The Gray Sasser Rant
Thursday, November 6th, 2008Aunt B., GoldnI and Sean have all talked about the Tennessee Democratic Party and its head poobah, Gray Sasser with his lack of effectiveness in the recent election. As vile as Bill Hobbs can be at times, he did his job and that is he has secured an already conservative state legislature more power to make potential changes that I’m probably not going to be a happy camper about.
I wrote an open letter on Sept. 11 here giving Sasser sage advice. Alas, he never calls, he never writes. Let me say this, I received dozens of emails after that post from strong, faithful democrats who were feeling just as disenfranchised by Sasser as some of the folks here in Hoots.
So let me say this once again because I’m ready to get back to my zombie story for NaNoWriMo. Tennessee, obviously, was not an Obama state when it came to voting nor was it blue.
Hobbs takes the hits for the TNGOP. As some of us watch from the sidelines with our head in our hands, he does it by keeping it out there. He keeps a message in the public eye at all times, no matter how wrong it may be. If you are calling Barack Obama by his middle name, Hobbs is partly responsible for that. I do not agree with him in the least, but on the other hand, the General Assembly is red right now and he helped get it that way. Hobbs’ ego is legendary. The difference between Hobbs and Sasser, however, is that Hobbs was on task this election and Sasser was not.
And we told him. Members of the blogosphere told him. In the non-virtual world, phone calls from people I know were sent to his office asking for help in the election and were ignored because we weren’t glamorous or hip enough (my observation at least). Sasser effectively blew us off. Repeatedly.
Was Sasser drinking cinnamon lattes looking toward his beloved Washington, where he obviously wants to be, thinking “Dang, if I can just get through this election then I can hang out with Obama and Rahm Emanuel in DC?”
As I have been critical of Sasser before, allow me a moment to be critical again. Gray, if you get outplayed by Hobbs and company, that’s pathetic. The nation voted in Barack Obama.
You did nothing to help that and it showed in the final tally for the state.
Aunt B. isn’t letting the Governor out of this either. Of course we will be saying Gov. Ron Ramsey in about two years but Bredesen’s ego will send him on another task to take on the world as a republican dressed in democrat’s Armani suit. I digress.
I want to head back to Sasser. 40,000 people at the Soybean Festival and no TNDP presence. I go back to a conversation that I had with a couple of politicians who pontificated that the TNDP just didn’t see value regarding our location in the state.
Seventy percent of this county voted. 66 percent voted here in this county for McCain, however the local branch of the College Democrats took to the streets Tuesday night. You could have helped them but they did it on their own. Remember, one reason why Obama won is his campaign reached out to those voters who in the past were unreachable.
And you were advised to do that as well but apparently you were running the TNDP like it was still 1988.
I’m ranting so I’ll stop but I’m thinking right now, Mr. Sasser, that your party gave you a shot. Give the job to someone with passion for the party and not an opportunist like yourself.
I’ve always been told it’s better to be a kingmaker than a king. I’m thinking Sasser wants to be a king and that just doesn’t jive in his line of work. On another note, I’m betting Sasser doesn’t want to meet Jimmy Naifeh in a dark alley anytime soon because I have a feeling an asswhupping is going to take place.
