Wednesday, June 3, 2009
40 Jealous Whores / Around Town / Kotz / Legislature / Politics / The Economy Dean & Bredesen: What's With These Democratic Fence-Sitters?
Posted by Pete Kotz on Wed, Jun 3, 2009 at 5:49 AM
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There's a theory prominent in Democratic circles that goes like this: If you want to be successful in South, you can't actually behave like a Democrat. 
Gov. Phil Bredesen's a master at this. It helps that he tends to see the world as a series of budgetary line items rather than home to human beings, making him a Democrat with a Republican's heart. But even on something he apparently feels strong about -- like the guns in bars bill -- he refused to throw himself into the debate. Instead, he waited for it to pass and got to play the martyr with his well-publicized veto, knowing the legislature would override it.
Final score: Phil gets on TV. Tennessee gets a little scarier. Everyone but residents win.
Mayor Karl Dean is pulling the same thing with his non-committal approach to the May Town Center. It's clear that Dean doesn't think it's a good idea. In an interview with the City Paper, he discusses his desire to maintain downtown and his preference for developing existing property rather than tilling fresh countryside.
Dean's merely echoing the smart sentiment of city planners everywhere. They know that sprawl merely expands expensive infrastructure that needs to be maintained, and often amounts to simply subsidizing one part of town to move to another, achieving little gain for a lot of money.
But the mayor won't actually speak to the moronocity of May Town. He's content to remain neutral, waiting to see which way the wind blows for fear of running afoul of the moneyed.
Question: Does anyone have a spare set of testicles they could loan these guys? Anyone?
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