"ElectBlue is right: Republicans are kidding themselves if they think Senator
Alexander’s seat is safe. Not as long as I am in the race.
You see, I bring a couple of key advantages to the table.
For one, I, unlike my Democratic opponents, was elected 7 times in overwhelmingly Republican Knox County. Couldn’t have done it without Republican votes. And I was a big factor in delivering Knox County for Governor Phil Bredesen both times he was elected – a Tennessee first.
So, I know how to win Democratic and Republican votes in East Tennessee, something no other Democrat in this race can offer. And it would be tough to defeat Senator Alexander without it.
Secondly, I am the only candidate in the Democratic Primary who has experience as a public servant. As Knox County clerk for two decades, I have a record as an innovative problem-solver, a public servant who listened to the practical problems of working-class citizens and provided real-time solutions.
Tennesseans have forgotten what it is like to have a U.S. senator who will fight for them and find answers for their problems. They can expect that from me. I have a track record to show for it.
I have already been to all 95 Tennessee counties, talking to farmers in the field, single moms standing at the gas pump, country lawyers and small-town bankers on the town squares. And none of them can recall a single thing Senator Alexander has done to help them or their families.
I plan on returning to every county in the general election campaign and letting
Tennesseans know that THEY come first with me – not the oil industry and the
wealthiest Americans, whose tax breaks Senator Alexander has jealously
guarded.
You know, Tennesseans aren’t stupid. They recognize that this election year is the first time in 6 years that Senator Alexander has talked about the energy crisis. They haven’t forgotten how he voted repeatedly to keep the minimum wage obscenely low. And they are well aware that he has supported President Bush at every turn in his disastrous presidency.
Senator Alexander a safe Republican seat? Don’t bet the farm on it."
- Mike Padgett
Democratic Candidate for US Senate
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