Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen, halfway through his second and last four year term, suffered an embarassing set back earlier this week at the hands of his own Democrat party.

The surprising loss of both houses of the State Legislature to the Republicans set up a little drama which gave Bredesen an early and unwanted Thanksgiving turkey, in the form of a vote for Minority Leader in the State House of Representatives that didn't go his way. While Speaker of the House Jimmy Naifeh is still conniving a way to turn a 50-49 Republican majority into retention of his speakership come January, Nashville's Gary Odom, a Democrat who doesn't want to march to Bredesen's tune, had his eye on another prize. Odom, the Majority Leader in the previous legislative, wanted to become the Minority Leader in the new legislative session.

Governor Bredesen, however, had other ideas.

Odom had opposed the governor's efforts to eliminate certain business tax exemptions earlier in the year, and that caused Bredesen to have "trust issues" with him. In other words, Bredesen despises Odom because he won't follow his lead.

There's little wonder why Odom doesn't want to follow the path Bredesen has laid out. As the recent election results showed conclusively, Tennessee is very much a conservative state. Odom, who has ambitions for higher offices, doesn't want to get tarred with Bredesen's "tax and spend" image. Odom also is probably not very appreciative of Bredesen's last minute decision not to campaign on behalf of Democrat State Legislative campaigns, a move that some say might have contributed to the surprising Republican victory in both houses.

When the 49 surviving Democrats caucused earlier this week to select their Minority Leader for the next legislative session, Bredesen loudly and publicly let it be known that he didn't want Odom because of these "trust issues." He set forth his own candidate, a western Tennessee pol more in line with his views.

To the governor's great surprise, the caucus elected his antagonist, Odom, as the new Minority Leader for the Democrats in the next legislative session.

The obvious independence of the minority Democrats, combined with the limited power of the Governor in the state of Tennessee (he can veto all the bills he wants, but those vetoes can be overriden by a majority vote in both houses) leaves local talk show radio host Steve Gill publicly wondering if Governor Bredesen can now officially be called a lame duck.

The local setback, combined with the phone that's not ringing with President-elect Obama on the other end, suggests that Bredesen's time may have come and gone. However, despite his urgent need for a charisma transplant, Bredesen has an excellent business reputation, is perceived by most polls as having done a good job as governor, and has millions of dollars of his own money to spend on his next political campaign.

It would be unwise to count Governor Bredesen out prematurely, but the next state wide race for which he is eligible isn't until 2012, when Bob Corker's Senate seat comes up. It will be a tempting target for a rested and restless Bredesen, who is scheduled to leave the governor's office in January, 2011.