just over a month and I predict it will make last year’s session look tame by comparison.

Gail Kerr at the Tennessean thinks this is ironic, I think it’s two people doing their jobs by welcoming 50k folks that will spend money in their city.

The Commercial Appeal is fear mongering a business deal between Memphis and Monterrey, Mexico. Because everyone knows that strengthening trade with Mexico ultimately leads to some kind of drug turf war. (rolls eyes)

Last week Memphis Mayor A C Wharton announced that the Memphis Flyer’s Mary Cashiola would be joining his team. Congrats to Mary, we’ll miss your voice at the Flyer, but we look forward to what you’ll bring in helping revitalize the Memphis brand.

Education is important, but not important enough to keep it affordable. Yep, state college tuition is on the rise again. All I can say is this makes my wallet hurt.

For those of you that didn’t know, there’s a runoff election for the District 6 Memphis City School Board Seat on December 7th. The CA published profiles of the candidates, Sarah Lewis and Cherri Davis. Don’t forget to vote on the 7th.

Speaking of the Memphis City Schools, the candidates for that District 6 post may be running for a seat that could disappear by early March if the School Board votes to surrender the charter and voters approve the measure. At least one member of the MCS School Board supports this action.

On a sad (or sadder for that matter) note, comedy genius Leslie Nielsen has gone to that big comedy B movie in the sky.

And finally, a fond farewell from the Hootsvillians to their beloved Newscoma who starts a new job, and a new chapter in Nashville later this week. Congratulations!

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Alright, get back to work people. I know we just had a long weekend and all, and you’re still suffering from belly tightness and credit card looseness, but there stuff to do.

Have a great one!

Keith Olberman and Conan O'Brien are back on the air

I don’t really watch late-night tv, but watching the build-up to Conan’s return has been interesting. From a purely PR perspective, I don’t think anyone has taken lemons and turned them into lemonade quite as well as he has in recent memory. I have no idea what the ratings were last night, but here’s the liveblog of the premiere if you’re interested.

The other return that’s going to be interesting is that of MSNBC personality, Keith Olberman. Olberman’s absence has been just a few days long, but in that time nearly half a million people have signed a petition in support of him. Trace has a good rundown of what all happened at Newscoma

Olberman returns tonight, but you can get a preview of the statement he will read on-air here.

Ok, on to the coffee…

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Rich dude is handed a get out of jail free card because he’s rich. Of course there will be civil litigation, but should wealthy people be able to just write a check when they leave someone for dead? I don’t think so.

I don’t know what kind of head injury is required to serve on the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, but I suspect it involves leaving your head up you rear too long. The court that’s so full of conservatives it scares the Christian Coalition ruled that a cheerleader who pressed rape charges against a school athlete must cheer for said athlete. WTF? Oh, and she also has to pay the court costs for the defense.

One of the funniest lines ever.

Blame storm rising. According to Governor Phil Bredesen, the blame for the losses last Tuesday lies squarely with the White House.

Today at 3:30 the Memphis City Council will hear the first reading of the proposed Employee Non-Discrimination Ordinance. Here’s a link to the agenda.

In other news, the Shelby County Commission, yesterday, voted to decline funding for a Head Start program. WTF? I find it VERY strange that Wyatt Bunker and Terry Roland voted for this, but Brooks, Burgess, Chism, and Ford voted against it. (I’m not surprised at all that Heidi Shafer voted against it).

And finally, another poll that makes Memphis look bad. Apparently we’re ugly and dumb but make some badass ‘cue. Cutting funding for Head Start isn’t gonna make us any smarter any time soon.

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Ok, get out there and do something constructive with your day, like watch the leaves fall. Going to work is for suckers!

Update: We just learned of the passing of State House member Ulysses Jones. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the family.

Casada and Harwell in Battle for the gavel

House Republican Caucus Chair Glen Casada and former TNGOP Chair Beth Harwell are in a pitched battle for the gavel.

You may remember Casada from this post in response to a boneheaded comment from Casada that people should just “get out there and get a job”. That’s right. This guy wants to be in charge of the State House of Representatives.

The Tennessean’s “In Session” blog posted a letter to the House Republican Caucus by Harwell on Friday. For his part, Casada has been making his case to colleagues as well.

Who will win? Who knows. I don’t have any particular insight into the minds of the House Republican Caucus, so it seems like a wait and see until the caucus gets together on December 8th.

