Friday, January 11, 2019

There's a TNDP Chair election tomorrow

As noted earlier, I am supporting Mary Mancini, although I have no vote.

Her opponents are Williamson County Chair Holly McCall and former Lincoln Davis staffer Christopher Hale.  I support Mary because she had the guts to shutdown the ineffective SCDP and pave the way for its rebirth, which led to last year's sweep of the County elections.  We owe Mary for that.

Having said that, should she not win, I would prefer Holly McCall to Mr. Hale, as the Blue Dog days are dead forever, and despite what people from those days would tell you, that is NOT the only way for the Democrats to prosper in this state.

I note that Ms. McCall has proclaimed endorsements from the AFL-CIO, the House Democratic Caucus, as well as a couple of other groups.  I am not sure if the AFL-CIO or Labor still has a vote on the Executive Committee (they SHOULD), but each Caucus, the Tennessee Young Democrats, and the Tennessee Fderation of Democratic Women, each have ONE VOTE tomorrow.

If I remember correct, the number of voters will be 72, which means that the winner needs 37 at a minimum.  66 of these voters were elected by their State Senate Districts to the Executive Committee in last August's primary elections.  So, even if you got each of those groups to give you their vote, you would still need 32 members of the Executive Committee to vote for you.

These endorsements imply that there is a groundswell to replace Mary; however, it's the individual relationships between Mary and each elected member that will determine her fate.  Each of those groups could rise up as one to say we need change; if the Exec Com backs her tomorrow, it will have all been for nought.

I think Mary has done her best, and sure, there are things that could be better.  That said, when you can't have dialogue in rural areas because folks have been poisoned by right-wing media, what would YOU do differently?

Well, time to sit back and see what happens.  I will congratulate the winner and console whomever loses and remind them the fight continues to beat the GOP.

UPDATE:  WHAT STEVE ROSS SAYS.