Wednesday, May 31, 2006

HB 1114

This morning, I posted this. I am not retracting my post, I am updating it. My sources in Nashville have informed me that the "buzz" (or talk for those of you that do not use slang words) is that the Republican leadership are planning to have some candidates in specific house districts run as write-ins and qualify as Republican candidates to catch the Demo incumbent off-guard and knock them out of office in November. The Democrat leadership are planning to have some candidates in specific senate districts run as write-ins and qualify as Democrat candidates to catch the Republican incumbent off-guard and knock them out of office in November.

Now, the question for me is this. Is this what the political system has resorted to? The idea to take your guy by surprise and club him or her over the head. Instead, you can go to your local or state election commission office, pick up a petition, have 25 of your neighbors sign it and get on the ballot the right way. During, the campaign debate your ideas, position and record. Instead candidates chose to attack their opponents family, their friends, their place of worship etc..

Now, I believe in cases of term limits, public corruption charges or other unusual scenarios like that the Legislature should address those possibilities and provide guidance and direction. As for Knox County, if the Demos had to reach the 5% of its Registered Voters in a district or countywide, it would have reached the comparable amount of Republican voters in a district or countywide.

Thus, Kelvin Moxley reaching 5% of Republican Voters while Jim Andrews reaching 5% of The Democrat Registered would have been close to the same threshold. I know that this will be too complicated for some of you to consider, so go back to your Nintendo game.

I am not positioning myself that the passage of HB 1114 is Right or Wrong. I am giving you what my sources have told me the discussion was on and near the floor on Saturday.

I report. You decide. Fair and Balanced. Wait that's the Fox line.

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