On to the coffee!

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The Nashville City Paper looks at the coming thundering herd of Republicans to the State Capitol and the challenges they face… like redistricting.

Speaking of redistricting, Lt. Governor Ron Ramsey says Northeast Tennessee is safe from too many changes. That means West Tennessee is screwed.

The Rutherford County Daily News Journal is reports on the Democratic Party’s way forward. Thankfully there’s little blame-storming…for now.

The Commercial Appeal looks at the impact the wave may have on Shelby County. It’s gonna be a weird one for us, no doubt.

In the wake of the election, Governor Phil Bredesen is looking to his future in the Solar biz. To that end, he is defending his investment in his new venture as “nothing improper”. If it walks like a duck….

Reclusive Leftist is talking about feminism and the deletion of the word sexism in the definition. Key phrase:

It’s fascinating the extent to which women have been shamed out of even claiming a movement to address sexism. We just aren’t allowed to have that. Too strident. Too pushy.

Stands, applauds…

The Memphis City Council will conduct its first reading of the Employee Non-Discrimination Ordinance on Tuesday, the West Tennessee Liberal reports. Hopefully it won’t be marked by the shenanigans the last first reading brought forth.

And finally, a shout out to the University of Memphis Mock Trial Team, of which I am a member.

This weekend we went to St. Louis to compete in the Sixth Annual Billiken Barrister Tournament sponsored by Saint Louis University and won 5th place overall, as well as individual awards for Kim Marking, who received a Best Witness award, and Allen Porter was recognized with an attorney award. I’m really proud of our team and look forward to more success in upcoming competitions.

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Alright, get out there and do something with your day for chrissakes…and I’m not talking about work. You know, do something productive!

I don’t really know what to expect, but I’m looking forward to it.

This has been a whirlwind of a semester. My decision to take only Tuesday and Thursday classes was a mistake that I won’t repeat. There’s just too much time between Thursday and Tuesday and not enough time between Tuesday and Thursday. Between that and having EVERYTHING due on just two of the seven days of the week, I’ve been more than a little overwhelmed. I think a lot of people are feeling overwhelmed too.

Back to Mock Trial for a second. In the coming weeks we’re going to have a fundraiser for our Spring Competition. If you’re interested in helping out, let me know in the comments. I’ll have more details after the weekend.

Ok, enough shameless self-promotion, on to the coffee!

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Speaking of trials, the SCOTUS will soon hear a case that may put the future of class action lawsuits in danger. In the wake of the Citizen’s United decision, I have no doubt that they will screw the little guy on this one.

Now that the election is over, the former Democratic Candidate for Governor, Mike McWherter is trying to reclaim normalcy in his life. In the process he has an interesting observation:

McWherter said not having a primary opponent for the Democratic ballot hurt his campaign.

“In retrospect, I feel like I would have been better served if I had an opponent,” he said. “I think it makes you a better candidate. My father had a contested primary, and Haslam had a vigorous primary and I think that helped him.”

Interesting.

In the wake of the elections Tuesday, it the national media is re-starting the narrative that southern Democrats are a dying breed. Of course, the death of the Democratic Party in the south has been a common line for many cycles, particularly since the 2000 election when Democratic Candidate Al Gore pretty much ignored his home state of Tennessee, and as a result, lost it, and the Presidential election. But not everyone agrees. Some point to the plight of working Americans who may not have time to follow politics as closely as others, and get fed a steady diet of bs in the weeks before an election from candidates and organizations that have the scratch to spend. I don’t think this means the future extinction of the Democratic Party in the south, I think we just have to think and act differently.

Defendants in the case challenging state law on Metro governments say the pending lawsuit is moot in the wake to the solid rejection of the matter here in Shelby County. I think there’s a bigger legal issue here than just one vote, and the impact could reach further than Shelby County. We’ll see what the court thinks in the coming days.

With a new Shelby County government starting it’s 3rd month, there’s been some sprucing of the County offices to the tune of $38,000. I’m not complaining or anything, I just find it funny that if a Democratic Administration had done the same thing, they would have been characterized as out of touch and engaging in “wasteful spending”. Gotta love those double standards.

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Alright, y’all have a good Friday and a great weekend. I’ll try to have a report on how we did at the invitational on Sunday or Monday.

That, my friends, is the question of the next several months.

