I often tell people that I grew up in the Zach Wamp school of life, but the Tom Coburn school of politics.
Dr. Tom Coburn, who passed away in late March, was the foremost conservative Senator of his generation and I had the privilege of growing up at his feet. Dr. Coburn attacked problems in Washington like a true physician — looking beyond the symptoms to treat the root cause. Despite his unwavering conservatism, Dr. Coburn's endearing bedside manner led to a close personal friendship with President Obama.
As I've seen it, doctors make excellent citizen legislators.
One week from today Republicans in Tennessee have the opportunity to send our own generational conservative leader to the U.S. Senate, Dr. Manny Sethi.
Dr. Manny has been subjected to one of the nastiest political races in our state’s history and much has been made about past political donations and endorsements. But these relatively minor issues are distractions from the major decision we will make on Aug. 6.
We have the opportunity to put our imprint on the future of conservatism and I believe it would send a powerful message to the country if we nominate a brilliant 42-year-old trauma surgeon who is the son of two legal immigrants to be our next U.S. Senator.
History says that if you get elected to the Senate as a young person you will go on to have quite a lot of influence.
The great statesman Howard Baker, Jr. was elected to the U.S. Senate at 40-years-old and rose to majority leader. Dr. Bill Frist, also a Harvard-trained surgeon like Manny, was elected at 42-years-old and rose to majority leader. The current Majority Leader Mitch McConnell was also elected at 42. Former Senator Bill Brock of Chattanooga was elected to the Senate at 39, before going on to serve in President Reagan’s Cabinet.
As our country enters into an unprecedented experiment in deficit spending that will take the national debt from $26 trillion to nearly $50 trillion in a decade, we cannot address that generational challenge without lowering healthcare costs. Frankly, the greatest policy failure of the Republican Party in the last decade is its inability to put forth a coherent alternative to Obamacare.
As the author of books and countless papers on healthcare policy, Dr. Manny would be the most credible healthcare expert in the “world’s greatest deliberative body” on his first day in office.
Lastly, it is likely that whoever we nominate next week will go on to serve for at least 12 years in the U.S. Senate, making this primary one with long-term impact for our state and our country.
I can think of no better person for my three young children to grow up admiring as their U.S. Senator than Dr. Manny Sethi, who grew up right down the road in Coffee County. If we give them the opportunity, I have no doubt that Dr. Manny and his wife Maya will serve our state with class and dignity.
Weston Wamp
* * *
One week from today Republicans in Tennessee have the opportunity to send a true conservative and outsider to the U.S. Senate. His name is Dr. Manny Sethi.
He has been the object of baseless accusations that really require serious mental gymnastics to understand. I hope most people know that ActBlue is a payment processing company, not a PAC, and while Ambassador Hagerty is a man of God, a family man and a nice guy, he wouldn’t make a good senator. This isn’t because his politics are off, it’s that his priorities are. He’s been involved in politics for 30 years or more, and many people I know won’t vote for him because of that. How can we be sure that he will represent our interests, not DC’s? The answer: We can’t.
Dr. Sethi is an outsider, conservative and first generation American who will genuinely represent our values and beliefs. So before you go out and vote, I encourage you to look at both candidates, the records, the contributions, the relationships and most importantly, the policy. Mr. Hagerty is “endorsed by Trump”, and beyond that, he hasn’t presented a single policy point to us. Just attack ads, attack ads, attack ads.
Dr. Manny has been clear since announcement day - he'll stand by our conservative values. So Please vote for Dr. Manny Sethi on Aug. 6 to send a real conservative to the U.S. Senate.
William E. Reynolds