Doe River George

 The sign campaign run by Roe and Davis in the 1st District House seat, as well as others in races this summer reminds me of a story from the 70’s. In East Tennessee there was a heavy promotion in the media supporting a new park site called Doe River Gorge, in Carter county. It had all the makings of another Dollywood before falling on hard times. Signs seemed to be everywhere, as well as radio jingles, much like a political campaign.

  So, the story goes, a reporter decides to do a street poll and stops an old mountaineer and asks who he thought would win the upcoming election. The old mountaineer said, “I can’t say for sure, but Doe River George looks fairly strong”.

  If you run for political office and don’t have much to say that people can identify you by, then you need a lot of signs. Not reasonable signage, just inundate whole communities. So goes conventional wisdom. But, signs are mindless. They tell you nothing, except that the persons name on the sign favors himself.

  We are beginning to pay through the nose for “sign campaigns” and”30 second spot campaigns”, as we are electing people from the White House down that don’t match up with the job. Thankfully, America may be slowly starting to discover that those campaigners with good media skills and fundraising skills cannot govern. It just simply takes more, much more, to be an effective leader. This high price we are now paying and will pay for our political break-down is the result the election process being cheapened by candidates and their sponsors running low-level campaigns.

  I went to both the Roe and Davis web site to see if I could learn anything in depth about them or their politics. I found very little!  Both candidates are silent on many major issues. Issues such as :

Medicare bankruptcy

projected Social Security insolvency

significant wealth polarization

corrupt electoral process

mass transportation

multiple fiscal problems

sensible energy solutions

    Davis voted against the bail-out of Fannie and Freddie, but offered no explanation to justify his vote. This is a pivotal issue of our time and a philosophy is important as like matters could show up again. Davis says he is a defender of conservative ideals, but fails to acknowledge the current administration does not adhere to many conservative ideals on fiscal matters. Regarding energy, Davis says “lastly” we should conserve. I’m sorry, but for the time being, conservation is firstly.  Davis does state some of his beliefs; vaguely!

  Roe says he is a defender of the 2nd Amendment. Davis likewise. A non-issue as a result of the Supreme Court decision this spring. Somebody needs to inform them of that ruling. Roe says he is for a balanced budget. That separates him from the Republican Party. Roe claims he will keep clean by refusing PAC money, but offers no plan to stop campaign corruption via PAC’s. Roe says he is against earmarks. He is certainly one-up on Davis there. It should be said that earmarks are more symbolic than budget busters, 17 billion in a 2.9 trillion budget, yet the symbolism is important. Earmark practitioners are cynics of the first order, so good for Roe.

  Roe has delivered babies for years, and Davis worked in the nursing home business.  That means both men are quite familiar with government check-writing.  If you should wonder why so many people with medical backgrounds are getting into politics nowadays, it might be they see the Federal Government as a family business. Therefore, they have a deep moral obligation to protect the family business.

  So far, it looks like a Doe River George year.