Post-Script on Post On Partisanship

Instead of re-typing the two thousand words I had written, then lost when the viewer tool on the state legislature's website crashed my browser, I'll try to sum up:

Webster's defines a partisan as:

1 : a firm adherent to a party , faction, cause, or person; especially : one exhibiting blind, prejudiced, and unreasoning allegiance.

One commenter on my earlier post 'On Partisanship' interpreted my self identification as a partisan blogger as something akin to "a firm adherent to a cause," and shared that identification. Another commenter felt that my I.D. was more akin to having a 'prejudiced, unreasoning allegiance to a party.'

I would pull something different out and say that I have a prejudiced allegiance to a party that is the result of a well-reasoned strategy to advance my goals as a firm adherent to a set of causes.

I'm not usually a means-to-an-end type of guy, but this is how the world works. I happen to agree with the vote on statewwide strip club standards that my State Senator David Goodman made yesterday, even though I supported his opponent in 2006. I bring this up, because today's Dispatch describes the history of Goodman and that vote:

Passing statewide standards now instead of in 2006 also avoided concerns about the re-election of Sen. David Goodman, R-New Albany. One reason Senate leaders took statewide strip-club standards out of the bill in 2006 was Goodman's opposition, and the fear that the vote could hurt him at the ballot.

Goodman won in November. He voted against the bill yesterday, half-joking that he can already envision future ads saying he supports lap dances.

Now, what were Democrats doing on this?

Senate Democrats tried a number of procedural maneuvers to stop the bill, all of which were rejected by Republicans. Six of 11 Democrats voted for the measure, which didn't surprise Minority Leader Teresa Fedor, D-Toledo, who voted no.

"Everything can be used against you," she said. "It may not be good public policy, but politically, who can vote against it?"

With the Republican majority safely re-elected, Goodman can vote against SB 16 on the floor, but Republicans get their way. With Democrats controlling the State Senate, most would be too gutless to vote against it, but the bad bill would never come up for a vote in the first place. I don't blog in a partisan manner because I put party over person, it's because I put policy over both.