Greg Vital deserves the benefit of the doubt on the college issue.  His campaign website is correct as was the recent Cleveland newspaper interview.  

Southeast Tennessee is fortunate that a man who has created jobs for 800 current employees and owns 15 assisted-living centers would make himself available as a citizen legislator.  Nashville needs more of that type of experience.   

Bill Gates never graduated from college.  What Mr. Vital has achieved in the business world over the last 25 years trumps a few credit hours and "graduated" versus "attended" 34 years ago which quite conceivably may have been an honest mistake by a well meaning assistant and not by the candidate himself.

       

Kurt J. Faires

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I have always had tremendous respect for Greg Vital as successful business leader and for all he has done for the Tennessee Valley.  Over the years, he has been very generous at giving back to the community that has helped to make him and his company successful. He not only gives back monetarily,  he also dedicates a great deal of his time to many great causes.

After an obvious smear attempt,  to learn this man has accomplished all he has done without a college degree, it only proves to me he is a “natural born leader.”  A college degree does not make a man and Greg Vital is proof of that. 

Building a successful business and creating hundreds of jobs for Tennessee is no easy feat and Greg has a “proven” track record of success and leadership.

As person who had to struggle to obtain my education as a working adult, to see what he has accomplished without a degree is even more inspiring. I cannot wait to see what he can accomplish for Tennessee and District 10.

Greg Vital is a true leader and even though I not a Republican, I am proud to cast my vote for Greg Vital for State Senate.

He is the clear choice for me and I would encourage everyone in District 10 to make this man our next state senator.

Run, Greg, run.

Dwayne Smith
Missionary Ridge

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In recent years, our community has been fortunate to have candidates for State Senate of the highest caliber: Public servants who have offered themselves because they are compelled to make a positive difference, not because they need a job or want notoriety. Only by sending the very best and brightest to Nashville can we expect Nashville to appropriately serve our interests here at home. 

We have an opportunity to continue that tradition of excellence by electing Greg Vital as our next state senator. 

Greg possesses an unmatched record of community involvement, volunteerism, compassion toward others, determined work ethic and natural business and ethical instincts and judgment.   

Greg has spent his entire career improving communities and creating hundreds of jobs and economic opportunity for our citizens. The very essence of Greg's professional background, which is centered upon providing compassionate, quality and dignified care for the elderly, demonstrates Greg's unique ability to be a successful businessman while contributing and giving back to his neighbors. 

By sending Greg Vital to Nashville as our next state senator, we are assured that we will have the finest and highest quality representation. Please vote early and please vote for Greg Vital in the Republican primary. 

Michael Mallen

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In June the Cleveland Daily Banner wrote an article about the 10th District Republican Primary.  Vital is quoted as saying, “It’s irrelevant now because I’ve built a business, but actually, I did not graduate from college,” he said. “I spent four years there but in my last year of college I started working.”  If Greg Vital is a liar, he's pretty bad at it.  You don't lie to one paper, and tell another something different.  Perhaps....it wasn't a lie?

His campaign materials do not indicate he graduated, neither do his comments at countless public appearances during the course of the campaign.  Greg has been forthright and open about the fact that he did not graduate.  In a public forum earlier this week in Cleveland, he volunteered the information on his own accord while answering a question about an unrelated education issue.  His track record of honesty on this issue is proven.  It's sad that the media would try to paint one slip of the tongue as an indication of this man's character and ability to lead.  It seems to me the paper should have checked their facts a little more carefully, than to simply take Greg's apparent slip-up as the gospel truth.

His qualifications for this office have never been about his lack of a college degree.  Instead, Greg remains the most qualified candidate because he is a proven job creator, a successful small businessman, and a lifelong conservative.

I believe the voters of the 10th district are smart enough to see this for what it is.  To question a man's integrity over an accident, when everything else he's said about his college experience has been the truth, is nothing less than pathetic.  Equally disappointing is the fact that his opponents used it as an opportunity to score a few cheap political punches.  Clearly a desperate attempt to topple the front runner in this race.

Greg Vital is the right man to represent us in the 10th Senate District.  His ability to build a successful business, and create over 800 jobs is what makes him the best man in this race.  As a committed conservative (with a long track record to prove it) he will represent our Tennessee Values well in Nashville, while working tirelessly with Gov. Haslam to keep our state moving down the right track.

Adam Lewis
Cleveland

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I read with interest Wednesday’s Chattanooga Times-Free Press article, “Vital’s Credibility Questioned After Slip on College Education”. Once again we have a public figure characterizing a lie as a misstatement, torturing logic and language and performing ethical gymnastics to advance his political endeavors. Mr. Vital apologized Wednesday for “misleading” people into thinking he was a college graduate. He stated at a candidate forum that he “finished up” college in 1979, calling his remarks a “Freudian slip”. If he had attended college he might know that a Freudian slip arises from an unconscious or repressed wish or act. A person tends to know if he attended college, and none of us who have ever expressed it as finishing up.
 
Two weeks ago in its ruling in United States v. Alvarez, the U. S. Supreme Court upheld the right of California politician Xavier Alvarez to state that he did win the Medal of Honor, even though he never served in any branch of the United States military. The court ruled that the Stolen Valor Act was an unconstitutional abridgment of the freedom of speech under the First Amendment. They said that lying is protected as free speech.
 
As troubling as the lie is Mr. Vital’s attitude when questioned about his education. “I’m sorry for misleading. It’s a mistake. I made a mistake and I apologize to the folks I may have misled. I’m done with it” He further stated, “I’ve gotten dozens of emails and phone calls today from people who have been faced with the same problem, who have suffered.” Mr. Vital might be “done with” the issue and feels as though he’s “suffered” enough, but I hope the issue remains open for a while. Oh, and it’s not may have misled, it’s might have misled. I am pleased, though, to know that Mr. Vital’s company removed references to his undergraduate degree in business administration after leaving it on its website for three years.
 
The truth is absolute in all contexts. Mr. Vital and Mr. Alvarez can say whatever they want; the U. S. Supreme Court says they can. All I ask of my state senator is that when he finds himself standing at the intersection of conscience and compromise, he knows which way to turn. 
 
Tom Hughes