Gill vs. Phil?

Sycophantic callers are often encouraging the hosts of radio talk shows to run for elected office, but few ever actually try to do it. One big reason: they’d have to give up their day jobs. Which is why WTN’s (99.7-FM) Steve Gill is having such a hard time making up his mind about running for governor. In response to rumors that have made the rounds recently, Gill confirms that he has kicked around the idea of taking on incumbent Gov. Phil Bredesen next year as the Republican nominee. But he’s hamstrung by rules that require broadcast personalities to go off the air if they so much as sniff at an exploratory committee. That means that getting the polling data Gill needs to make an informed decision on the matter is virtually impossible. This puts him in the position of weighing a nice, enviable gig he has nurtured for seven years against an underdog candidacy for governor with no more guidance than his own educated guesses about the current political landscape. With that in mind, Gill—who, remember, got his start in radio after two unsuccessful congressional bids—is still considering it but is circumspect about the matter, partly because of Bredesen’s apparent popularity among Republican voters in East Tennessee, without whom any GOP candidate for governor is sunk. “In Middle Tennessee and West Tennessee, I think the Republican base is not fond of Bredesen. And the Democratic base isn’t particularly fond of Bredesen,” Gill says. “What’s holding his numbers is that East Tennessee Republican base. And again, until you really do some polling and determine whether it’s a mile wide and a quarter-inch deep, you can’t determine whether, given an alternative, they would peel off or not.... And you can’t do that without going off the air, basically.” Thus, for want of a few good polls, voters may miss out on what could be an intriguing governor’s race. Gill would probably lose, as would anyone running against the deep-pocketed and still relatively popular Bredesen, who unabashedly threw his own money into his race for governor. But Gill is also one of the few Republicans who could stand toe to toe with the governor in a debate over TennCare, having studied the beleaguered program for years and also having developed his own counterproposal (“TNCARES”) which—at least in theory—would provide universal access to health care using market-based mechanisms rather than a single-payer function. Read Gill’s proposal at www.gillreport.com, and you’ll see that Bredesen would have to do a lot more debate prep than he may have four years ago against a less, er, thoughtful foe. For now, though, the smart money remains on state Rep. Beth Halteman Harwell as the eventual GOP nominee for governor, if only because she would have the least to lose (she need only exceed low expectations) and the most to gain (groundwork laid for a 2008 U.S. Senate run) from doing it. But should Harwell ultimately decide against running, Gill is giving himself until the end of February at the latest to make the plunge, freely taking advantage of his position behind the WTN microphone. “One advantage I have,” Gill says, “is that I can wait later than most because of the name recognition I get from what I do.” The party, not the man Engineer, builder, West Point grad and local blogger Bob Krumm says he is “seriously considering” running against state Sen. Douglas Henry, who has represented southwest Nashville for over 35 years. While acknowledging that he has few political differences with the conservative Henry, who always garners a good share of Republican support, Krumm’s major concern is the corruption he sees within the Democratic sectors of the state legislature. “My issue is not so much with Sen. Henry,” Krumm says. “It’s with Sen. Henry’s party.” A modest proposal Despite what you may have heard, the most perplexing aspect of our Metro Council system is not the council’s enormous size. It’s the way voting power is allocated among the many council members. Thirty-five council members are chosen by voters in their individual districts while the remaining five—the “at-large” members—are elected by the entire city. Yet, on the council floor, the votes of each of these five count just as much as any one of the district council members, even though these five represent 35 times more voters. So here’s an idea, given that a council-liposuction-by-charter-amendment is a dicey proposition at best: amend the charter instead to expand the voting power of the five at-large council members. The amendment would replace the current simple majority requirement to pass a measure. Instead, a majority of the 35 district council members and a majority of the five at-large council members would have to approve legislation. This would diminish the