Bob Corker
Former Senator Bob Corker is trying to make the most of his post-political life by, well, not being involved in politics. He told the Rotary Club that since leaving the Senate nine months ago, he has attempted to focus more on business and helping Chattanooga.
“I have not seen a second of cable television news since I walked out of Washington,” said the speaker. “I don’t understand why anyone watches it. I have no idea why anyone would watch cable TV. It’s not reality, and you get such a distorted view of what is happening.”
The former Republican senator voiced his displeasure at the direction both major political parties have moved in. While he gave his criticisms of the Democrat Party, he did not spare his own party from his critique.
“Just a few years ago, we cared about fiscal issues, and world issues. We were for free trade,” said Mr. Corker, “Now look at the Republican Party - we are isolationist, institutionalist, and don’t care for the things we spent so many years trying to protect.”
He then further urged Chattanoogans to focus on important local issues, rather than national ones that happen in the nation’s capital.
“In Washington, not a lot is going to happen, so why are you so absorbed in it?” asked the speaker. “They’re not going to do anything on immigration or fiscal issues. The NAFTA issue isn’t going to be resolved."
“Let’s focus on our city and our neighborhoods,” said Mr. Corker. “I wanted to immerse myself in the community, and I find myself amazed at all that’s happened here. The conversations I’ve had with people, be it from my high school or my first company, or from city hall are just different when you’re out of office.”
The former senator and Chattanooga mayor told the Rotary Club of the importance young people have in the community, and how some are living in squalor. He spoke of his friend, who rides a bus in the inner-city and has first-hand experience with the struggles these children face on a daily basis.
“She gave me an inventory of young people, who are going to school and whose first meal in three days is the breakfast they have at school,” said the speaker. “(Sometimes) their parents are in jail. We have young people in our schools who hope to have the same hopes and dreams that we have, but who are living in a completely different world than we do.”
He asked the club members to center their attention on helping better their own community, saying “Why don’t we all think about our lives, and think about the unique things we’ve been involved in, and how we can make a difference.”
Mr. Corker then shifted his attention to another demographic of younger folks, ones who have the ability to move out but don’t. He said that a goal of his during his mayorship was keeping young people in Chattanooga.
“What we learned during my time as mayor was that we needed to keep young people in the community. So we did things like Gig City, Volkswagen and Enterprise South to make the city more economically viable, and to keep our young people here,” said Mr. Corker.
The former senator did not seem to be too interested in rejoining the political sphere after his time in the nation’s capital.
“What happens when you go home is that you have book publishers who want you to consider writing a book, people who want you to do speeches, people who contact you about going on TV, and those who talk with you about being a contributor. I didn’t want to do any of those things,” said the speaker, “I did not want to be a pseudo-senator. I wanted to come back home and get involved in business again.”