State Senate… Sigh…

Mike Faulk (R) 29417 50%
Mike Williams(I) 29171 50%

I blame Rob’s future-telling broom.

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So Far… on Election Night

Ms. Diva is pissed because they’ve already called Tennessee for McCain – so she’s talking trash to Anderson Cooper on television.

Mr. Smartypants is upset because no one has mentioned those other people, whose names were on the ballot – and he wants to know why.

Mike Faulk is leading Mike Williams in the state Senate Race.

And Tuke who?

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Faulk/Williams Translation

Hank Hayes has a Q&A with our contenders for the 4th District State Senate seat. The Q parts are good, the A – eh, mostly nonspecific campaign prattle which candidates often use for the purpose of appealing to voters. Therefore, I thought it might be helpful if I translated the answers for you.

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Forget the State Senate Election: Let’s Just Get Ready to Rumble

The wee hours of November 5th cannot get here soon enough. I’m not terribly excited by the prospect of an Obama win because he’s a little scary in terms of shutting down detractors – but you know what? There’s more citizens than there are Presidents.  Bloggers alone can outnumber him.  So, screw it.  Let’s get it over with – because I can’t take much more of this Tennessee campaigning.

I’m tired of hearing about faulty primaries, improper use of PAC money, telephone harassment, lawsuits, Republican rags and other furtive pain-in-the-ass Pecksniffian tactics. And this, which I cannot avoid because it’s my district.

There are guys over at the Spit-n-Sit, who’ve engaged in good-natured verbal battles since Jimmy Carter’s first campaign, that are no longer on speaking terms. Ralph Jr. is convinced Mike Faulk should go to jail for something – which has resulted in Ralph’s cousin, who despises Mike Williams, declaring that Ralph’s wife is homely and smells funny, therefore Ralph opposes Faulk “on accounta he’s just jealouser than a hound at a steakhouse window.“

And I know. I know. It’s just politics – and politics around here have always been sort of a rough and tumble sport. Shucks, downtown Rogersville is the home of at least one political rally of yesteryear where people died of gunshot wounds. So dueling TV ads from Faulk and Williams could be considered progress.  But can I confess something? On my really bitchy days, I’d prefer it if those two would just shoot at each other… or maybe finish out the campaign with a wrestling match… at high noon… on Main Street. I mean, I assume a debate is out of the question since they haven’t talked much about the issues – mostly just each other.   So, let’s get some real mud, sell tickets and hot dogs, have a cage match and make an event of it. Winner takes the senate seat and one of those huge shiny gold-electroplated Championship belts.

Hell, why not? An event like that would be well-attended, could boost the local economy and as long as neither candidate wears those skimpy Speedo “wrasslin’ panties” – it wouldn’t be any less dignified than what they’re doing now.

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Important Message to My Mudslinging Senatorial Candidates…

Yes, I am aware of this and this.

As a matter of fact, I spent a good 45 minutes earlier today listening to Ralph Jr. rattle on about how Bill Frist’s decision to put out a good word for a the drug-abusing child molester guy will ruin his chances at Governor. Ralph’s a little upset about this potential ruination because he likes ol’ Bill and it’s high time Tennessee had a Republican governor – you know, because the last one was so bloody phenomenal.

Attempting to explain to Ralph that Bill Frist has NOT stumped for a drunk-driving child molester guy was not only a wasted effort, it rattled me.

Folks, I’ll be the first person to tell you Mike Faulk hasn’t been truthful on the campaign trail and his ads contain misrepresentations. I have told you – more than once. But Mike Williams crossed a line here. No, scratch that. He sank so low he limboed under the line like Yussara Cunha.  His ad is beyond vicious and chocked full of words intended to trigger fear and offense. Unfortunately, those words will stick in the minds of voters, get twisted up with old episodes of CSI or Nancy Grace, embellished, blown out of proportion, and spread around by people who dislike Faulk – until they damage him beyond his campaign.

You know – this is a race for a public office. Certainly, the office comes with perks and the illusion of power – but in the end, it’s just an office. Therefore, in attempting to ascend to that office, there should be limits to how low you can go to get there.

I thought Williams, who I was told avoids negative campaigning and frowns upon dirty politics, was decent enough to know that. I was wrong – and this disappoints me.

 

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Readers Weigh-In

In the Times-News letters to the editor:

Mildred Ringley of Church Hill writes in to defend Mike Faulk’s character saying, “Anyone who knows Mike Faulk should know him better than to believe all the slams he is receiving and that he is a trusted friend, attorney and politician.”

It caught my attention because you rarely ever see the words “trusted, politician, and attorney” all in the same sentence.

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Faulkin’ Fun w/Radio, Open Records and Newspaper Archives

(*Fairly Unbalanced Alert: The radio advertisement featured here has been heavily edited in order to take the candidate’s words out of context and regroup them – thereby making the candidate say whatever I want him to say. Translation: technology downloaded from the internet grants me powers similar to that of Ron Ramsey, the Haslams and Gregory Family. Any resemblance to truth contained herein is purely fictional unless it’s otherwise not fictional, in which case it’s true. Most of it is true. Sorta. Either way, I offer my insincere apologies for any content that may be considered rude, offensive, a violation of former Fairness Doctrine, SPJ Code of Ethics, FCC regulations, the Ten Commandments or NCAA Recruiting Rules and Bylaws. Please note information contained in this post may pose a choking hazard and is not intended for use as a toy.)

