Governor Phil Bredesen on His Inability To Govern With Fairness

There was a little event in Knoxville on Thursday, where the Governor put on "his dog and pony show" of "being the Governor Of All The People." As you can see from the notice put out Friday by the Third District Republican Chairman and the Republican Chairmen of Polk, Bradley and Meigs County. The Governor is FAILING in his ability to govern fairly and with consistency. Hat tip to KnoxBlog for this item.

The Third District Republican Party in cooperation with the Polk County, Meigs County and Bradley County Republican Parties call on Governor Bredesen to fulfill his obligation under the Tennessee Constitution Article II section 15 by setting the date for the special election to fill the State House District 22 seat vacated by Chris NewtonÂ’s September 1st resignation.

Valuable time has been lost in electing a new representative while Governor Bredesen plays partisan politics, disregarding the best interest of the people of Bradley, Meigs and Polk counties. When Senator Ford resigned in Memphis on May 28, 2005, the Governor set the date for that special election on June 7, 2005, basically a week’s time. The residents of District 22 are now in their third week of waiting for Governor Bredesen to fulfill his obligation to uphold the law for all of the people. Governor Bredesen, in his inaugural address, on the steps of the state capitol stated, “I want you to know that I hold to a fundamental principle. When I raised my hand and took the oath of office a few minutes ago, those differences - Democrat and Republican, political friend and foe, big city and small town, East, West, Middle - all faded away and I became simply, without fear or favor, the Governor of all the people of Tennessee.”

We call on Governor Bredesen to honor this commitment to all the people of Tennessee. The “Governor of all the people” can be reached at 615/741-2001.

The people of Bradley, Meigs and Polk counties are no less deserving of the full rights and privileges he has already shown Memphis residents on two previous occasions.

We call on Governor Bredesen to stop the partisan delays and set the date for the special election.

John S. Stanberry
3rd District Republican Chairman

Stephen Crump
Bradley County Republican Chairman

Pat May
Meigs County Republican Chairman

Frank Payne
Polk County Republican Chairman