Party Affiliation

The 6th District has a strong affiliation with the Democratic Party. While I could declare membership therein and would have the strongest potential for success or I could declare membership in the Republican Party and be nearly assured a place on the ballot in November 2010, neither would be fair to the Citizens of the 6th District.

For too long, our politicians have been beholden to their parties. Our Next Representative must place the people of this district ahead of the likes of Senator Harry Reid, Representive Nancy Pelosi, Representative Barney Frank as well as their sponsors such as Hollywood's Sean Penn and New York's George Soros.

Our Representatives should not feel that the letter behind their name assures them of their retention of power. Representative Bart Gordon ran an ad in the 2008 campaign season claiming his support from Republicans, Democrats, & Independents. I would hope that he will demonstrate his support for Common Sense and a true Representative of the District through an endorsement of this Independent.

I run as an Independent, because both parties have some positive and some negative positions on their platform. Neither party can fully represent my positions nor the Citizens of Our District.

The Representative of Woodbury should not feel compelled to vote for CEO bailouts of big NYC banks. The Representative of McMinnville should not be forced to support Barney Frank's call to cut the Military. The Representative of Murfreesboro should not sell us the partisanship of legislation because the party presented one while the opposition presented another. The Representative of Cookeville should be afforded the opportunity to truthfully tell us that each bill has positive and negative points and find a compromise between the parties that best serves Our Veterans and Our Troops.

When the Representative of Auburntown addresses the issues, he should be free from partisanship, explaining the reasons he opposed or supported legislation.

Does that make the campaign for office more difficult? Yes, many of our citizens have come to trust a particular party. It is easy to vote simply along the lines of a party rather than research the positions and the character of the candidates.

In the purest form of Democracy, every citizen would vote on every piece of legislation. In Our Democracy, a Republic, we choose Representatives to know, to research, to read and to understand the legislation which they are making into laws. Whether we realize it or not, we are placing a tremendous amount of trust in the man (or woman) we send to Washington.

That trust has been betrayed. Our Politicians have become more interested in retention of power and hence the attainment of campaign war chests and therefore the pandering to special interests, corporations, and Washington lobbyists.

As one family member told me, we haven't had true Representatives in Washington of our Citizens in Decades. Let's change that.