council’s “herd of cats” syndrome that supporters of shrinkage often decry. The more provincial concerns that motivate many district council members would be necessarily moderated by the requirement that at least three at-large members, who presumably have the interests of the whole city at heart, be sympathetic to those concerns. It would be like having a “senate” within the council, but without filibusters. Unless you count Ludye Wallace.llersareoftenencouragingthehostsofradiotalkshowstorunforelectedoffice,butfeweveractuallytrytodoit.Onebigreason:they’dhavetogiveuptheirdayjobs.WhichiswhyWTN’s(99.7-FM)SteveGillishavingsuchahardtimemakinguphismindaboutrunningforgovernor.Inresponsetorumorsthathavemadetheroundsrecently,GillconfirmsthathehaskickedaroundtheideaoftakingonincumbentGov.PhilBredesennextyearastheRepublicannominee.Buthe’shamstrungbyrulesthatrequirebroadcastpersonalitiestogoofftheairiftheysomuchassniffatanexploratorycommittee.ThatmeansthatgettingthepollingdataGillneedstomakeaninformeddecisiononthematterisvirtuallyimpossible.Thisputshiminthepositionofweighinganice,enviablegighehasnurturedforsevenyearsagainstanunderdogcandidacyforgovernorwithnomoreguidancethanhisowneducatedguessesaboutthecurrentpoliticallandscape.Withthatinmind,Gill—who,remember,gothisstartinradioaftertwounsuccessfulcongressionalbids—isstillconsideringitbutiscircumspectaboutthematter,partlybecauseofBredesen’sapparentpopularityamongRepublicanvotersinEastTennessee,withoutwhomanyGOPcandidateforgovernorissunk.“InMiddleTennesseeandWestTennessee,IthinktheRepublicanbaseisnotfondofBredesen.AndtheDemocraticbaseisn’tparticularlyfondofBredesen,”Gillsays.“What’sholdinghisnumbersisthatEastTennesseeRepublicanbase.Andagain,untilyoureallydosomepollinganddeterminewhetherit’samilewideandaquarter-inchdeep,youcan’tdeterminewhether,givenanalternative,theywouldpeeloffornot....Andyoucan’tdothatwithoutgoingofftheair,basically.”Thus,forwantofafewgoodpolls,votersmaymissoutonwhatcouldbeanintriguinggovernor’srace.Gillwouldprobablylose,aswouldanyonerunningagainstthedeep-pocketedandstillrelativelypopularBredesen,whounabashedlythrewhisownmoneyintohisraceforgovernor.ButGillisalsooneofthefewRepublicanswhocouldstandtoetotoewiththegovernorinadebateoverTennCare,havingstudiedthebeleagueredprogramforyearsandalsohavingdevelopedhisowncounterproposal(“TNCARES”)which—atleastintheory—wouldprovideuniversalaccesstohealthcareusingmarket-basedmechanismsratherthanasingle-payerfunction.ReadGill’sproposalatwww.gillreport.com,andyou’llseethatBredesenwouldhavetodoalotmoredebateprepthanhemayhavefouryearsagoagainstaless,er,thoughtfulfoe.Fornow,though,thesmartmoneyremainsonstateRep.BethHaltemanHarwellastheeventualGOPnomineeforgovernor,ifonlybecauseshewouldhavetheleasttolose(sheneedonlyexceedlowexpectations)andthemosttogain(groundworklaidfora28U.S.Senaterun)fromdoingit.ButshouldHarwellultimatelydecideagainstrunning,GillisgivinghimselfuntiltheendofFebruaryatthelatesttomaketheplunge,freelytakingadvantageofhispositionbehindtheWTNmicrophone.“OneadvantageIhave,”Gillsays,“isthatIcanwaitlaterthanmostbecauseofthenamerecognitionIgetfromwhatIdo.”Theparty,notthemanEngineer,builder,WestPointgradandlocalbloggerBobKrummsaysheis“seriouslyconsidering”runningagainststateSen.DouglasHenry,whohasrepresentedsouthwestNashvilleforover35years.WhileacknowledgingthathehasfewpoliticaldifferenceswiththeconservativeHenry,whoalwaysgarnersagoodshareofRepublicansupport,Krumm’smajorconcernisthecorruptionheseeswithintheDemocraticsectorsofthestatelegislature.“MyissueisnotsomuchwithSen.Henry,”Krummsays.“It’swithSen.Henry’sparty.”AmodestproposalDespitewhatyoumayhaveheard,themostperplexingaspectofourMetroCouncilsystemisnotthecouncil’senormoussize.It’sthewayvotingpowerisallocatedamongthemanycouncilmembers.Thirty-fivecouncilmembersarechosenbyvotersintheirindividualdistrictswhiletheremainingfive—the“at-large”members—areelectedbytheentirecity.Yet,onthecouncilfloor,thevotesofeachofthesefivecountjustasmuchasanyoneofthedistrictcouncilmembers,eventhoughthesefiverepresent35timesmorevoters.Sohere’sanidea,giventhatacouncil-liposuction-by-charter-amendmentisadiceypropositionatbest:amendthecharterinsteadtoexpandthevotingpowerofthefiveat-largecouncilmembers.Theamendmentwouldreplacethecurrentsimplemajorityrequirementtopassameasure.Instead,amajorityofthe35districtcouncilmembersandamajorityofthefiveat-largecouncilmemberswouldhavetoapprovelegislation.Thiswoulddiminishthecouncil’s“herdofcats”syndromethatsupportersofshrinkageoftendecry.Themoreprovincialconcernsthatmotivatemanydistrictcouncilmemberswouldbenecessarilymoderatedbytherequirementthatatleastthreeat-largemembers,whopresumablyhavetheinterestsofthewholecityatheart,besympathetictothoseconcerns.Itwouldbelikehavinga“senate”withinthecouncil,butwithoutfilibusters.UnlessyoucountLudyeWallace.