Last evening I attended the 1st Annual Rutherford County Grow Tennessee dinner. What a great event hosted by Rep. Kent & Cecil Coleman, Rep. John & Marilyn Hood, Sen. Andy & Cherry Womack, and Ms. Sandra Y. Trail and held at MTSU's James Union Building. I truly must commend Jonathon Fagan, Chairman of the Rutherford Democratic Party, for doing an outstanding job.
The focus of the evening was meeting all 5 candidates in the Democratic Gubernatorial Primary and holding a straw poll. Ward Cammack, Sen. Roy Herron, Sen. Jim Kyle, Kim McMillan, and Mike McWherter all gave wonderful speeches about Tennessee's future.
Ward Cammack:
" We need to think big about education and recognize that everybody isn't going to go to college. You can look at it today. There is proof in that. But we need to recognize that we need to give our students , teachers, and parents verifiable success , proven pathes, and we can do this by continuing to emulate the success that we had seen through the partnering of, for example, Hemlock Corporation of Clarksville with Austin Peay, Volkswagon with Chattanooga State Technology Schools. We can do this all over the state to build up the opportunities for our students in every single one of our communities. Why would we not do that?"
Sen. Roy Herron:
"Well ladies and gentlemen let me tell you what I'm tired about and what's on my my heart. Is that I'm tired of lies by some, not all by any means, but some Republicans tell about Democrats. And most of you have heard of if. You've heard them preach from the pulpits and talk from Sunday school lecterns. And too many Republicans have said 'You can't be a person of faith and be a Democrat.' They said our values are wrong. Ann Coulter called us Godless. That's what they say about us. As a matter a fact some of them are trying to decide that Jesus never even rode a donkey. And if he came back today, they would tell you he would ride on the back of an elephant."
Sen. Jim Kyle:
"There are some men who are running for Governor and women who are running for Governor. Who are just some of the finest people I have ever been around. And I am please to sit at this table and we've had a lovely dinner tonight. But there are some men running for Governor that aren't here tonight. And they've said some odd things in the last couple of days. And I'm going to address those so you'll know where Jim Kyle is. We've had a candidate running say that he 'Would stand at the state line to prevent the Federal Government from coming in here. ' The same Federal Government that helped us balance our budget last year. Now, we had another candidate for governor tell us that 'Tennessee was an island of clear thinking in a country gone wrong.' Now ladies and gentlemen I want to remind them and tell you Tennessee is a part of the United States of America. We are One Nation Under God. "
Kim McMillan:
"Being Governor is a hard job and it takes a lot of hard work. It is going to take somebody who is dedicated to this this state, to working hard, and to the people of Tennessee to make sure that things get done. To continue to move Tennessee forward it's going to take somebody who wants to do that hard work. And I submit to you, that Iam prepared to do that hard work. Because I can tell you that my entire life, from the time I was adopted as a child until the I went to law school, became a lawyer, became a banker and a legislature, and a mother and a wife, I have realized you can't get anything unless you work hard at it. And being Governor is no different."
The focus of the evening was meeting all 5 candidates in the Democratic Gubernatorial Primary and holding a straw poll. Ward Cammack, Sen. Roy Herron, Sen. Jim Kyle, Kim McMillan, and Mike McWherter all gave wonderful speeches about Tennessee's future.
Ward Cammack:
" We need to think big about education and recognize that everybody isn't going to go to college. You can look at it today. There is proof in that. But we need to recognize that we need to give our students , teachers, and parents verifiable success , proven pathes, and we can do this by continuing to emulate the success that we had seen through the partnering of, for example, Hemlock Corporation of Clarksville with Austin Peay, Volkswagon with Chattanooga State Technology Schools. We can do this all over the state to build up the opportunities for our students in every single one of our communities. Why would we not do that?"
Sen. Roy Herron:
"Well ladies and gentlemen let me tell you what I'm tired about and what's on my my heart. Is that I'm tired of lies by some, not all by any means, but some Republicans tell about Democrats. And most of you have heard of if. You've heard them preach from the pulpits and talk from Sunday school lecterns. And too many Republicans have said 'You can't be a person of faith and be a Democrat.' They said our values are wrong. Ann Coulter called us Godless. That's what they say about us. As a matter a fact some of them are trying to decide that Jesus never even rode a donkey. And if he came back today, they would tell you he would ride on the back of an elephant."
Sen. Jim Kyle:
"There are some men who are running for Governor and women who are running for Governor. Who are just some of the finest people I have ever been around. And I am please to sit at this table and we've had a lovely dinner tonight. But there are some men running for Governor that aren't here tonight. And they've said some odd things in the last couple of days. And I'm going to address those so you'll know where Jim Kyle is. We've had a candidate running say that he 'Would stand at the state line to prevent the Federal Government from coming in here. ' The same Federal Government that helped us balance our budget last year. Now, we had another candidate for governor tell us that 'Tennessee was an island of clear thinking in a country gone wrong.' Now ladies and gentlemen I want to remind them and tell you Tennessee is a part of the United States of America. We are One Nation Under God. "
Kim McMillan:
"Being Governor is a hard job and it takes a lot of hard work. It is going to take somebody who is dedicated to this this state, to working hard, and to the people of Tennessee to make sure that things get done. To continue to move Tennessee forward it's going to take somebody who wants to do that hard work. And I submit to you, that Iam prepared to do that hard work. Because I can tell you that my entire life, from the time I was adopted as a child until the I went to law school, became a lawyer, became a banker and a legislature, and a mother and a wife, I have realized you can't get anything unless you work hard at it. And being Governor is no different."
Mike McWherter:
"As I travel across this state the reoccuring question I get all the time is "Mike, knowing what the tough economic challenges are in this state's future, why in the world would you want to run for Governor right now?" Well, it is a favorite question and I will tell you as we look out across the landscape of Tennessee we've seen thousands of jobs literally disappear as factories have closed over the last several years. Our state unemployment rate right now is running at 11%. That is the highest it's been since 1982. You need a Governor that will put the creating and saving of jobs front and center on the agenda. And that is why I am running for Governor."
Congressman Bart Gordon spoke for a moment and introduced his good friend and fellow Congressman Lincoln Davis, the evenings keynote speaker. Mr. Smitty then gave us the results of the evening's straw poll.
Undecided -12, Ward Cammack -13, Mike McWherter-32, Kim McMillan-58, Sen. Jim Kyle -81 and the Winner is Sen. Roy Herron with 119 votes. Here is Sen. Roy Herron's speech from last evening:
2 comments:
Wow, nice blog Idava! Thanks for covering the event. It was so nice to see you again after so long. I'm glad you and your husband had a good time and thanks for the compliments!
Thanks Jonathon, I try!
We had a great time. It was a like a family reunion getting to see old friends.
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