Thursday, June 18, 2009
Legislature / Politics / Woods Who Hates Republicans More? Kyle and Herron Debate the Question
Posted by Jeff Woods on Thu, Jun 18, 2009 at 1:08 PM
Democrats were treated to a sneak preview of their governor's campaign today, with Jim Kyle and Roy Herron jostling for TV time and delivering fiery little speeches at a media event to crow over state budget triumphs. On this one, we give the point to Herron in a close contest. Kyle stuck to budget stuff and rambled a little. Herron really threw out the red meat, basically tarring Republicans as racist retrogrades. To top it off, those bastards insulted Al Gore! Here are excerpts from the two senators' remarks:
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Kyle: What did we see differently than our Republican legislators? We have a sense of optimism that things are going to get better. This country is getting better. This economy is getting better. We are not shutting down government. We're planning for the future. We're building infrastructure. We're planning for jobs for the future. We're not going to quit educating our kids or putting people to work because we're in tough economic times. We trust the future. We trust that we can do better. That's the fundamental philosophical difference between the people standing here with me and the people who are not.
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Herron: In the last week of session, the contrast between Republicans and Democrats could hardly have been sharper. On Tuesday in the Senate, the Republicans displayed amazing partisanship and insulted Tennessee's two Nobel peace prize winners. Also, this week it was revealed that some in state government find racism amusing. A Republican employee in the Senate caucus chair's office sent a racist email and did not lose an hour of work or a dollar of pay. Someone in a Democratic legislator's office committed a similar offense and was told to hit the streets. There's no place for racism in state government, and the two parties and the two caucuses between the Democrats and the Republicans, the contrast could not be greater. And then most important, you look at the budget ladies and gentlemen. Whether it was pre-K and taking away the recurring funding for 250 classrooms and 5,000 children, whether it was the West Tennessee industrial site, higher education buildings, solar institute, bridge bonds, women's health, infant mortality, mental health funds, children's services--all of those things, it was the House and Senate Democrats who made the difference for the people of Tennessee.
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