Dr. Mary Headrick announced her endorsement of Senator Bernie Sanders in the Democratic presidential primary.
Dr. Headrick said, "I proudly voted for Bernie Sanders in the Democratic Primary last week. His life has been dedicated to the values I hold dear: our economy, our democracy, and the future of our children and all of us.
"Bernie's 'democratic socialism' doesn't scare me. I'm a fierce individualist. To me, Bernie means vote, democratically, to have some social government programs, such as Social Security, federal interstate highways, Medicare, block grant and other social programs for free public education.
"We keep our private property, our individual liberty, rights, and guns. We don't 'drown our government in the bathtub' and send our taxes to privatization with reckless de-regulation and toll roads everywhere. We share....as much as we, not just the billionaires, democratically decide to share, but we can do this only if we have fair elections and law-making. Bernie supports the policies that will move us to a better democratic future."
When asked if this was a Hillary attack, Dr. Headrick said, "No, I think both Bernie and Hillary are fine candidates. I didn't vote against Hillary. I voted for Bernie." When asked to elaborate, she went on to say, "Senator Sanders has a vision for the future that we can believe in: first, a fair, honest and moral economy with opportunity for middle, low or high income earners; second, a democracy where one person gets one vote and that vote counts the same whether the voter is rich, poor, black or white, and third, a future for us all, rebuilding failing infrastructure and implementing a national energy policy to prevent further damage to the climate, air, and water.
"As Commander-in-chief, Senator Sanders would be wise and effective. He opposed the war in Iraq. His other votes on war and peace show that he has the strong leadership we need, and that he is not afraid to support military action when it is genuinely justified. He has unwavering support for our veterans, having chaired the Senate Veterans Committee and received the VFW Legislator of the Year Award."
Tennessee's early voting ends Tuesday, Feb. 23, and election day is March 1. Dr. Headrick concluded with, "I hope we see a large turnout."
When asked if there was anything else, Dr. Headrick laughed and said, "Lots! His depth, knowledge, and solutions warm my heart. To name just a few, by category, he supports: first, economy: raise the minimum wage above poverty wages, reduce student debt, offer free tuition at public colleges and universities, make healthcare affordable and accessible to all, restore an improved Glass-Steagall bank law and break up the 'too-big-to-fail' banks that caused our 2008 financial collapse. Second, Democracy's 'one person - one vote', reinstate the voting rights act, reform campaign finance and abuse of political action funds by abolishing 'Citizens United' and corporate political personhood, reform the criminal justice system that incarcerates or kills too many. And third, our future: fund large infrastructure transportation and utility projects for our future (and jobs) and transform our electricity and transportation energy so we stop further man-made damage to climate.
"Also, Senator Sanders opposed past trade agreements and opposes TPP (TransPacificPartnership). TransCanada is suing you and I for $15 billion of our tax dollars, out of our pocketbooks, because the XL pipeline wasn't built. Bad trade agreements, like NAFTA, place international corporate profits above our self-rule. NAFTA sent over 650,000 of our U.S. jobs overseas. Remember Levis? Our trade agreements have given us a $531 billion U.S. international trade deficit in 2015.
"I really appreciated being able to vote Bernie Sanders."