VOLuntarilyConservative

OK, so I'm not surprised. Disappointed, yes, but not surprised. OK, so I'm surprised a little that only two senators had the guts to do what was right. Because the Tennessee General Assembly site is completely useless and I'm not calling anyone at 1:15 A.M. to find out who the two were, we will have to wait until the morning to let the Tennessean inform us as to whom those two people were. Assuming that they were Republicans, that means that there are 15 senators that call themselves Republicans, are anything but conservatives, and will never receive one bit of help from me during campaign season again. In fact, let me know if you plan on running against one of these non-conservative senators in a primary, because you already have help in me.

More on this to come.

UPDATE: The Tennessean, in what is sure to be one of the most biased reports on a state program since the inception of TennCare (congrats staff writer Claudette Riley for editorializing only three words into the article!), has given us the name of the two senators that chose to fight Bredesen's Frankenstein - Mae Beavers (R - Mt. Juliet - and certainly one of my favorite members of the Tennessee Senate) and Tim Burchett (not a R - Knoxville). But even that isn't right, is it? Riley states that neither Beavers nor Burchett said a thing during debates, so it was more casting their vote than advocating their opinion or fighting the good fight. I guess the people who will play both sides of the fence in traditional political style - pointing to that "Yes" vote to show that you love the children so much that you had to legislate irresponsibly while pointing to the amendments you offered to show that you really didn't like the bill in the first place - will be people like Jamie Hagood (who is just asking me to make her a one-term senator in 2008), Rusty Crowe (which harkens back to his days of voting for the income tax while not voting for it), and Ron Ramsey (who probably blew any chance that he had at the 1st Congressional District's seat in Congress when Bill Jenkins decides to retire). I can't express my disappointment with these people. It surely is a bitter pill, not only because I have campaigned to put many of these non-conservatives into office, but because of the great disconnect between what conservative voters - who are the majority in East Tennessee and many parts of West Tennessee - want and expect and the people who represent them in Nashville. It is looking like it was Glen Dean at Nashville Truth who was right and I who was wrong - conservative politicians aren't extinct, but there aren't many left, either. I tried to quash Glen's fears, but now it is I who is afraid for the nation, the Republican party, and the Great State of Tennessee.

MORE: Adam Groves also seems peeved at Pre-K. Overall, though, the blogosphere seems content, as few have mentioned the vote and most seem more concerned about dealings in the House. Of course, I have to ask why it would be important for Naifeh and his minions to be vanquished if their GOP replacements would govern in the same "progressive" manner? GOP rule sure hasn't be conservative-friendly in the Senate. Why would the House be any different?