Friday, January 30, 2009
Politics / Woods The Chip Forrester Factor: How Much Did It Play Into Lincoln Davis' Decision?
Posted by Jeff Woods on Fri, Jan 30, 2009 at 11:26 AM
"At Saturday's meeting, the talk was going around that if Chip won, Lincoln was out. Suddenly, boom, the announcement comes this week. The timing of it really got my attention. It feels like a 'fuck you Chip Forrester' to me. It has that feel. Lincoln was probably not going to run anyway, but Chip's election sealed the deal."
See Sean Braisted
Forrester's perceived weakness as a fund-raiser was part of the calculation, the source says. Statewide candidates count on the party to raise enough money to run coordinated get-out-the-vote drives. But it was also ideological. More from our source:
"This is a tough state for a Democrat anyway. If you've got a party chair out there on the extreme left who seems to want to push the party to the left, that doesn't help."
We talked to other party insiders who discount the Forrester factor. They say Davis' Appropriations Committee appointment is the main reason he's not running. That's the reason Davis gave in his statement last night. Not only can Davis land pork-barrel projects for his district, he can leverage his position for loads of campaign cash. That takes a lot of the drudgery out of the job.
"My advice to him was always, 'You don't want to make the same mistake Bob Clement made,' " one source says. "Bob loved being in Congress, and he'd be happy there now," but he ran for the Senate in 2002 and lost to Lamar Alexander.
"It is absolutely the right decision for Lincoln," this source says. "As politicians often don't do, he kept his head and made a good solid decision."
Another insider says, "Lincoln said to himself, 'I'm 65 years old. Do I really want to run for governor against a bunch of millionaires, potentially within my own primary? I've got this nice job for life now possibly, if I want it. So why screw that up?' "
Comments (10)
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This is simple. Forrester is pro-income tax and Davis is against the income tax. If Forrester wants to turn the next governor's race into a referendum on the income tax, Davis wanted no part of it.
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Will Jeff Woods ever write a negative story about the Democrats that actually names a source...?
Jeff, if you can't get people on the record, you're really just rumor-mongering. You do realize that, right?
This makes sense. Forrester is pro-income tax. Davis is against the income tax. If Forrester is going to turn the next governor's race into a referendum on the income tax, Davis smartly wanted no part of it.
Chip signed a pro-income tax resolution eight years ago... The same income tax that was supported by Republican Governor Don Sundquist! I can guarantee Chip or any other Democrat will never campaign for it or mention it ever again. Issue done, move on!
You're guarantee is worthless, Terd (interesing spelling of "Turd"). The income tax clouds are forming over Nashville. Forrester and Justin Wilson and the rest of the income tax team are reassuming positions of power. The state desperately needs revenue. I predict that we will see another push.
Chip won't have a lot to do with deciding who runs for governor. He may have to beg someone who is sadistic, masochistic, mentally challenged or any combination of these traits. There is not much glamour to gutting the state budget just so you can have a driver and mansion we probably need to sell on ebay. Our tax structure is broken and until it is addressed the democrats should hand the keys and budget axe over to the horn honkers and say, "Enjoy!" Lincoln Davis made the sane decision - as did Bill Frist. The governor's job going forward is to hold prayer vigils for the economy and/or butcher an already shaky state government. The governor does get a great ringside seat for the circus aka the Tennessee General Assembly. I say leave this train wreck to the republicans who hate government. Move over, Mississippi! Here we come! Beep, beep!
Anyone want to explain to me, on the merits (not the political ramifications) why an income tax would be bad?
I know that we don't need more people driving around in circles in downtown Nashville - I'm afraid they'll end up in the circle on Music Row throwing shoes at the Musica statue or something.
But why is an income tax a bad idea? Isn't it "taking our money" when we have a sales tax? And if so, wouldn't it be more "fair" to base the tax on income rather than spending? And isn't it a little unfair that people in Memphis, Bristol, Chattanooga, etc., can drive across the border to lower sales tax, while people in the middle of the state can't?
Do you agree with me now, Woods? Forrester has dispatched his pro-income tax minions to the blogs to stir the pot.
Benton, the state income tax is unconstitutional. It is also unfair because it taxes people at different rates depending on how much they make. It punishes people for getting ahead. A sales tax taxes everyone at the same rate.
Please! The last time an income tax was seriously considered a man the Republicans gave us was governor. There were Republicans in the legislature supporting it as well. One of the Haslams- not sure if it was the Haslam-gov-wannabe's brother or father, but he was on record pushing for an income tax.
And Van Hilleary pulled out the boodgie man telling us Bredesen would push for an income tax. Did Bredesen? Not at all.
It seems the only time an income tax really comes up is when a Republican governor wants it or when Republicans are sooo afraid of losing they pull out the phrase just like "librul" and "terrorist" and "commie pinko." We've got an election coming up and the best the GOP has is a rich oil man with big time financial ties to the DC crowd and a born again cokehead whose claim to fame in DC is sorta nailing Clinton for sorta nailing Lewinski. I expect to hear little else from the GOP other than "income tax." It's really all they've got to hang on to, despite the fact it's utter baloney.
