June 6, 2007 @ 5:30 PM
Ramsey, Mumpower Pushing
Fred Thompson for President
Senate Speaker Ron Ramsey (R-Blountville) told a group of Republicans in Nashville on Tuesday (June 5, 2007), "I will do everything in my power to make sure that Fred Thompson is on the ballot in November 2008."
Ramsey reportedly wants Fred Thompson at the top of the ticket for multiple reasons, not the least being his desire to pick up additional seats in the 33-member Tennessee Senate. He mentioned "18 or 19" would be nice for Republican Senators. That number would make it more likely that a Republican will continue as Senate Speaker. The current make-up of the Tennessee Senate is 16 Republicans, 16 Democrats, and 1 Independent.
House Minority Leader Jason Mumpower (R-Bristol) also is pushing heavily for Thompson to get into the race because he wants to pick up at least four more seats so that those who are calling him "Speaker-Elect" can just call him "Speaker." The current make-up of the Tennessee House of Representatives is 53 Democrats to 46 Republicans.
Ramsey was speaking to a group of Republicans the same day U.S. Senator Barack Obama (R-Illinois) came to Nashville to raise money and bone up on Southern strategy for his 2008 White House bid.
As for The Ramsey Plan to take solid control of the Senate, he noted that it was Senate Democrats who passed the cigarette tax without a single Republican vote. "For some reason, Democrats think that us voting against a popular tax will somehow hurt us." Shaking his head, he said, "That's the difference between Democrats and Republicans" and then cited Governor Phil Bredesen's recent comments about tax cuts being in the DNA of Republicans.
Interestingly, observers are noting that in Ramsey's first year as Senate Speaker he has managed to get Democrats to pass a tax during a surplus and that issue will be used in the next election. However, 14 House Republicans also lined up to vote for the 42-cent tobacco tax on Monday (June 4, 2007) and thus the issue be become very murky in the confusion of election contests.
Additionally, it is expected that Democrats will continue to attack Republicans for voting against funding significant educational spending increases.
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