Thursday, January 19, 2012
Politics After Back-Stabbing Marrero, Kyle Goes into Hiding
Posted by Jeff Woods on Thu, Jan 19, 2012 at 12:56 PM
Kyle stabbed Marrero in the back in a bitter, backroom Senate redistricting deal last week. Originally, Republicans put Kyle in the heavily Republican district of right-winger Brian Kelsey. But in return for Kyle’s vote, they changed their minds and agreed to place Kyle and Marrero in a new Memphis district that’s mostly Kyle’s old one.
Kyle’s betrayal of Marrero has turned her into a sudden cause célèbre of liberals, who are denouncing what they see as a sexist plot against women in power and calling on her to make a quixotic run for the U.S. Senate against Bob Corker.
Marrero insists she’s running for reelection this year. “Those days of women just saying, 'You take it and I'll go home,' are over,” she says.
If Kyle and Marrero both run, neither might make it out of the Democratic primary. The new district is majority-minority, so if the two white Democrats split their votes, a black candidate could emerge. Already, there’s talk that black Rep. G.A. Hardaway might seize the opportunity.
We asked Ramsey about all this at his weekly avail, and he dodged and squirmed and tried not to say much about the Democratic feuding. He kept telling us to "connect the dots."
“The bottom line is in Shelby County there needed to be three majority-minority districts. Keep in mind, the Democrats could have done that 10 years ago. They have done that 20 years ago. They could have done that 30 years ago, and they chose not to do that. But we did.”
Q: Do you think this is causing Kyle any problems within his own caucus?
Ramsey: You better ask him. I mean, he’s not been here all week. That’s nothing to do with me. They made a choice. I don’t know what went on behind closed doors with them.
Q: Do you think he’s afraid to come back?
Ramsey: Nah, I wouldn’t say that. I don’t think he’s anxious though. There’s a difference between afraid and anxious, I suppose. I’m sure he’s not anxious, OK?
Comments (1)
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Brings back memories of Bredesen's special session on Ethics a few yrs
back. Sen. Kyle would speak so pious and supportive of a strict Ethics
law for legislators in open sessions, as would other Memphis members
I might add, but then behind closed doors objected to every restriction
on those same proposals. The results ended with even less restrictions
than before that expensive session began with. So typical!
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