State Net's weekly newsletter, Capitol Journal, has an amusing note about the friendship between Tennessee House Speaker Jimmy Naifeh and Isaac Hayes, the soul singer who died recently:
THE ODD COUPLE: Other than a lack of hair, casual observers may not have seen the similarities between TENNESSEE House Speaker Jimmy Naifeh and soul music legend Isaac Hayes. But Hayes, who died on August 10, was born just a few miles from Naifeh's hometown of Covington in rural Tipton County, a district Naifeh has represented for more than three decades. As the Knoxville News reports, the connection led Hayes and the powerful Naifeh to become good friends. But while Hayes was often on hand to help Naifeh host his family's annual "Coon Supper," Naifeh was never able to convince his buddy to partake of the main course — barbecued raccoon. Hayes explained his resistance by noting he didn't eat anything that's "got hands." Naifeh says he was never insulted by the rejection of his signature dish, noting that, "there are a lot of people who don't eat it - for various reasons."
The same issue of Capitol Journal has an interesting reflection by veteran reporter Lou Cannon on national and state budget-balancing woes.
Aug. 19, 2008 Update: Turns out that Jimmy Naifeh is not the only Tennessee politician with ties to Isaac Hayes. In his recent successful primary election campaign, Congressman Steve Cohen, a former state legislator and NCSL stalwart, had a campaign billboard featuring a photo of himself and Hayes with the words, "Can you dig it?".
Comments