Tennesseans have important decisions to make in this
off-year election. Fortunately, they have some terrific candidates running, all
of them women. In a state where 51% of the voters are female, only 20% of
Congress is, and that lack of representation has harmed women at almost every
turn; from teachers and care givers to women’s personal freedoms; from poverty
to children’s education performance which, by extension, are also large women’s
issues.
Unlike years past, women voters have first – rate women
candidates in key State and National races, women with varied life experiences that give them unique insights
into the needs of all Tennesseans.
They are:
Representative Gloria Johnson TN HD 13
Mary Mancini TN Senate District 21
Cheri Siler TN Senate District 7
Jennifer Buck Wallace TN HD 51
Dr. Mary Headrick US Congress District 3
Lenda Sherrell CPA (ret.) US Congress District 4
While their backgrounds are different, they have much in
common
They are all strong women of faith:
in themselves, in their abilities, in their commitment to the citizens of
Tennessee
They all demonstrate a strong sense
of purpose, as evidenced by their choices of careers and the service they give
their communities
Most importantly, they all share a
strong sense of right and wrong. Each of them at one point not long ago looked
out upon the political landscape of Tennessee and said to themselves, ‘Something’s
wrong”
Something’s wrong when our politicians, who call themselves
servants of the people, pass laws to deprive children of food
Something’s wrong when our politicians pass laws against the
best interests of women;
Something’s wrong when our politicians seek to restrict the
voting rights of their own
constituents
Something’s wrong when our politicians pass laws to cut
taxes on the richest among us while cutting revenues to counties and cities
Something’s wrong when our politicians have the hubris to
threaten corporations that make business decisions to voluntarily unionize
their own plants
Something’s wrong when our politicians vote to deprive low
cost health care to hundreds of thousands of Tennesseans and in the process
force the closure of regional hospitals, with the resulting losses of hundreds
of jobs for nurses, doctors and staff.
These women looked out upon the political landscape and
asked “Who could do this and why would they?” only to realize that the only way
to stop the madness and fix the damage was to stand for election and let the
citizens decide.
Gloria Johnson was first. In 2010, she ran for office and
lost. Undeterred, she ran in 2012 in the 13th District. This time
she won. Mary Headrick ran for office in 2012 in District 3 and lost. This time
she’s here to win. Cheri Siler is running for the first time. She has an
advantage her fellow candidates did not – an incumbent opponent with a flair
for embarrassing himself and for bringing ridicule upon himself and his state.
Like the three ladies from East Tennessee, Mary Mancini, Lenda Sherrell and Jennifer Buck Wallace, activists all, put their put their personal lives on hold in a common calling to fix the broken political systems in Nashville and Washington. All are committed to returning civility and effectiveness to their respective houses of Congress.
Timing in this case is fortuitous, as the electorate us riled. These candidates are running at a time when people are
increasingly fed up with their politicians, so much so that they are joining
together in public protests such as Moral Mondays, protest events that call attention to all
that is wrong with our nation state by state. Moral Mondays did not begin in Tennessee but
they are happening here now, and they are spreading across the political
landscape. Moral Mondays are not Democrat events. Neither are they Republican.
They are people’s events, free of political labels. They are the voices of the
people saying in no uncertain ways, “These things you do are WRONG, and we are
going to fix them. These things you do are WRONG and we will fix them by
ridding our State House of YOU.
Gloria and Mary and Cheri are running in East Tennessee and
they are not alone. In Nashville. Mary Mancini has taken up the banner for
change in TN State Senate District 21. In Middle Tennessee, Lenda Sherrell is
campaigning for US Congress (TN 4th)
against the embarrassing Scott Desjarlais (if he doesn’t get taken out in the
primary). Jennifer Buck Wallace in HD 51.
Come election day 2014, the voices will have grown in number
and intensity and their demands will have been both heard and granted. These
voices of the people will be translated into votes and the politicians who
willfully damaged the state and its institutions that serve the people will,
themselves, be seeking employment. Soon enough, maybe even the Lt. Governor
will be given the boot.
I urge women to take up the call and support this fine slate of candidates, for what's in it for you -- as women: as parents, as grandmothers, as teachers, policewomen and fire women; as college students, as single heads-of-households, as women who want equal representation in government and who demand a say in legislation that affects your lives.
Visit their web sites, inform yourselves. Volunteer to help wherever you can. Offer financial support whenever possible. Understand that some of their opponents have deep pockets from donations received from organizations like the Koch brothers and Super Pacs. As you saw in North Carolina, money does not have to be the sole predictor of success. Give what you can, of what you can.
Thank you.
Joe Malgeri
No comments:
Post a Comment