No Good Deed Goes Unpunished, Jim Cooper Edition

[UPDATE]:

As of 7/7/10 all campaign signage has been removed.

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Well here’s a nice little “screw you” to Rep. Jim Cooper, courtesy of Nashville’s David Lipscomb University:



Jeff Hartline, of course, is a Republican wackadoo “Constitutional Conservative” hoping to get the Republican nomination for Jim Cooper’s seat. Judging by the large number of yard signs in the district, I’d say he’s a shoe-in for the GOP nomination, though his hopes to win the general look iffy on account of him being, well, crazy.

But so what, a humongous yard sign for Jim Cooper’s opponent, what’s the big deal, you say? Well, for one thing, it’s on property owned by the private, Church of Christ-affiliated David Lipscomb University. Yes that’s right, Parkwood Terrace Apartments is owned by DLU, according to Metro property records. There is a permanent “no vacancy” sign out front; I guess they use it for student housing.

So, you say? Well, back in 2005 Rep. Cooper secured a $3.17 million earmark in a highway funding bill for Lipscomb’s new parking garage. He took heat from conservatives like Bob Krumm, who decried the move as “pork” and from liberals like, well, me for using taxpayer money to support a construction project at a private, church-affiliated college.

Even worse, the sign is on Belmont Boulevard, right across the street from the Lipscomb campus, and pretty much directly across the street as the crow flies from said parking garage. Ouch.

So now it appears that five years later David Lipscomb University is endorsing Cooper’s “Constitutional Conservative” opponent. Who is running on a platform of Tentherism and killing Medicare and Medicaid, eliminating the Dept. of Education and other fringe ideas. One can only imagine what he thinks of the highway transportation bill that allowed David Lipscomb University to build its parking garage with taxpayer money.

Looks like Coop can’t win for losing.

Regardless of Cooper's past assistance to the university, I think it's extremely inappropriate for a university to endorse candidates of any type (and that goes for the smaller Bill Haslam sign you see pictured as well). You just can't assume all of your students, faculty, staff and alumni--or tenants--are going to share your political views. Not very smart, Lipscomb.