Live from Music Row Thursday morning on The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy – broadcast on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. – host Leahy welcomed all-star panelist Clint Brewer in-studio to dissect further The Wall Street Journal’s depiction of Tennessee’s legislature as ‘grubby.’
Leahy: In studio, our good friend, all-star panelist, recovering journalist, public affairs specialist Clint Brewer. We are dissecting The Wall Street Journal editorial board. Let me finish this brief, but I think an ill-informed, article that they wrote last night in the op-ed pages.
The editorial board, by the way, I’m going to invite the members of the editorial board to come on this show because they’ve made so many mistakes in this. But let me just finish it off. Last three paragraphs of the brief article, and I quote, “a lawsuit from voters in Ms. Ortagus’s camp is likely.”
And here’s where the plot thickens: “The U.S. Constitution says a member of the House must be 25 years old, a U.S. citizen for seven years, and an inhabitant of the state he [or she] represents.” That’s it.
No, actually, it’s interesting. They say she didn’t. They didn’t say he; I said he or she, but they said she. And they got their pronouns right at The Wall Street Journal.
Brewer: What do you want to bet the Constitution actually says “he.” (Leahy laughs)Â
Leahy: We’re just going down the list.
Brewer: It was written a long time ago.
Leahy: The editorial board of The Wall Street Journal, guys, you got to wake up and pay attention because you’re missing a lot here. We will be happy to enlighten you if you come on the program. Okay, they’re continuing with their misinformed argument. (Continues to read from article)
“States once tried to place term limits on their congressional delegations, but the Supreme Court said no in a 1995 case, U.S. Term Limits v. Thornton, ‘Allowing individual states to craft their own qualifications for Congress, the majority held would erode the structure envisioned by the framers.’
“Tennessee might reply that Thornton was a 5-4 decision and the court has changed nothing in the Constitution, Justice Clarence Thomas wrote in dissent, deprives the people of each state of the power to prescribe eligibility requirements for the candidates who seek to represent them in Congress. The Constitution is simply silent on this question.
“If a petition comes along, would Justice Thomas pitch his colleagues on ditching Thornton? It is a fascinating legal question. But what’s happening in Tennessee, here’s the key point. What’s happening in Tennessee this week isn’t a scholarly case for restoring state election powers. It’s a grubby example of insiders deciding they want to keep political offices in the club.”
That’s their conclusion. Clint Brewer, your thoughts?
Brewer: My thoughts have several layers to them, so let me break them out. First of all, I said this in the last segment. I want to state as a resident of the 5th district as a voter there, I would love the opportunity in some form or fashion to have the opportunity to consider voting for Morgan Ortagus if nothing more than for her qualifications.
I think she’s immensely qualified. I like the idea of her in public service in the state. But if the listener can imagine, let’s set that aside. Let’s set her aside.
The Wall Street Journal has a long history of supporting typical conservative concepts, including states’ rights. We have a representative form of government.
If we have passed this law with that much of a margin in the state legislature, then I think the people of Tennessee, in fact, have spoken. To call it a grubby political insider club, I think doesn’t really recognize the track record and history of the General Assembly and of state government here, of how well run Tennessee state government is compared to many of its peers, including the state of New York, where I believe The Wall Street Journal’s offices are located.
I think that you could turn this around, and what it sounds like to me is some folks from the East Coast reacting viscerally to the fact that one of their own isn’t allowed to just come to Tennessee and take a congressional seat.
Leahy: Yes. I will point out that Morgan Ortagus, before she moved to Washington, D.C., lived on, I think, the upper east side of Manhattan for about four or five years.
Brewer: There’s an old saying in politics from someone from the opposition party. If you’re explaining, you’re losing. And so if you’re having to continue to explain why you should be allowed to run, it’s probably not the best premise to start a campaign.
I think the person, and you’re going to disagree with me, Mike, that I feel the sorriest for in all this is Morgan Ortagus, because I think she’s probably well-intentioned. She doesn’t know the minutiae of interstates in Nashville.
Leahy: I can’t let that pass.
Brewer: Okay. She doesn’t know the specifics of interstates in Nashville.
Leahy: She doesn’t know anything about the names of the interstates in Nashville.
Brewer: She’d be a really good public servant. And I just wish that this had unfolded differently. I think she’s going to face challenges at the state party, at the executive committee level. I think that there’s been a report out that there’s already some kind of PAC that spun up.
Leahy: Put together by a former Bain Capital guy and Romney guy. Out of Beverly, Massachusetts, East Coast. Insiders.
Brewer: Legal representation to fight to get her on the ballot …
Leahy: Asterisk. We’ll come back to that.
Brewer: This is a Wall Street Journal editorial, a Super PAC or not a Super PAC, but a PAC for legal defense.
Leahy: They’re basically telling all the rubes in Tennessee, do it our way, not your way.
Brewer: I’m not sure this is how you win voters, though.
Leahy: No, it’s not at all.
Brewer: And let’s be clear, too, you can’t buy The Wall Street Journal in Walmart. (Leahy laughs)
Leahy: I had to pay for a subscription to read that entire piece.
Brewer: I’m not sure for the fine folks, the 5th Congressional District, as they go about their day, how much impact the lofty opinion of The Wall Street Journal is going to have in places like Tennessee.
Leahy: Well, they’ve smeared the voters of Tennessee, by the way they’ve described this, and let me just be very clear. We’re going to try to get the editorial board, a member, on this show and I’m going to hold their feet to the fire.
This statement is a smear of Tennessee and Tennesseans. It’s a grubby example. Grubby. They call the Tennessee general assembly “grubby.” The Tennessee General Assembly stopped having a state income tax.
That Tennessee General Assembly. Which is one of the great reasons why we’re doing so well here in Tennessee. It’s a grubby example of insiders deciding they want to keep political offices in the club. No, it’s not. They have no idea what’s going on here.
Brewer: Right. There are like, 18 people running. I can assure you they’re not all in ‘the club.’
Listen to the full interview here:
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Tune in weekdays from 5:00 – 8:00 a.m. to The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy on Talk Radio 98.3 FM WLAC 1510. Listen online at iHeart Radio.
