[…] Roger Abramson has not yet ventured out to exercise his franchise in the Metro elections. […]

I’m afraid I won’t be much help. The more I look at candidate web sites, the fewer I like.

It depends on what you are looking for I suppose.

I think Megan Barry, Richard Exton, Brady Banks, Jerry Maynard, Peter Westerholm, and Dave Pelton are decent candidates. They seem to be the hardest working campaign wise.

Megan Barry and Exton for sure. They know the city, know the issues, and have the savvy to work the system, and they have ‘a good heart’.

Hey, I appreciate the call-out, even if it doesn’t change your vote. I’m one of those soft-on-crime liberals. I can’t get that worked up about shoplifting [I agree that it’s wrong and should be punished, just “how much” is where I would veer off the beaten path] or any other non-violent offense.

On to the topic, I had actually considered early voting for the first time ever, but I can’t get my CAL list narrowed down, so I may have to hoof it out there next Thursday. I’m a definite for Megan Barry and Ronnie Steine, and I hear good things about Banks, Exton, Maynard and Westerholm. That’s one too many. Should I just go with my top two?? Or keep working on it?

Sigh.

I’ll just add, it’s now obvious I will never get elected to even dogcatcher, given my self-description in the comment above.

Thanks for the stuff so far. Still pondering. Keep it up. Remember–this is way you can make yuour vote count double! (I think.)

Laura — It’s not the crime(s) itself; it’s everything he did and continues to do afterwards. I must confess to you that I had a very snarkily written reply to your comment that was going to be a part of this post but I thought better of it at the last minute. Instead, Ill do something else. I’ll give you a hypothetical:

Suppose Steine is elected (again) to the council. Now suppose that he is (again) busted for shoplifting (or some similar crime) while serving in that capacity. What do you think the proper response should be?

Roger, I see where you’re coming from, but I didn’t think he should have had to resign in the first place. I might have tried waiting out the media firestorm a bit longer.

The crime didn’t have anything to do with his office. I felt the same way about Clinton and Lewinsky….he made me mad for distracting the public and media from what I felt were much more important questions, but I found it hard to get too wound up over something that was essentially a personal issue.

Wow. Well, with respect, I hope your position is not the winning one.

Points for consistency, though, at least with regard to Steine, though I honestly fail to see how shoplifting and then trying to get the DA to help you out is not a public issue.

I’ll vote for Boyd simply because he has managed to piss off both the Scene and Tennessean.

[…] must say, I was extremely disappointed with the response to my plaintive cry for help with my council-at-large choices. Your apathy has forced me to do something no undecided […]

I’ve had occasion to meet and speak with several of the at large candidates. I voted today and had no trouble deciding the five candidates I could support: Barry, Banks, Exton, Pelton, and Westerholm.

Jay on 26 July, 2007 at 9:14 pm
“I’ll vote for Boyd simply because he has managed to piss off both the Scene and Tennessean.”

Thanks for the support, Jay! It wasn’t my intention to piss off both the Tennessean and the Scene.

If I may quote Harry Truman in 1956:
“I never gave them hell, I just tell the
truth and they think it’s hell.”

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William James (Jim) Boyd
www.votejimboyd.com