Earlier this year, candidate for Tennessee State Senate Mike Faulk told the incumbent Senator Mike WIlliams if the Senator would cast his vote for Ron Ramsey as Lt. Governor, Williams wouldn’t have to worry about him as an opponent. Williams voted for Ramsey – and now faces Faulk in the November election.

One might argue that Faulk said one thing and did another. In his defense, however, I present:
Top Ten Reasons Why Mike Faulk Might Say One Thing and Do Another

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Senator Mike Williams: Lowering Gas Prices and Leaping Tall Buildings in a Single Bound!

Senator Williams has been blanketing the district with mailers for the last two weeks.   Since I had a few questions about those mailers, I set out to find the answers.

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Faulk Gets Called to the Office

Shortly after Heritage Days, people took to the nets complaining that Mike Faulk had folks out slapping his stickers on poor, innocent children (Hey, it worked for Phil Roe) and that he was acting as a greeter at the Price Public Soul Food Dinner.  The dinner, which was held during the festival, was a fund raiser for Price Public Community Center and Museum.

Complaints about the organization’s fund raiser continued until the President of Price Public addressed the issue:

It is against the policy of the Price Public Community Center to endorse any canidate that is running for political office! Although we have allowed organizations, businesses and individuals to utilize the building, we have never endorsed a canidate, nor will we in the future. Price Public is not representative of any political party, whether it be black or white.  Concerning the Soul Food Dinner……it was a very busy evening and I was unaware of the situation until someone called it to my attention. I immediately called Mike into our office and I explained our policy. Mike apologized and then left. Price Public has set very high standards, not only for the preservation of this historical site, but also of our officers and board members. Since our beginning, we have served over 30,000 citizens regardless of race, creed or national origin and have bonded with this community. We have received nothing less than compliments of our building and service to this community. Things come to us everyday of which we have no control, but, what is important is how we handle it. In the future, we will certain be more aware of any situations that would not be representative of Price Public. I am so very sorry that this happened and I apologize to anyone that was offended.

Despite Stella’s (Gudger) efforts here, I heard some folks at the grocery store this morning still grumbling about Faulk’s presence and voicing their displeasure with the Price Public board.  Certainly, I can understand how people made the mistake of assuming the non-profit board supported Faulk: the Hawkins County GOP often reserves the building for their shindigs.

However, the center is also used by the Hawkins County school board, the Boy Scouts of America, the Mary Kay party people… and anyone else who can pay the rental fee.  These fees help fund the maintenance of the property (which was little more than a boarded up building before Gudger joined the project) and assist with the organization’s ongoing effort to preserve the African-American history of Hawkins County.

Tennessee Guy (Jeff Bradley) has more info about Price Public here.

Furthermore, while non-profit organizations do not endorse political candidates, it usually not wise to wander around pissing them off either.  Therefore, workers at the Soul Food Dinner were probably wearing “Faulk” stickers for the same reason Mike Williams’ supporters were wearing them while they dined.   Peeling them off in Faulk’s presence would have been awkward, and they didn’t want to hurt his feelings or alienate the guy, who might be the next state senator.

Quite simply they were put on the spot.

You know, this is the stuff I hate about election years – and I’m starting to understand why Hawkins County Gas would no longer allow their community room to be used for political gatherings.

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Officiating Local Elections: I Call A Technical Foul!

It’s no secret that State Senator Mike Williams has support from (as Tony Shipley says) “the opposition party.” Hell, he’s been endorsed by the Opposition Governor and his campaign finance reports have more opposition connections than the address book in Gray Sasser’s Blackberry.

I’ve found, however, most voters don’t give a rat’s ass about “opposition” politics. They could care less who supports Williams or what party is sending him money. They just like him. Period. End of story. As a result, the Senator has quite a bit of support from Republican and Independent voters too.

That is precisely why I found this unnecessary:

The embattled 4th District Republican state Senate nominee, Mike Faulk, doesn’t appreciate that Mark Brown, the Democratic Senate spokesman, provided a Kingsport paper with opposition research on him regarding his former legal practice:

(h/t Kleinheider)

Apparently, the document titled “A Criminal’s Best Friend” alleges Faulk worked to reduce a child molester’s jail term; helped a client get a reduced sentence and probation for driving under the influence with a 16-month-old baby in his car; and “procured probation” for an eventual career criminal who had been arrested for having 35 marijuana plants on his property.

Yes, that’s all bad and probably true… but if you’re an attorney (even one court-appointed to a criminal defendant) aren’t you obligated to provide the best defense possible for that person? Our criminal justice system guarantees a right to a fair trail: a fair trial requires competent counsel even for the bad guy, right? So, technically, if there’s anyone at fault in the cases cited, it would not be Mike Faulk – but the prosecution (whom by the way, if the cases were tried in Hawkins County would’ve have been a Democrat – jus’ sayin’.)

So, I think slamming a lawyer for defending defendants is almost as illogical as trying to smear a fireman for playing with hoses or an obstetrician for looking at cooters. I mean – it sounds bad, but it’s just part of the job. Therefore, I call a technical foul here. And I think Williams would do well to remind his supporters what the penalties are for technical fouls due to unsportsmanlike conduct.

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