A Credible Candidate?
Last night, before my normal election night routine of drinking too much and feeling like crap the next day, I attended a reception for Eric Stansell who announced he is running in the Democratic primary for House District 52, currently occupied by Rep. Rob Briley.
I wasn't sure what to expect...was this going to be some idealistic hippie or some gruff conservative rambling about immigration? So I was relieved when meeting him to find out he seems to be a fairly normal, likable person. He's got campaign experience, most recently with the Clement campaign (field organizer or something to that effect), and seems to have some support from them, as Bob and Mary Clement [he worked with her at the TN Dept. of Commerce], along with some other members of the Clement campaign team were there at the reception.
In addition, Stansell also has experience in government. According to his bio he is a "former attorney for the Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance, as well as a number of governmental internships, including stints in both the Governor’s Office for the State of Tennessee and the Office of Cabinet Affairs at The White House under President Bill Clinton."
We didn't discuss any policy issues last night, but according to Stansell, he "may not win, but [he] won't be outworked." Having not been privy to the internal workings of the Clement campaign (surprise, they weren't inviting me in), I don't know what role he played in the outcome; I did run into another former Clement staffer last night who wasn't exactly pleased with Stansell and laid some of the blame for Clement's loss on Stansell and Larry Woods (apparently the Clement campaign broke down into two camps, and according to this guy, Stansell was in the Woods camp). However, this sort of infighting is somewhat to be expected in any losing campaign...especially one that started out with a sense of inevitability.
Ultimately, he's got an uphill battle, and potentially more opponents for this House seat to come. But if he can tap into some of the staffers and donors of the Clement campaign, Stansell's certainly got a better than average chance against an incumbent who (through nobody's fault but his own) has had an extremely rough 2007. Stansell may not win, but he'll certainly make Briley work to keep his seat in 2008...and even if he hadn't gotten into trouble with the law, I personally think it can be good for people to be challenged in their primaries, because in most districts those are the only elections that matter, and a contentious election is the only way we the people have to keep an elected official honest.
See Also: Kleinheider with the presser.
8 comments:
Having Clement's supporters and staffers in that district which is dominated by East Nashville will be a negative. Most of those folks were either Briley or Dean fans and even when Briley was out of the running, few went anywhere but to Dean. The Clement folks could never connect with the activist, thinking crowd of East Nashville.
That previous comment is interesting. There's a lot more to District 52 than Lockeland Springs. I think the reality is
that 52 is dominated by plain old Democrats. The activist, thinking crowd
is a very definite minority district wide.
If you look up census statistics which go by city council district, you will find a lot of interesting demographics which at least make it clear that the highest educational levels are confined to the Lockeland Springs and Green Hills sections of 52.
So the intellectuals are probably half liberal and half conservative, and the working class majority is probably too busy trying to survive to be activist.
Stansell may be closer to the norm than Briley. But does he have the unlimited out of state PAC funds that Briley does?
If it is true that Stansell faces an "uphill battle" to beat Briley in the primary, that is a sad commentary on just what level of depravity and corruption Democrat voters in House District 52 are willing to put up with in their representative.
But, thanks to an inadvertently leaked email from House Democrat Caucus press secretary Addison Pate, it is now on the record that the House Democratic Caucus indeed does consider Briley one of the incumbents that it is intent on protecting and re-electing.
True, the Democrats should clean their own house. But why, Mr. Hobbs, was there no opposition to Briley in November 2006? That's the Republicans' responsibility, right? District 52 had a bunch of Republican precincts added in the last redistricting so why doesn't the GOP quit whining and field a candidate ?
Sean,
I want to offer a first person account of the environment that caused the Clement Campaign to break down...In my opinion, the dead body of the Clement Campaign rests squarely on the shoulders of Bill Fletcher. Bill listens to no one, is combative and derides volunteers, and is generally a one man wrecking crew. Arrogance is fine I suppose if you win...but not if you habitually lose. Information only in Fletcher's care seemed to leak quickly to the Dean camp. Further...in all of my years of campaigning, I have never seen one man get less mileage out of more money than Fletcher. Also, it may be noteworthy that Fletcher also ran a great number of City Council races in this past cycle and only a very small percentage of his campaigns won. Most of the people he handled are still complaining about the extremely high cost of his services versus his poor track record. My candidates for example spent around $1,100 per mailing where Fletcher charged over $5,000 per mailing in the same District. I for one hope the Democrats all over this state continue to hire Fletcher, Rowley, and Chao...it will continue to help Republican's win. I for one don't want to be on the same side as that firm ever again. Many in Nashville blame Fletcher for the loss of Dick Fulton's race too, which he handled. I am sure Bill will bluster and scream about such talk... however, it appears to have a great deal of merit in my opinion.
I've known Eric since he was a 'tween'. As a very young man he was the epitome of ethical conduct, and that's a rare characteristic in a high-school aged person. He was always a young man with great intellectual potential, as well as a very down to earth understanding of the world. I was very pleased to see that he's running for political office, a pursuit in which he I always hoped would engage as an adult. I'm no longer a resident of Tennessee or of his district, but, presuming that he has matured into the adult that I imagine him to be at this point, a man of Mr. Stansell's character is exactly what I look for in a representative. Those in his district are lucky to have him as a choice in the upcoming elections, and I wish him a successful bid for the seat.
I have known Eric for twenty years, and he is as equally hard-working as he is intelligent. I only wish the city of Memphis (where I live) were fortunate enough to have someone like him running for office in our community. If he doesn't win, the residents of District 52 will be the real losers. He is neither an activist nor a suit; he is a pragmatic progressive whose work ethic is way ahead of that of most folks his age.
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