More on Chasteen
Though it may seem like I'm picking on the poor guy - and I'm quite sure he's a rather personable fella - after another day of pondering on it and reading some other thoughts on the matter, I think there's a little more to Tom Chasteen's singular vote against opposing the redistricting efforts in the State Senate. I think I've made my thoughts on his vote pretty clear, but I don't think we've given enough thought to the implications it may have on the entire race.
As has been dicussed here in the comments, and at Athens Politics, I think it's a foregone conclusion that Heidi Davison will seek a re-election bid. She has been willing to fight the good fight - however futile it may be - with regard to redistricting, and conventional wisdom suggests she'll want to see through the work of anti-poverty committee she helped launch earlier this year.
And, as Publius has duly noted, she deserves to be commended for her work in both areas. I've had my agreements with Davison and my disagreements with her, but I'm most impressed with her leadership in recent months.
Chasteen's vote against the condemnation offers a signal that he's willing to become the candidate for the Athens Area of Commerce (whether or not they'll embrace him is a different story). The Chamber, for all of its detractors (and I've been in voice in that chorus on occasion), still holds some impressive political clout in town. However, it is still not a widely popular political entity, and make no mistake, it has failed miserably when it comes to endorsing and supporting candidates in contested races.
What can swing an election like this in its favor, however, is division among the opposition. If Chasteen does indeed become the darling of the Chamber, he may bel able to lock up a solid 35 to 40 percent of the vote if Davison, Keith Johnson, Charlie Maddox and Andy Rusk are clamoring for the other votes. We'd still have a runoff, and I'd bet Davison would be the one who squares off with Chasteen. At that point, the balance of the folks who voted for neither candidate would have to decide between someone who has championed rather unpopular 'living ordinances' (Davison) or someone who is on record as thinking the wishes of the State Senator from Madison County mean more than the wishes of Athens-Clarke County. It's not a pretty vote either way you look at it.
All this to say ... this may work out very well for Davison. Some of those candidates on the more outlying edges of the campaign - well-meaning and passionate folks like Rusk and Johnson - may not be able to generate as much support as they had once hoped. Consider, to some extent, Davison the 'anti-Chasteen' in this election ... the George W. Bush to John McCain in 2000 and the John Kerry to Howard Dean in 2004.
I know it's merely one issue, but I think it's a big issue. And it's a personal issue. Chasteen went on record in saying he would defer to the state leadership rather than act in the wishes of the majority of his own community. I think today's editorial in the Athens Banner-Herald hits the nail on the head:
"It does (voters) a disservice if we strain our relationship, if it's not a working relationship with people who have control over Athens-Clarke County," Chasteen said at Wednesday's commission meeting.
In other words, Chasteen voted against the resolution simply because he didn't want to risk making state legislators angry with the community.
Can Chasteen truly believe Athens-Clarke's delegation to the state legislature can, or should, exercise "control" over this community? Such an outlook, if it is an accurate reflection of Chasteen's view of the relationship between state and local elected officials, hardly bodes well for his mayoral bid.
Certainly, there is a need for a working relationship between state and local elected officials. The state legislature can, and does, pass laws and make budgetary decisions that can directly affect Athens-Clarke County.
But part of being a mayor is to exercise leadership. A mayor must make certain the best interests of the community which he or she serves are being met. Sometimes, that means making uncomfortable decisions. ...
There is one thing, however, that can be said with certainty. The way in which the redistricting bill was handled by Hudgens was irresponsible. The bill began making its way through the General Assembly almost before other members of the local legislative delegation had notice of it, and certainly before its existence was known widely in the community. Hudgens and other legislators deserve to be chastised, however ineffective such chastisement might be, for their approach to the bill.
Chasteen's Wednesday vote - which, judging from his comments, was intended to show some deference to the state legislature - could be read as acquiescence to the heavy-handed manner in which legislators have handled the redistricting proposal.
In a community which is heavily populated with a minority party in a state that is run by the majority party, such deference isn't going to play well when it comes time to head to the polls. And that makes it easy for Davison to come out and say 'you may not have always agreed with me, but I've always fought first for the interest of this community ... can my opponent say the same thing?'
As of today, he really can't.
