Election 2010: Tennessee Democrats Work For All Of Us
October 4, 2010 No CommentsBy Chip Forrester, chairman of the Tennessee Democratic Party
Tennessee Democrats are working overtime to ensure communities attract good-paying jobs, bolster their schools and provide the services needed to enhance quality of life. That is why this election year is so critical to the state. Tennesseans deserve elected officials who are dedicated to serving their communities with integrity, honesty and devotion.
Democrats are working overtime to get this economy going again. Failed policies of a previous White House sent our nation’s economy into a ditch. Our nation enjoyed unprecedented budget surpluses and job growth under President Bill Clinton and Vice President Al Gore. But lax regulations and a cavalier attitude on Wall Street took its toll. This White House and this Congress, though, acted swiftly and with focused resolve to stop the job losses and jumpstart our economy again.
In January 2009 when President Obama took office, our nation’s economy was losing on average 750,000 jobs a month. Now we are seeing encouraging signs of a recovery with eight straight months of job growth. I know that is little solace to people looking for work, but let’s give credit where credit is due and realize it is going to take some more time to get us out of this mess. I get frustrated when I hear some of our friends on the Right throw aspersions about why our economy lost steam. They feign forgetfulness and seem to want to go back to the very same policies that got us into trouble in the first place.
Tennessee Democrats in the state Legislature and Gov. Phil Bredesen, meanwhile, have done an admirable job in a challenging economic environment. Through their fiscal discipline, they made sure our state remained on sound financial footing, with a debt load ranking the lowest of any state in the nation. They also ensured our state continued its commitment to providing our children with the best educational opportunities possible. Through that commitment to education, the state recently received $500 million in federal Race to the Top funding to complete a comprehensive reform of K-12 schools.
Tennessee Republicans, on the other hand, have been more focused on wedge issues meant to divide us, not unite us. Silly do-nothing resolutions affirming states rights and questioning whether President Obama is a U.S. citizen dominated this last session of Congress and the state’s General Assembly. That’s why Democrats are focused on maintaining our majorities in Congress and regaining our majorities in the state Legislature. Keeping a Democrat in the seats of retiring U.S. Reps. John Tanner and Bart Gordon is a priority for us, as is keeping a Democrat in the governor’s office and picking up seats in the state Senate and state House.
Democrats have great candidates running for those elected offices. Each of them is committed to bringing more jobs to this state, providing top-notch educations for our children and ensuring our communities have the resources and tools they need to thrive. I’m not sure some of the Republicans running for elected office have that commitment. For example, state Sen. Rom Ramsey, our state’s Republican lieutenant governor, recently made a disparaging remark about college professors during an interview with a Knoxville News Sentinel reporter. He told the reporter that many in the academic world “step off campus and they’re lost. They like to get up in the morning, comb their beard, put on their wire-rimmed glasses, throw their little tweed vest on and go to school for three hours… and hate Republicans.”
How in the world do you recruit top-notch companies and industries into a community if you don’t have the workers with the necessary skills to hire or the educators we need to teach those skills? Our teachers and college professors shape and hone young minds every day. If we don’t have the commitment we need in the General Assembly or in the governor’s office to better educate and train our work force, then this entire state is lost. Fortunately we have had that commitment in Gov. Bredesen and Democratic leaders in the state Legislature and in Congress.
This nation and this state are facing some big challenges, and it behooves all of us to stop this political posturing and work together to meet those challenges. That’s why I ask anyone who reads this article to get past all the rhetoric you hear from both sides of the political aisle and ask yourself this question: “Which candidate has my best interest in mind?”
I hope you will conclude that Democratic candidates are working tirelessly to make sure all of us have a better future. Anyone wanting to help Democrats maintain a majority in Congress and to regain control of the state Legislature can go to the Tennessee Democratic Party’s website at www.tndp.org or call 615-327-9779 to volunteer your time and services. Thanks for giving me the opportunity to make the case that Tennessee Democrats are working to keep this state great and be sure to vote on November 2.
The Vanderbilt Political Review is hosting the Election 2010 Series as a service to the Vanderbilt Community. Neither The Vanderbilt Political Review, Vanderbilt Student Communications, nor Vanderbilt University necessarily endorse or support the content of these articles.
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