When the announcement was made, I visited a number of newspaper websites around the state that carried the story and subsequent discussions. One of the more interesting discussions was on the Tennessean website. There, the comments ran the gamut from very positive to extremely negative; from funny to nasty; from intelligent to dense. While most of the comments were rooted in partisan politics - both Republican and Democrat - one stuck out. Someone posted a comment about several Republicans in the state senate being glad to see Williams leave the party and made the following observation: what else can they say? Trying to put a positive spin on the situation is the only option they have left. The calls from Republican leadership for Williams to resign are not an option - they're downright ridiculous. Granted, Williams was elected as a Republican but he was elected to represent the people of the 4th state senate district. He was not elected to represent the Republican Party in the state senate. Leaving or switching a political party is not a violation of the law and Williams is hardly the first elected official to do so. Jim Jeffords and the late Strom Thurmond are prime examples of sitting members of the U.S. Senate to do so.
The trend by some in recent days has been to paint Williams as a political maverick, someone that was a RINO (Republican in Name Only) with no party loyalty. He has been blasted for his willingness to make a bipartisan effort on different issues and to work with Gov. Bredesen. People that make such assertions only strengthen his argument that people, not party, should come first. I'll also add this: if you believed that Mike Williams was a good or bad state senator two weeks ago, his decision to leave the Republican Party shouldn't impact your view.
I haven't spoken with Williams since his exit from the GOP and I have no idea what his plans are for the future. As to if there was any other reason for him leaving the Republican Party, I also have no knowledge of that. All I know is found in the statement he released concerning his decision to become an independent. What I do know is this: in the grand scheme of things, this decision could be a microcosm of something happening in the Republican Party.
At the national level, many in the GOP leadership are moving away from the right-wing conservative base toward the middle. Presidential hopefuls like Sen. John McCain and former NYC Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, along with anti-war Republicans like Sen. Chuck Hagel, signal an upcoming battle for the ideological soul of the Republican Party. The state party - like the state Republican organizations throughout the South - remains in the hands of diehard conservatives. If the current trend continues, the GOP could be headed for a split and it wouldn't be the first time. In 1964, conservatives dominated the party convention and booed New York Governor (and moderate candidate) Nelson Rockefeller off the stage in San Francisco. The conservative choice Barry Goldwater was trounced by Lyndon Johnson in the general election. While a unified party likely would not have defeated LBJ (for reasons that I don't have time and space to express an opinion), it would have retained more seats in Congress and wouldn't have spent the following 20 years in the minority in both houses.
The Republican Party is at a crossroads. Mike Williams reflects the conflict within the GOP. Like Lamar Alexander, he isn't a conservative or at least he's not as conservative as many of the rank and file. Again, like Alexander, he's also had a history of being popular with the voters. Should Williams seek reelection it will be interesting to see if he runs as a Republican and how the state party will respond to him.
It will be even more interesting to see how the voters respond to him.
Richard Evans is Editor of the Claiborne Progress. He can be reached via e-mail at revans@claiborneprogress.net.
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