State Senator not 'intimidated' by colleagues

East Tennessee's Mike Williams is still bucking the establishment - and he has the picture to prove it

Email | Print By Ken Whitehouse

Mike Williams

When the "Willie Wire" book comes out, elected officials, lobbyists, journalists and staffers scramble to get one. Well, this year's book came out yesterday and this time, people got more than they expected.

The "Willie Wire" book is a pocket-sized reference book published every year by the Tennessee Electric Cooperative Association that has the photos and phone numbers of every member of the state house and senate, plus other important government numbers. The book, so named for a cartoon of a man made of wire on the cover, is a staple for doing business on Capitol Hill.

What has made it different this year is the photo submitted by State Sen. Mike Williams, which quickly has become the talk of the legislature.

The photo you see attached to this article is the one that appears in the book. While Williams is widely known as a die-hard fan of the late NASCAR great Dale Earnhardt, he is perhaps just as well known as being something of a maverick on the hill. Last year, he made news by bolting the Republican party and becoming an independent in the legislature.

Asked why he posed for the photo in a manner that looks strikingly similar to the racing legend, Williams said his respect for Earnhardt is more than skin deep and affects how he handles the political track.

In racing circles, Earnhardt was known as "The Intimidator" for his ability to unnerve his opponents just by their catching sight of his car in their rearview mirror. The message was "Get out of the way or get introduced to the wall." For Williams, the nickname was also about hard work and not letting the others intimidate you.

"People ask me why I am an Earnhardt fan," Williams said. "They say it was because he won seven championships or won all those races. It actually happened when I went to a race at Bristol and saw him get put into the wall. Instead of quitting, he went back behind the wall and hopped out of his car and was right in there with his pit crew trying to make the car driveable again. Even though he ended up being 70-some odd laps down, he got back out there and ran just as hard as ever."

When Williams bolted the Republican party last year, Republican State Sen. Paul Stanley said "He has given us a hunting license to go into his district and I intend to go there. He's looking for attention and has put himself on an island. I hope he likes it there."

According to Williams, that type of intimidation hasn't waned in the course of the last year. The picture is a message to his former GOP colleagues that they aren't scaring him. While he wouldn't name names, Williams said that he still is the focus of Republican leadership's ire, be it regarding elections or legislation.

He said that one of the thing that irks him the most is that colleagues who could stand up for him in those battles choose not to. Williams said, "I get Senator's coming in here asking me to support their legislation, but are afraid to talk to me in the hallways." He contributed that to his belief that his colleagues are intimidated by GOP leadership.

As the picture shows, Williams wouldn't mind having what he would consider a teammate in the senate, but he isnt afraid, or should we say "intimidated," of running alone.