Weekly review of political stories in Chattanooga and beyond.
Is the glass 3/5 full or 2/5 empty?
A year-long debate to establish an Audit Committee is coming to a close.
This week, the City Council appointed 3 members to the committee under an amendment to the City Code. The five-member panel will meet quarterly to review and monitor the work of City Council Auditor Randy Burns and the mayor's Internal Auditor Division, headed by Stan Sewell. The panel will report "problems or problem areas" to the City Council, according to Ordinance No. 12250. The council still has 2 remaining appointments to make, which will require a majority vote.
Aside: Randy Burns probably has the messiest office in City Hall.
3rd District Spin
Joe Lance commented last week that the open seat in Zach Wamp's district "may draw a little more of a bona fide campaign" from a Democratic challenger. He argues that local Democrats "did very little to help" Wamp's challengers in previous elections.
Rep. Wamp was, and is, a popular Congressman. So I see Joe's point in that the Hamilton County Democratic Party didn't bring all its guns to the table when a loss was all but certain in past contests. Still, the party needs to step up its game both locally and in the state if it wants to be competitive next year.
Fire your advisers
Two Friday's ago, I was confounded by Sarah Palin's decision to step down as Alaska's governor one year before her term ended. In the face of widespread speculation, the Anchorage Daily News confirmed that neither she or her husband is under federal investigation:
"We are not investigating her," FBI spokesman Eric Gonzalez said on Sunday. "Normally we don't confirm or deny those kind of allegations out there, but by not doing so it just casts her in a very bad light. There is just no truth to those rumors out there in the blogosphere."
(In all fairness, it really did seem like the most plausible theory unless you're Andrew Sullivan.)
Regardless of your take on Palin's 2012 candidacy, this move isn't smart from a political standpoint. The go-to narrative from any primary challenger will be: she couldn't handle the national stage when she was a governor, how can she handle it in the White House?
And yes, I'm intentionally baiting my old arch-nemesis, Adrienne Royer. Enjoy the Beltway.
David Morton
Comments (0)
Comments are closed.