There will be plenty of time to point fingers and blame-storm. I’m sure there’s quite a bit of that going on in the comments of Post Politics as we speak. But at the end of the day, none of the finger pointing is going to change anything, so I won’t be engaging in it.

Tennessee Democrats are in the minority, and there’s no escaping that for some time (at least 2 years). In February or March the Feds will report our census numbers, and the task of redistricting will begin in earnest. What the few districts that we were able to hold on to will look like after that, nobody knows.

But while all this portends doom and despair, I see an opportunity. We’re at the crossroads, and we have the chance to remake the Democratic Party in Tennessee in a way that we haven’t for decades. There will be leadership changes. There have to be.

Regardless of those changes, we need to recognize that right now is not the time to paint our friends as enemies, even if we disagree on the details. This means that the extremes of the party have to be willing to work together, to craft a partnership. To hear each other for the common interests that we share. There are more common interests than we’re often willing to accept.

Will Republican control of the legislature be any different than conservative Democratic control? I believe the answer will be yes, and we have at least two years to see just how different it will be.

As a general statement, I agree with Southern Beale’s analysis:

Simply put, the Republican base was motivated. The Democratic base was not. That’s really all you need to know. Whenever Democrats run to the right they lose. When given a choice between a real Republican and a fake one, voters will pick the real one. Democrats need to show they are the alternative, not a paler version of what the other guys are offering.

Throw in a half a million bucks that flooded many state house races in the final weeks from the deep pockets of Karl Rove and his ilk, and honestly, its easy to see that the bar was just too high.

There’s a lot of confusion and anger in the state. I blieve that last night’s result was the electorate saying you forgot about us more than anything else, though I’m sure that’s not the takeaway the victors want to express. I don’t see this as a rejection of Democratic ideals, but an angry lashing out at a formerly strong establishment that many feel has been disconnected. It’s time to bridge that distance.

On Facebook this morning, one of my friends posted a comment from a worker at a McDonalds who he asked about the election results and the coming Republican control of the state. His reply:

“can’t say as i know any of ‘em…the real question though is whether or not they’ll ever take the time to get to know folks like me.”

That’s it in a nutshell folks. People won’t support you if they don’t feel you understand the circumstances of their lives in a real and tangible way. They’ll even support someone that doesn’t necessarily further their interests if they feel that they might listen.

We have to make sure we open up and listen if we want to recover from this.

It’s too soon to prescribe some kind of comprehensive fix for this, but I don’t think ideological presumptions are the likely solution. I don’t believe that most people are ideological like me. I just don’t. People want solutions they can understand, and they don’t care where they come from. They want to be listened to. They want to be talked to. They want to feel like we understand their situation. Ideology just isn’t personal enough to do that.

Our task for the next two years is to rebuild our connection with the voters. To restore their faith in us. To own our achievements as well as our failures, and look for ways to make life better for the little people without belittling them. We have to empower them in order to regain ground. And to maintain any future gains for our party, we have to ensure that we make their lives better, and that they were part of the solution. In short, we all have to have skin in the game, not just the elite or powerful.

Wedge issues can’t prevail when you build an environment like this. Wedge issues become less relevant to regular folks if they honestly believe their lives will be better and have some investment in the solution. If we do this, I feel confident we will find success, but it’s going to be a lot of hard work, and we all have to be willing to invest.

What happens over the coming weeks will be critical. The most important thing we can do is move beyond the results of this election and start working for the next one. The village has been burned down. Now is the time to rebuild it, but we can’t do it alone. The more people we enlist, the faster it will be rebuilt, but we have to have a real plan and work on crafting a solid foundation. Without a solid foundation, anything we build from here on out will be as, or more fragile than the house of straw we just lost.

We have an opportunity, now let’s seize it.

Was Your Vote Counted? Who Knows!

Election day is just a week away, and campaigns all over the state are ramping up their efforts to get voters to the polls. This isn’t unusual, in fact it happens every election cycle. What is unusual is that several campaigns have reported reluctance by some voters to participate in early voting here in Shelby County. It seems lack of confidence in the process after the problems experienced in August has caused many voters to not only question the process, but also fear that the security of their vote may be in jeopardy.

It’s been a difficult year for Tennesseans concerned about election transparency. The State Legislature both delayed and gutted the Tennessee Voter Confidence Act (see the votes House | Senate) in early February. Most people had forgotten about the gutting of TVCA by the Statewide Primary election in August, but problems reported around the state, most notably in Shelby County, brought the issue of election transparency back to the forefront of many voters minds.

