This past Monday, I was supposed to introduce Van Hilleary at the weekly Pachyderm Club meeting in Chattanooga. Unfortunately, I was pre-occupied Sunday and Monday with the passing of several large kidney stones and spent the morning at the Out Patient Clinic.

Had I been there, I would have said the following in my introduction:

Over the course of the last 20 years of so, I have seen many a politician come and go trying to grab the “Reagan Mantle” and claim to carry on his ideas and agenda.

Having been State Co-Chair of the Reagan for President Campaign in 1976 and 1980 and elected as a state wide delegate in 1980 and 1984 I believe I am in as about a good a position as anyone to compare our three candidates for U. S. Senate this year.

The Reagan coalition was built on, in my opinion, on three basic points. The first of these three pillars of his foundation was a strong national defense. I have only seen one person stand out in this regard and it’s Van Hilleary. Van served in combat during the first Gulf War and served on the Armed Services Committee in the House. Van has always strongly supported our military.

The second pillar was the moral fiber of this country. Reagan believed in the sanctity of marriage between man and woman and the Right to Life of the unborn. I have personally known Van since 1992 and he has always believed this way.

And thirdly, Reagan understood that any freedom could only come from economic freedom. Freedom from a central government and taxing system that can strangle the entrepreneurial spirit of the individual was what Reagan preached for decades before being a candidate. A strong economy brought about by supply side economics. Van believes that President Bush’s tax cuts should be made permanent and the use of private accounts to shore up Social Security. I have not heard the other two candidates strongly address these issues and pledge (key word is pledge) to do these things.

We don’t need a Senator who’s first response to a budget crises is to raise taxes nor do we need a Senator that is a single issue candidate. Van Hilleary has the track record, the fundamental understanding and the belief of all three of these issues. This is the reason I am glad to endorse Van Hilleary as the right person to carry on the Reagan legacy from Tennessee, I know I understand it and I know I’ve earned the right to make such a judgment.

Todd Gardenhire
Signal Mountain
rtoddg48@bellsouth.net

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We are indebted to Mr. Gardenhire for his leadership within the Republican Party of Tennessee over the past many years and all his family has contributed to our community.

Ronald Reagan was truly a great president. I worked on his campaign as a collegiate Young Republican in 1980 and am proud of both of my votes for him in the Presidential races (I wasn’t old enough to vote in 1976).

However, comparing Van Hilleary to the statesman Ronald Reagan is a false start at best. Thankfully, Republicans do have a choice in this primary race. I cast my vote for a man who built a multi-million dollar business from scratch, helped create jobs for hundreds of people, expanded the economy, and then sacrificed time from his family to become mayor of Chattanooga and lead our great city to bold accomplishments. Bob Corker is a man of wisdom, action, and leadership and will be a great United States senator for Tennessee.

Bob Linehart
Signal Mountain
blinehart@comcast.net