As has been dicussed here in the comments, and at Athens Politics, I think it's a foregone conclusion that Heidi Davison will seek a re-election bid. She has been willing to fight the good fight - however futile it may be - with regard to redistricting, and conventional wisdom suggests she'll want to see through the work of anti-poverty committee she helped launch earlier this year.
And, as Publius has duly noted, she deserves to be commended for her work in both areas. I've had my agreements with Davison and my disagreements with her, but I'm most impressed with her leadership in recent months.
Chasteen's vote against the condemnation offers a signal that he's willing to become the candidate for the Athens Area of Commerce (whether or not they'll embrace him is a different story). The Chamber, for all of its detractors (and I've been in voice in that chorus on occasion), still holds some impressive political clout in town. However, it is still not a widely popular political entity, and make no mistake, it has failed miserably when it comes to endorsing and supporting candidates in contested races.
What can swing an election like this in its favor, however, is division among the opposition. If Chasteen does indeed become the darling of the Chamber, he may bel able to lock up a solid 35 to 40 percent of the vote if Davison, Keith Johnson, Charlie Maddox and Andy Rusk are clamoring for the other votes. We'd still have a runoff, and I'd bet Davison would be the one who squares off with Chasteen. At that point, the balance of the folks who voted for neither candidate would have to decide between someone who has championed rather unpopular 'living ordinances' (Davison) or someone who is on record as thinking the wishes of the State Senator from Madison County mean more than the wishes of Athens-Clarke County. It's not a pretty vote either way you look at it.
All this to say ... this may work out very well for Davison. Some of those candidates on the more outlying edges of the campaign - well-meaning and passionate folks like Rusk and Johnson - may not be able to generate as much support as they had once hoped. Consider, to some extent, Davison the 'anti-Chasteen' in this election ... the George W. Bush to John McCain in 2000 and the John Kerry to Howard Dean in 2004.
I know it's merely one issue, but I think it's a big issue. And it's a personal issue. Chasteen went on record in saying he would defer to the state leadership rather than act in the wishes of the majority of his own community. I think today's editorial in the Athens Banner-Herald hits the nail on the head:
"It does (voters) a disservice if we strain our relationship, if it's not a working relationship with people who have control over Athens-Clarke County," Chasteen said at Wednesday's commission meeting.
In other words, Chasteen voted against the resolution simply because he didn't want to risk making state legislators angry with the community.
Can Chasteen truly believe Athens-Clarke's delegation to the state legislature can, or should, exercise "control" over this community? Such an outlook, if it is an accurate reflection of Chasteen's view of the relationship between state and local elected officials, hardly bodes well for his mayoral bid.
Certainly, there is a need for a working relationship between state and local elected officials. The state legislature can, and does, pass laws and make budgetary decisions that can directly affect Athens-Clarke County.
But part of being a mayor is to exercise leadership. A mayor must make certain the best interests of the community which he or she serves are being met. Sometimes, that means making uncomfortable decisions. ...
There is one thing, however, that can be said with certainty. The way in which the redistricting bill was handled by Hudgens was irresponsible. The bill began making its way through the General Assembly almost before other members of the local legislative delegation had notice of it, and certainly before its existence was known widely in the community. Hudgens and other legislators deserve to be chastised, however ineffective such chastisement might be, for their approach to the bill.
Chasteen's Wednesday vote - which, judging from his comments, was intended to show some deference to the state legislature - could be read as acquiescence to the heavy-handed manner in which legislators have handled the redistricting proposal.
In a community which is heavily populated with a minority party in a state that is run by the majority party, such deference isn't going to play well when it comes time to head to the polls. And that makes it easy for Davison to come out and say 'you may not have always agreed with me, but I've always fought first for the interest of this community ... can my opponent say the same thing?'
As of today, he really can't.
posted by Jmac at 8:03 AM
2 Comments:
Nice! Better than the ABH (not to mention AthPo) put it.
Job well done!
It's worth mentioning that everything I've read in "da' blogs" for the last few months that people have disagreed with Heidi about have been issues on which Tom took exactly the same stand.
So, folks disagree with Heidi and Tom on the same issues but Heidi's the one showing the leadership.
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