As a result of the problems experienced in Shelby County, followed by what appeared to casual observers as persistent hedging and unnecessary barriers to oversight by the Shelby County Election Commission, the six Democratic countywide candidates on the ballot initiated a lawsuit…well, actually a couple. Eventually it landed in court before Chancery Judge Arnold Goldin.

On Friday, October 1st, Judge Goldin told the Election Commission to turn over evidence requested by the plaintiff. This resulted in a Monday afternoon document dump that included 8.3 million pages of digital documents. Just two days later Judge Goldin dismissed the case stating

“the plaintiffs’ proofs certainly pointed out imperfections in this election,” they were unable to prove they “rise to the level of fraud or illegality” such that results should be thrown out.
Goldin said trustee candidate Regina Morrison Newman and her eight fellow plaintiffs, all of them Democrats, had not met “the burden of proving (that) fraud and illegality so permeated the election to make it incurably uncertain.”

While Goldin may not acknowledge the uncertainty that many voters feel in the wake of the August election, early voting numbers do.

Through October 23rd 57509 people out of 602793 registered voters have cast votes in Shelby County. However, looking at the graphs below, something is more than a little skewed.

So where are all the African American voters? Lots of people are asking that question. Heck, I’d like to know too.

Local pundits seem to think this is just a “wave” election coming to its natural conclusion. While that may fit the national narrative there’s more to it than that. Sure, the unusually high number of voters in largely Republican and white areas indicates a kind of “wave”, but by any measure there aren’t enough of them in the county to turn the tide. So just what is going on?

Over the past few days I’ve received several reports of people canvassing neighborhoods stating that the voters they spoke with distrusted Early Voting. Their rationale, the problems with the August elections that many feel were far worse than reported by the Election Commission. If confusion and lack of transparency breed distrust, here in Shelby County we’ve got that and more.

It doesn’t matter if their suspicions are true or not. Perception becomes reality and for many voters, the jury is still out on what happened in August. Despite the protestations of the Election Commission, the perception out there is that the last election was stolen. Furthermore, despite the Election Commission’s efforts to explain and answer charges, they have released next to nothing, other than a tersely worded response to charges that can be found here. In effect, the Election Commission has said, “you can’t prove we did anything wrong but this”, which does nothing but stoke fears and enflame prejudices.

In preparation for this post I asked Elections Administrator Richard Holden two questions:

1. If he had seen a surge in poll worker applications since this article published.

2. What additional steps the Election Commission has put in place to ensure the problems experienced in August don’t happen again.

Holden indicated that they had not seen a surge of qualified poll workers since the 10/13 article. To the second question Holden said the problems faced in August had been addressed and there were several other locally and nationally organized protections in place and the Election Commission was working on videos of the process to ensure the public better understands how an election is conducted.

All this is well and good, but the reality is the Election Commission is fighting a perception war and losing badly. Their decision to put up roadblocks early on in the investigation made it look like they were defending the County against releasing what should be public information. Add that to long-held questions about the security of electronic voting machines and you have a recipe for disaster.

Even the report released last night by Bill Gibbons notes:

The findings here are not intended to give shelter to those responsible for elections in Shelby County. Without having completed a thorough investigation of the entire election system, it is impossible to offer an opinion regarding the competence with which the August election or other elections have been handled in Shelby County. Nonetheless, facts discovered during this limited criminal investigation do make it clear that more than one method of performing more thorough testing of voter data prior to an election day was available to the SCEC for the August election. It is obvious that although electronic systems may have substantial benefits, they also expose the SCEC to the risk of system-wide errors caused by a simple, momentary lapse. With this in mind, it is incumbent upon all responsible officials to make the extraordinary efforts demanded by the citizenry to avoid such lapses.

I think a lot of people are still waiting for those extraordinary efforts.

So now the question is, what happens if the polls are overrun with voters on election day? We already know that the Election Commission is struggling to find qualified poll workers, which seems odd considering the rate of unemployment in the county. But maybe this too is an example of the norm in many government structures in Tennessee, which seem to have a “come ‘an get it” attitude rather than simply making their structures more transparent, which is what it will take to regain the confidence lost in the Aftermath of August.

