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| Sen. Hinton Mitchem hands in his resignation as Senate President pro tem |
I have been interested in the vote by Tom Butler (D – Madison) for Rodger Smitherman (D – Birmingham) as state Senate President pro tem last week and in what that might mean for the dynamic in the state Senate this year.
Crash course to get newcomers up to speed: For some years now the Democrat Tom Butler has caucused with the Senate minority coalition of Republicans and a shifting cast of Democrats that at the beginning of the quadrennium almost claimed a majority that would have made dissident Democrat Jim Preuitt (Talladega) the Senate President pro tem. Instead the Democrats worked an unusual last-minute deal that brought two strays back home with the understanding that Democrat Hinton Mitchem would be President pro tem only two years and Smitherman would serve the last two years of the quadrennium. (Story here and here.)
On paper at least, the Democrats last week had a slim 17-15 majority to pull off the change in the pro tem spot this year. The surprise was Democrat Tom Butler giving the Democrats 18 votes instead of voting with the Republicans as he has for years.
What is at work here?
- For starters, the Democrats’ numerical advantage over the minority coalition was small enough that they were looking for a little cushion in case the Republicans pulled their own surprise.
- Like many Montgomery conflicts, Butler’s was more personal than political. He and Sen. Lowell Barron (D – Fyffe) have not gotten along, to put it mildly.
- Before the session, Barron and Butler had a lengthy meeting, “about two and a half hours” according to one account. They have supposedly buried the hatchet, something the Senate Democrats particularly and intentionally tried to encourage a year and a half ago in 2007.
- Butler has been heard to say since that he is absolutely not switching parties, that he is a Democrat, and if Democrats could work with him, he could work them. (You may remember that Butler was said to be unhappy about the handling of stories last year that he was switching to the Republican Party.)
Lt. Governor Jim Folsom, Jr. swears in Sen. Rodger Smitherman as Senate President pro tempore. Wife and Birmingham City Councilor Carole Smitherman looks on. - One GOP’er told the Parlor that Butler got some committee assignments in a deal with the Dems and “lost a lot of credibility in about half of the Senate’s eyes” with his vote for Smitherman as pro tem. “He told a colleague that he would continue to vote with us but no one really knows if he is dependable.”
- One observer believes that both may be true to some degree – that Butler sees himself as a Democrat, will work with the Democratic caucus, may vote with them on some procedural votes, but probably wouldn’t vote for cloture on a bill against the Republicans.
- Still, “Lowell hates Tom Butler,” insists one Montgomery veteran. “He won’t miss a chance to screw him.”
- If that’s true, Butler can console himself with some committee assignments he picked up. According to the updated Senate Committees web page, Butler has picked up some committee assignments in time for this session: Commerce, Transportation, and Utilities; Finance and Taxation, General Fund (Vice Chairperson); Health (Deputy Chairperson); and Local Legislation No.1. This is in addition to the other committees he continues to serve on.
I ask the Montgomery veteran if Barron is intent on bringing Butler back into the fold, might Barron allow the hatchet to stay buried? Maybe, maybe not. Barron and Butler may have different understandings of what burying the hatchet means, comes the reply. “Barron may think it means that Butler will do everything Barron tells him to do. Butler may think it means that he agrees with the Democrats in principle on most things but that he might not vote with them on some procedural votes like cloture.”
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Even though I disagree with him on most issues this is why I like Lowell. Lowell isnt waffling back and forth on everything under the sun. Butler on the other hand is. One day he’s on Dale Jackson’s show telling everyone in north Alabama he’s switching to the GOP and he’s going to beat Griffith like a drum come November. The next day he’s down in Montgomery trying to make nice with Lowell and voting for liberal dems. The funny thing about this is going to be when Lowell screws him over again. Some people never learn….
FYI, I edited this post to remove/correct errors mostly caused by typing in the wee hours of the morning.