Why I Can't Vote For Weston Wamp - And Response (2)

  • Friday, July 11, 2014

The problem I have with Weston Wamp is the lack of work ethic and no job history other than the face of Lamp Post.  It is very hard for someone like myself who grew up in the heart of East Chattanooga off of Dodds Avenue and on Willow Street to vote for someone who has the appearance of never having to work one day in his life.   

The majority of us Chattanoogans fight every day, struggling to provide, while maintaining a desire to succeed in life.  At a very early age my father taught me work ethic by having two jobs one being a janitor after his full time job at a small private school in order to provide a better education for my sisters and I.  My father was one of the air traffic controllers that was let go in the 1980's for going on strike.  My father never gave up, abandoned us, or quit, he just worked.  I figured out very early nothing would be given to me and that I would have to earn whatever I received.    

At 14 years old I started my job history by cutting down trees and mowing grass.  I continued working fast food, bagging groceries, and worked  for a department store stocking shelves all before the age of 19.    I would not accept that I was doing the best I could but only the fact that my life was going to be better so that combined with the desire to serve my country I joined one of the most challenging branches of the armed forces the U.S. Marine Corps on active duty status.  While in the Marine Corps on active duty, I worked bussing tables at a local Mexican restaurant and delivering pizzas after my normal shifts which were often 12 hours long.  

Upon leaving active duty in the  Marine Corps I stayed enlisted with the Marine Reserves while working part time as a reserve police officer for Chattanooga.   I also mowed grass for a yard service company on my down time and worked as a loss prevention manager at a local department store. I was working four jobs while paying for my own car, housing, and taxes.  I received no government assistance and my parents gave me nothing.  

I was offered a full time job as a police officer in 1996 and I have since faithfully served our community with the exception of a two year leave of absence. During this leave of absence  in 2008 I volunteered to work on a contract with the federal government overseas.  In 2009 I came back to the United States and had a desire to run my own business as an affiliate broker-realtor with one of the top companies in the Southeast during one of the worse times for real estate. 

Together my beautiful wife(a licensed realtor and certified personal accountant) and I have managed to work our way into the top 20 percent of residential sales in this area for the past few years. Due to a manpower shortage I was asked by the former chief to come back to the police department and serve our community which I was happy to accept.   

This could only be accomplished through hard work taught to me by my family and gained through life experiences of hard work.  I have never not worked at least two jobs with the exception of being overseas for one year.   I am very proud of our accomplishments and I am thankful that God has blessed our business while working our other full time jobs. My story is not to brag on myself but just to say I along with many of us blue collar, underpriviliged Americans understand how hard life can be and what a struggle day to day life is.  We do not need another overprivileged member of Congress who does not understand hard work,  who "We the People" really are and how hard we really work.    

I personally do not believe Congress should be a place to mature and gain life experiences.  You should already have it before getting there.  Weston in my opinion still has a lot to learn about life and has not earned my vote. I watch Weston in public at local events and it takes only a few moments to answer his formatted questions they were his father's same questions.  Regardless of whether you agree with me or not, just go vote.  If you do not vote then do not complain. 

Daniel Anderson 

Chattanooga 

* * *  

Daniel, I would first like to commend you for both your service and by concluding your opinion with words that cannot be overstated: “Regardless of whether you agree with me or not, just go vote.”  

You write that Weston lacks work ethic and has no job history outside of Lamp Post. If these statements are true I’m curious as to how you’ve drawn your conclusions. I’ve worked within Lamp Post, alongside Weston, for three years now as a company founder. Unless I’m mistaken (and I could be) you have not been involved with the organization and have not witnessed what I have seen first-hand.  

I fondly recall long days and nights working for my company while Weston served tirelessly alongside me as Lamp Post partner and communications director while simultaneously running Wamp Strategy and a Congressional campaign. Sir, I can assure you that Weston possesses the work ethic required to serve our district well.  

Lamp Post aside, look to his actions while running for office. Two years ago he spent the entire, sweltering summer knocking on thousands of doors across Hamilton County. Today he’s living out of an RV to reach more people across greater distances. Please ask yourself, do your perceptions match the reality?  

To address another point, while I might agree on face-value that Congress should not be a place to mature and gain life experiences, let’s take a step back and be honest with ourselves. The 113th United States Congress is one of the oldest, most experienced bodies of government our nation has ever seen and yet their approval rating is abysmal… they are now considered the least effective Congress in history. Why do we continue to so heavily correlate age with ability when serving our country? 

Mr. Anderson, Weston Wamp is a young man who still has a lot to learn about life as we all do. It’s a shame that this keeps him from earning your vote, sometimes the underdog has the biggest fight.  

I believe it’s time for change and that's why I’m voting for Weston Wamp on Aug. 7.   

Travis Truett
CEO - Ambition Inc. 
Chattanooga 

* * *  

I have no doubt that Weston Wamp is a fine young man with a solid education, a loving family, and a strong work ethic – but please, don’t insult the citizens of Tennessee by assuming that Wamp’s campaign activities are comparable to the daily struggle most of us endure to provide for our families during this time of economic strife. Exactly how can 27-year-old Weston Wamp understand how it feels to not be able to fill up his car with gas because he has only $21.50 in the bank and doesn’t get paid until next Friday? Do you think he has had to choose between paying the electric bill or his car insurance? Has he ever had to worry about showing up for new school year with shoes too small or clothes that are ill fitting because there is absolutely no money for new things? Has he ever been unable to visit a dentist or doctor because he has no health insurance or money to pay for medical services?  

Exactly how is he given the opportunity to spend a summer knocking on doors and living in an RV without having to report to work to earn money to pay the bills? That sounds like a vacation to most of us, something else Mr. Wamp has yet to do without.  

Mr. Truett’s argument for young Mr. Wamp does precious little to convince me that I should trust such a person to make decisions about political issues involving race, poverty, and equity.  Is he, like most of young America, saddled with educational loans for a degree that earned him an entry-level management job at Wal-Mart? His “job” is the communications director of a newly-formed business? Now, did Weston Wamp have to take his belt up a notch to get that business on the ground? Did he have to work a second job in order to achieve success?  

We all know the answers to these questions. Actually, Mr. Truett simply underscores all we need to know about Weston Wamp: he is a child of privilege, and his entire life reflects privilege and entitlement. How else could Wamp be arrogant enough to believe that he could possibly effect change in Congress? Young Mr. Wamp has a political agenda.  And no, Mr. Truett. Weston Wamp has little in common with anyone I know, and I hope that other voters can see beyond the meaningless rhetoric and political propaganda.  

If Wamp wants my vote, he needs to pay his own bills for at least a a year or two and live without daddy’s money. Then, we’ll see how far he can actually go in that RV. 

Elisabeth Zachary
Chattanooga

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