Posted by Why would Sen. Rodger Smitherman (D – Birmingham) reverse himself to help elect Hinton Mitchem as Senate President pro tem with a slim 18-17 majority? Well… one reason is that the Democrats agreed that Smitherman will be President pro tem in two years.
FWIW, one public official recently emphasized to me how very much Republicans dislike Smitherman and how difficult it was for them that the liberal Smitherman was going to be one to ensure their coalition’s majority. His change-of-mind that was a key to the coalition’s defeat yesterday plus now the notion that he will be President pro tem in two years will will not endear him further to his Republican colleagues.
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Look for Councilwoman Carol Smitherman to receive unprecedented financial backing in her upcoming bid for mayor of B’ham. Smitherman’s actions in the Alabama Senate chamber yesterday weren’t as much for his unlikely assumption of the pro tem’s post in two years, as it was to garner the support from some “big gun” lobbyists to bankroll his wife’s mayoral campaign.
Sally
So Now We Know…
So now we know exactly why Smitherman left the coalition yesterday, he is going to be awarded the job of Senate Pro Tem in 2009.
Mitchem said he intends to be pro-tem for just two years. He said he plans to step down Jan. 1, 2009, and recommend that S…
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Interesting, Sally, interesting… You may be on to something… Your comment calls to my mind something in Hank Sanders’ column a few weeks back that I initially overlooked but a friend pointed it out to me. Sanders wrote of his frustrations that Smitherman would “jump to the other side” and asserted that Sen. Smitherman’s “decision will certainly affect [Carole Smitherman's] aspirations” to be mayor of Birmingham.
She was on hand to watch the organizational session, btw.
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