Fleischmann Is The One Clear Choice - And Response

I tuned in to the debate between Chuck Fleischmann and Dr. Mary Headrick last Monday on WTCI.  Before I cast my vote Nov. 4, I wanted to see for myself what others have found in Dr. Headrick's candidacy other than her party affiliation.

To be clear, I'm certainly not a dedicated Fleischmann supporter and have had more than my share of issues with him. I am also a former Democrat. So, I was ready to be open-minded and give Dr. Headrick a fair chance to win my vote over her opponent.  Even more, to be absolutely fair in my final decision,  I watched the entire debate a second time online. 

Now, I'm sure Dr. Headrick's heart is in the right place, but dredging up her past teaching and Oak Ridge experience from the 70's-80's just didn't do it for me. While that exposure is somewhat helpful, in today's rapidly-changing world that was like comparing a Model T to a Tesla.

Regarding her views on education, I was waiting for her to mention that the U.S. Department of Education budget has increased from $14 billion when it was founded to $69 billion now while student academic test scores continue to plummet.  Today, American students score 23rd in math and 31st in science when compared to 65 top industrial countries. We have to ask:  Exactly what are we getting from the federal government in return for all that money we are sending them?  I never got a clear sense of what she intended to do to address that issue if we send her to D.C. 

Second, Dr. Headrick told us that she is 65-years old and during the debate promised to serve only one four-year term if elected to office. Now, I am no spring chicken myself, far from it.  However, being from D.C., myself, with federal government experience behind me, I know that any Congressional candidate who believes they can singularly accomplish anything in four years in D.C., politics signals how naive they are about U.S. government.  If she lives up to her word, she would not run again and thus would not gain any creds or seniority on any committees she serves on.  And that helps Tennessee how, again?  Bottom line, Headrick would go to D.C., as an aged rookie congresswoman whose presence over four years would achieve nothing more than providing another warm body to vote the Democratic Party line.  

Third, her credentials as a physician would do her and Tennessee about as much good as they have the other 20 physicians currently serving in the House and Senate, which is "zilch."  In fact, the number of physicians currently serving in Congress overly-represents the number of practicing physicians across the entire U.S. and territories. There are also 102 educators, two physicists, one microbiologist, six engineers, 11 accountants, and five software company executives, so there is really nothing Mary Headrick can bring experience-wise to the mix that we have not already had representing us in Congress. Regardless of that existing collective education, experience and intelligence available to us, we're still stuck with the failures and the rising premiums created by the Democratic Party-owned  "Un-Affordable Care Act" (aka ObamaCare), and the billions in taxpayer losses resulting from the green energy agenda, Cash for Clunkers, and the GM buyout, among others.  

At the conclusion of the debate (again, I watched it twice), I was disillusioned with Headrick.  She made amply clear time and again that she is definitely a pro-Obama-policy Democrat and leans very far to the left on most critical issues confronting the nation. I concluded that I would simply be voting for a continuation of failed liberal policies, and I think many of us have had quite enough of that already.  (Westin Wamp supporters who are being pressured to vote Headrick should be cognizant of that fact.) 

While I'm still not a converted Fleischmann supporter, I have to grudgingly admit that he already has four-years of D.C., politics under his belt to give him an edge in representing Tennessee with some authority. To my surprise, he was on-game in the debate and intelligently addressed the critical issues affecting Tennessee and the country that were important to me. He also seemed more prepared to confront the realities of what has happened to this nation since 2009, and he appeared ready to work hard to turn this sinking ship around.  

All tolled, between the two options, there is one clear choice for me:  Chuck Fleischmann.

Mya Lane

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