What happens next? I have no idea, but here’s to hoping that people don’t give up on the process and not show up. That won’t solve anything. The solution is to participate in the process and demand transparency when problems occur. The solution is for appointed officials in charge of our elections to act like they’re elected, and directly responsible to the people, because ultimately, they are. In the end we have to have faith even when our faith has been shaken, and resolve that if it happens again there will be hell to pay.

Anything less is surrender.

Mabel Was A Protester To Get Pups In Pubs. Photo from 2008

The election is right around the corner. Early voting has begun. Democratic candidates around the state could use your help if you have a little bit of time to phonebank for a couple of hours, hand out a few palm cards or just post why you are voting for whom on your blog, Facebook page or Twitter account. Every little bit helps. Of course, my dog, Elderstatesman Mabel, has won the battle so close to her heart.

WE GOT PUPS IN PUBS, BITCHES!!

On to a mid-morning stroll around this great state. Those pesky bloggers are at again writing about politics, stirring the proverbial witches’ stew and talking about things that the MSM doesn’t.

Let’s take a peek into the boiling cauldron.

Well, it’s time to vote for the worst legislation in Tennessee. Do IT!

An interesting chart at Roane Views on political fundraising emails.

Knoxville has a satellite Rally to Restore Sanity on Oct. 30.

Grand Divisions has a post from earlier this week on the Tale of Two City Councils.

I am committing the moral sin of linking to myself, but I think the issue of Reelfoot Lake is a big damned deal.

Reinventing the Mojo in Memphis.

See you soon!

This Picture Is Unrelated To Anything In This Post. I just like it.

Let’s take a stroll, shall we:

Katie Allison Granju, who just got honors as a best blogger at Knoxville.com, writes of an epidemic. One that you may not know anything about unless you are living through it in your family. And it’s not getting much media attention.

The primary reason I had no idea of the extent of the overdose problem in my own community is because of the way drug overdoses are treated by medical, law enforcement and prosecuting authorities. For a variety of reasons – many of which might seem to make sense considered in isolation from the others, or outside the context of a problem this urgent – the agencies that deal with drug overdoses – paramedics, law enforcement, physicians and medical examiners – generally treat each individual overdose as a discrete, isolated occurrence. In our community, virtually all overdose injuries and deaths are treated as unfortunate accidents suffered by individuals who bear all responsibility for illegal behaviors they should have known to be risky.

Because overdoses in my community and from what I am learning, many others around the country, are generally treated as private medical events suffered by individuals rather than as potential crimes that have claimed the life of a victim, these deaths rarely garner any media coverage, no matter how suspect the circumstances of the overdose may be.

Chris Sanders is writing on his Facebook account on candidates to watch who support anti-bullying all across the state. It’s a good read and it’s more than just wearing a purple shirt today in honor of LGBT rights.

There are helpful candidates in every part of Tennessee and they come from both parties.  If we live in a state where we have a law that these issues CAN NOT be discussed at all, then we have a major obstacle to addressing the specific types of bullying occurring in grades K-8.

These are my recommendations and not those of any organization, but I hope some of you will consider them.  Working to elect these folks involves voting, volunteering for, and funding them.  Let’s do what we can to make sure we don’t have any legal hurdles to moving toward safe schools in TN.  And then let’s take positive steps toward safety and equality for all our students.

Southern Beale is writing that there is an effort to suppress the Latino vote:

I guess the Republican Party has conceded the Hispanic vote, judging by this ad telling Latinos not to vote. The ad is running in Spanish and English.

Seems the guy behind this “don’t vote” campaign is linked to the Republican Party and his organization was once connected to a prominent Swift Boater.

I know, y’all are shocked.

And for a few quick morning hits of stuff we might have missed.

• Left Wing Cracker has been on a role this week. He has a Bill Haslam parody, and several posts trying to fire up Democrats across the state.
• Aunt B. has a few words for the Wild West antics regarding firearms across the state: As for the Guns in Everywhere push, call me when state legislators start pushing to lift the ban on guns at Legislative Plaza. Until then, they’re full of shit.
• Cathy at Domestic Psychology is going to the Rally To Restore Sanity. She gives you 10 reasons why.
• Finally, go check out what Cup of Joe Powell is doing this month. It is plum fantastic.

The Rent Is Too Damned High Party. Jimmy McMillan and Basil Marceauxdotcom could possibly make a compelling ticket.