Posted by Sen. Rodger Smitherman has consistently been one of the more liberal senators in the state Senate. His move to join the coalition of Republicans and dissident Democrats demonstrates that our own Mr. Sparks had it exactly right: this division in the Senate Democrats is not about ideology or policy, it’s about personality and power.
This was demonstrated earlier when Democratic Senators Barron and Sanders offered to step down from their leadership positions if the Senate Democrats would unite and if Democratic Senators Preuitt and Holley “would agree not to seek leadership positions.” That’s more than policy, that’s personal. The defection of the liberal Smitherman to the coalition of Republicans and dissident Democrats could hardly make that more clear.
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[...] December 13, 2006 It’s about personality Dan on 2006-12-13 @ 10:50 am I’m between finals, and I thought I should direct readers toDoc’s Political Parlor for an interesting post about the leadership of Lowell Barron. Sen. Rodger Smitherman has consistently been one of the more liberal senators in the state Senate. His move to join the coalition of Republicans and dissident Democrats demonstrates that our own Mr. Sparks had it exactly right: this division in the Senate Democrats is not about ideology or policy, it’s about personality and power. [...]