In A Cold Gray Winter, Glimmerings of Hope for the TNDP

After years of losing ground across the state, and after suffering a crushing defeat of historic proportions in the November general election, it seemed that the Tennessee Democratic Party (TNDP) was headed for a bitter winter of discontent in January of 2009.  Worse yet, there was no sign of a 'son of York' to brighten the long dark winter ahead.  Then, surprisingly, in the midst of one of the coldest, grayest winters in decades, hope for Tennessee Democrats flickered from at least four different directions in the bleak winter of 2008-2009:

1. In a Byzantine coup d’état, Tennessee House Democrats succeeded in electing a rogue Republican (St. Rep. Kent Williams) to the position of Speaker of the House. This in spite of the fact that Republicans had just won control of the TN House for the first time since Reconstruction and in spite of the fact that the Republicans had settled on their leader, ultra-conservative St. Rep. Jason Mumpower, to become the new Speaker. It was no doubt a back-room political deal of the 19th century kind, but it showed that all 49 House Democrats working with only one off-the-reservation Republican could still wield real political power in Nashville. It was an ice-cold shower for TN Republicans... and it got the TNDP out of the  political intensive  care unit.

2. The defeat, by a large margin, of the English-only amendment to the Nashville city charter. Supported by a wide range of Democratic elected officials, religious organizations, business groups and progressives of all stripes, the anti-English-only campaign crushed the far-right effort to make English the only language used in Music City government. Although credit for this progressive victory truly belongs to many people, the lion's share of the praise goes to Nashville Mayor Karl Dean and - most especially - to long-time Democratic Party organizer, Jim Hester. Many Democrats, and probably most progressives, thought the effort to stop the English-only madness would be nearly impossible. Instead, a broad coalition of Nashville groups, under the masterful leadership of Mr. Hester, made it look easy.

3. The election of Chip Forrester as Chair of the Tennessee Democratic Party. Although he was a long-time member of the Democratic Party establishment, Mr. Forrester's run for Party Chair was accompanied by an acknowledgment of the Party's failures and a sincere effort to reach out to all of the Party's base. He travelled the state to seek support from all elements of the TNDP and made numerous pledges to take the fight into enemy (Republican) territory. Chip's vigorous and inclusive campaign quickly garnered the necessary votes to assure him of election to the the post of Party Chair. Bizarrely, only after he had wrapped up the election, did many elected Democratic officials announce their discomfort with Chip and threw their support to another candidate.  It was totally strange, especially since the reasons offered by establishment Democrats for opposing Forrester were weak at best. Maybe it's one of those Paul Harvey 'page two' kinda of things - you know, 'the rest of the story'. Maybe in time we will find out the true reason(s) for their dislike of Forrester, but no statements yet made in public sufficiently explain the top Dems opposition to Forrester. We hope they'll get over their resistance to the new Party Chair and move on.

4. The announcement by State Senator Andy Berke (D-Chattanooga) that he is considering a run for Governor in 2010. Sen. Berke is one of the most able and appealing elected officials in the state.  A gubernatorial run by him would give the Democratic Party the chance to nominate a candidate for governor who could connect with all segments of the TNDP.  Berke would, in our opinion, stand a very good chance of winning the state house. A potential Berke for Governor campaign could well be the brightest hope Tennessee Democrats have seen in a period where we've already gotten more than our share of good news. Run Andy run!

Breaking News: Nashville Rejects English Only

With all 173 precincts reporting, voters in Metropolitan Nashville have soundly rejected the attempt to enact the English Only amendment to the city's charter.

ElectBlue congratulates the voters of Nashville for their common sense and inclusiveness in rejecting this unnecessary and bigoted attempt to amend the city charter.

FINAL RESULTS

Against English Only	41,752	56.5%
For English Only	32,144	43.5%

Eric Crafton, Metro Nashville Councilman and chief supporter of the English Only amendment, appearing on Fox & Friends just a few days ago (video below), claimed that 75% of Nashville voters supported English Only.  He cited "about any poll you look at" as his source.  No word yet on whether or not Crafton will reveal which polls he was referencing or, for that matter, the people who funded the English Only campaign.

National Coverage

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English-Only: Bad Policy, Worse Message

According to PostPolitics, the Tennessee Supreme Court today removed the last legal challenge to an English-only ballot measure in Metro Nashville. The state high court refused to grant an expedited hearing on an appeal of a lower court ruling that the referendum could go forward on January 22nd. If approved by Nashville voters, the English-only proposal would mandate the use of English in all official transactions of the city government. The proposed measure provides for a few exceptions but they seem murky and largely unworkable.

What a really bad idea. Not only would such a measure be very bad public policy, it would send an even worse message to the rest of the country (and the world) about the Music City's unwillingness to welcome non-English speaking tourists, foreign businesses and international conferences. 

As public policy, this measure could easily hamstring efforts by law enforcement to keep Nashville safe. Imagine a police officer, fluent in Spanish, who would now be unsure whether he could take the statement of an eye-witness to crime who happened also to be a Spanish speaker with limited command of English.  Imagine undercover law enforcement agents unable to obtain permission to conduct operations in any language other than English. 

For Nashville's large and growing foreign tourism and business investment sectors, the English-only law would have a chilling effect. Imagine city agencies charged with promoting Nashville to foreign tourists and business prospects not knowing for sure if they have to do so in English only. What do they say to prospective visitors and investors who ask about the meaning of this English-only nonsense?

Nashville is home to several internationally prestigious health care facilities and universities with global reputations for their cutting-edge research. How is Nashville supposed to bill itself as a potential host of international conferences for important world-wide health groups when we hang out the 'English-only' sign?  

Finally, we have to wonder what message passage of the English-only law would send to our children and students. Would they not naturally conclude that study of foreign languages is unnecessary and even undesirable? What a terrible lesson for the future leaders of our city as they prepare to take their rightful place in a highly complex and increasingly interconnected world.

The world becomes smaller every day. The citizens of Nashville cannot allow the world to believe that our minds here in Middle Tennessee are also getting smaller. Tennessee's capital city is large and diverse and plays an increasingly important role on the world stage.  Passage of the English-only initiative would be a big step backwards and an embarrassment to those who fight every day to make our city safer, more prosperous and culturally richer.

Those fighting to defeat the English-only referendum have launched a new website to stop this nonsense. It's called Nashville For All of Us. ElectBlue encourages all of our readers, Tennesseans and non-Tennesseans alike, to visit the website and offer help in whatever way you can.

Cymru Am Byth: Wales Forever!

Metro Nashville Councilman Eric Crafton, Mr. English-Only himself, would most likely not be happy with this bit of news from the European Union. Today, Welsh became the twenty-second tongue to be recognized by the EU as one of its co-official, or minority, languages. 

Such recognition confers mostly symbolic status on the ancient language while enabling some business and governmental transactions to be legally conducted in Welsh. The Welsh language is part of the larger family of Celtic tongues which includes Irish Gaelic, Scottish Gaelic and Breton. It has a rich literary and historic tradition, including a strong association with the legendary tales of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table.

Welsh is currently the mother tongue of more than 600,000 people, most of them living in the British principality of Wales. I guess the 'English-only' advocates in Wales have failed completely as the entire area has been under English rule since the Middle Ages. Mr. Crafton's peculiarly monolithic notion of cultural and linguistic exclusion just never took hold in Merry Olde England. A good thing, that.

Several million Americans, many of them in the South, can trace at least some Welsh ancestry in their backgrounds. Interestingly, the most common surname in the US, Jones, is of Welsh origin. Six hundred thousand people, by the way, is slightly more than the current population of Davidson County. 

h/t: Agence France-Presse