The Tennessee Liberal

The moves in the last two days by Republicans to get rid of their least favorite state Representative, Chris Newton, provide a picture of desperation on the part of the GOP. They are so desperate to be rid of the one thing holding them back from making Tennessee Waltz a partisan issue, they are willing to go after their own before asking important questions about ethics statewide.

First, state GOP Chair Bob Davis called on Newton to resign. The only redeeming part of this article was that the Times Free Press put a picture of the wrong Bob Davis in. As you can see from the quotes near the bottom of the story from people like Bobby Wood, this move had nothing to do with a fear that a "cloud was over" Newton's position. Like Pontius Pilate, the GOP is trying to clean their hands of Newton's sins to free themselves to fire partisan broadsides against Democrats. Observe:

Bobby Wood, Hamilton County GOP chairman, said he agrees with Davis' request. Newton was once an intern for Wood.

"I think that Republicans have always been held to a higher standard in the public eye," Wood said. "I think that he is bringing a cloud over the system and his colleagues."

Wood said he couldn'’t say whether the state Democratic party should ask for resignations from Bowers and Crutchfield.

"But this shows how seriously the Republicans do take ethics and the things we really stand for," he said. "The Democrats, it doesn't seem to bother them as much."

Unfortunately, Bobby, this just shows how hard Republicans will try to make a partisan issue out of a statewide ethics crisis. Instead of talking about ways we can clean up the ridiculous lobbying system in our state, Republicans are looking for an electoral in. Why? So they can gain the majority, the power and the perks that come along with the system. Why fix it when you are about to take advantage of it, right?

As an aside, here's one more reason to dislike GOP Chair Bob Davis:

"If in fact you are found innocent of all charges against you, as you have pled, then I am sure your exoneration will allow you the opportunity to run again and regain the trust of your constituents," Davis wrote.

The past tense of plead is pleaded, not pled!

The fun doesn't end there, though, as Lookout Mountain's own Chris Clem finds an avenue to exercise his personal vendettaagainst Rep. Newton by filing a resolution to eject him from the House.

By filing this resolution, Chris Clem is once again playing the politics of personal destruction instead of focusing on making the state less of an ethical nightmare. It's good to see, however, that even local Republicans are saying that removing Newton based on an indictment is premature.

Other Republicans said it would be premature to act solely on the indictments accusing Rep. Newton of accepting money in exchange for supporting certain legislation.

"It would set a bad precedent if we started to expel people based on indictments," Rep. Gerald McCormick, R-Chattanooga, said Thursday. "If there is considerable more evidence, I'll vote to expel, but we can't overreact."

Rep. Bo Watson, R-Hixson, said he would like to see Rep. Newton resign on his own without being forced out.

"But as far as legislative action goes, I would not vote to have him removed for something he has not been convicted for yet," Rep. Watson said Thursday.

To get the real gist of why Chris Clem hates Chris Newton so much, it helps to read his press release, lovingly reproduced with no rebuttal by the Chattanoogan. I think this paragraph sums it up well:

Rep. Clem said, "It certainly carries a lot more weight when the leadership of your own party calls for your resignation. Unfortunately, in the instant case the party affiliation
is a bit complicated. Chris Newton has been rumored for years to be
threatening to switch parties. He is a close confidant of Jimmy Naifeh. He
is one of Naifeh's chairmen. Newton has also opposed and thwarted Republican initiatives while at the same time attended Democrat leadership meetings.

So, it seems that Clem's biggest gripe against Newton is not the ethics questions, but is instead his failure to march in lockstep with the Republican party.

In the end, Republicans want Chris Newton as far out of the picture as possible, because he represents the fact that the Tennessee Waltz and ethics issues in general in Nashville cross party lines. This is a bipartisan problem that needs a bipartisan solution. Instead, Republicans want to try and make political hay out of a state crisis. While Chris Clem certainly left the farm with his resolution, the larger issue stands: While Democrats like Phil Bredesen want to make sure something like the Tennessee Waltz never happens again, Republicans can't see past their own ambitions for power.