Alexander and his shadow

The Knoxville News Sentinel includes a good profile of Tom Ingram, Senator Lamar Alexander's chief of staff and staff director of Senate Republican Conference. As Alexander's influence has risen, so has Ingram's.

Alexander said Ingram is a good manager who hires talented people, assigns them to jobs that fit and then creates an environment in which they like to work. "That leaves me free to focus on being a good governor or senator," he said.

Ingram has never tried to act like he's the one who was elected, Alexander said, but "we work side by side. I don't consider him in a subordinate role. And I think people who work with us understand that, and it makes us much more effective in what we do."