In the last debate, Corker and Ford were asked about how they view lobbyists and of course neither one said that lobbyists are the equivalent of a college alumni who buys a kid a new car and gives him cash if the kid will play for that college's football team...because that's exactly what they're like. In the debate, Corker brought up the fact that Harold Ford's dad was a lobbyist and lobbied Junior, and of course Harold got a little peeved and launched into his "leave my family out of this, let's keep the focus on me" rant. I read an interesting article about lobbyists and family ties this week on the USA Today website. You can read it here - http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2006-10-16-lobbyist-family-cover_x.htm

Here's my position on lobbyists, and I can guarantee you that Ford and Corker will not say anything close to what I'm about to say. I would NEVER accept anything from a lobbyist. I would not allow them to pay for a trip, buy me anything, absolutely nothing. The only thing I could say might happen is that someone might contribute to my campaign that is a lobbyist, but I can promise that there would be NO special favors or influence because of that. Lobbyists and the big-money special interest groups mean absolutely nothing to me. What matters to me is to make sure that I would legislate based on the authority of the Constitution, and that EVERY citizen of America would be seen as an equal within that authority. Just because someone has piles of cash to throw around and wants legislation done that would benefit whoever they represent means nothing to me at all. Lobbying is basically legal bribery. There is no way to justify it, it's just wrong and goes against all the values and principles our federal government is supposed to have. Now this doesn't mean I wouldn't listen to the concerns or issues involving a big corporation or some large group, but there is no way I would ever allow any gifts or money to influence my decisions. I make that promise. I would do everything I could to distance myself from lobbyists, I would rather here from the people of Tennessee and what concerns they have.

I also think a Senator should be more accessible. How many times has Bill Frist had any kind of town hall meeting in Tennessee to speak with people? I never see it or hear about it. Instead of wasting time meeting with lobbyists and special interest groups, shouldn't a Senator meet with the people that voted for them and listen to their concerns from time to time? It makes sense to me, but I'm not a "politician". For example, I have been to several anti-illegal immigration rallies over the last year, and I have NEVER seen Frist, Alexander, or any of the Senate candidates at these events except me. These weren't small rallies either. There were usually a few hundred people, and I would think it would be a good time for the people we sent to Washington to take a few minutes to hear from us, the ones who gave them the consent to govern us.

Do you ever feel like we're supposed to just act like good little serfs and till the land? I know I do, and I'm sick of it. I know there's a lot of people who feel the same way, and that's why I ask for your help and your vote.