WELL, I’M HOME: No photo-traffic-blogging today, as the Interstate was wreck-free. It’s not bad going to Nashville and back in one day, but it winds up being 6-8 hours of driving for a two hour meeting even when there are no holdups.

We’re nearly done with our revised (Tennessee) constitutional language, so there was more pre- and post-meeting banter than usual; I heard some choice Tennessee political gossip that I guess I won’t repeat — people ought to be able to talk without worrying that their words will be blogged. But I think it’s gone well, and I’ve appreciated the way the politicians and lawyers have managed to work together on this. Plus, people were trading stories on Tennessee history and politics that I found interesting: Ned Ray McWherter was talking about how when he became Speaker of the House he went back and read the old journals and found all sorts of hardball politics that wouldn’t pass muster today: My favorite was a story about tying up the ferry across the Tennessee River to keep the West Tennessee delegation from getting to the Capitol in time. Standards have changed, which is a good thing except for colorful stories. I can’t compare to other states from personal experience, but Tennessee politicos seem to have a strong sense of the state’s identity and history — is it that way all over?

It was also interesting to me the way the political people looked at constitutional language differently than the lawyers like me do: They’re not exactly more cynical, but they have a different take on things, and how officeholders are likely to interact. It’s a good experience for an academic to spend time in their company.

UPDATE: Here’s an AP report on the meeting.