Republican Nominee
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| English: Knoxville mayor and Tennessee GOP gubernatorial candidate Bill Haslam addressing supporters before the Highlands Town Hall Debate at Tennessee Tech University. (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
When I started this blog several years ago, I built it around the sheep / wolves / sheepdogs theme. Since in my opinion, Haslam is something besides what he claims to be (a progressive instead of a conservative), he is a wolf. So, just like 4 years ago, I will not vote for him.
Democratic Nominee
Charles V. "Charlie" Brown is the Democrat's nominee for governor. If I had to guess, I'd say he won the nomination based upon name recognition. I mean, who doesn't like Charlie Brown, right?
Brown hasn't mounted much of a campaign. He has a Facebook page but no webpage. I only found a little about him on the internet - he is a religious man, a hunter, and retired construction worker. He's not gonna put up much of a challenge to "Big Business Bill" Haslam.
Constitution Party Nominee
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| Constitution Party (United States) (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
- a Christian,
- a veterinarian who owns an animal hospital,
- opposed to Common Core and Race to the Top and wants to repeal both,
- opposed to big government programs, such as the Tennessee Promise,
- a supporter of the Right to Keep and Bear Arms,
- a supporter of free-market capitalism, and
- believes the state's budget is controlled too much by Uncle Sam.
Isa Infante is the Green Party candidate. She has a wide-ranging background. She's been a university professor, a U.S. Dept. of Education employee, a business owner, and a consultant. A brief review of her Facebook page and website shows that she's way to the left of me on the issues. For instance, she:
- supports raising the minimum wage,
- supports unions,
- wants FREE healthcare,
- supports "increased economic and political control of communities", and
- supports "social justice".
There are 3 Independents in the race, including:
- John Jay Hooker - Hooker has run for governor before but never gains much traction. I could not find a website for him, but he does have a Facebook page.
- Steven Coburn - Coburn is an interesting fellow with some interesting ideas. However, the major problem I see with him is that he doesn't understand the Tennessee Constitution. For instance, on his website it states that if elected he, "... will ask Tennesseans every two months to vote upon 10-15 items and if a high percentage agrees than it is the governor's job to make it happen because it was the will of the People of Tennessee." Uh no. We have State Senators and Representatives for that, according to the state constitution. Plus, we can't get a majority of Tennesseans to vote every 2 years. How the heck you gonna get them to do it every 2 months?
- Daniel T. Lewis - Lewis is actually the Libertarian candidate but will appear on the ballot as an Independent, because there is no official Libertarian Party in Tennessee. According to his website, he supports smaller government, more individual freedom, the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, state sovereignty, reducing government spending, and lower taxes. To see his other viewpoints and stances on the issues, please visit his website at http://www.lewisdt.com/.
The question you're probably asking by now is, "Sheepdog, who you gonna support?" I'm staying away from the lefties - Haslam, Brown, and Infante. While I like some of the things the Libertarian Party and candidate Lewis advocate I can never get past the Libertarians social agenda that seems to be "anything goes as long you don't hurt anyone." Though I'm not thrilled with any of my options, I'm leaning toward the Constitution Party candidate, Shaun Crowell.
