The World According to Oatney

Huddleston's big decision

Those of you who have clicked the link in my right side bar and bothered to read Rob Huddleston’s blog know that he is facing a life altering decision in the coming days and weeks. The choice to voluntarily give up your private life to assume a very public roll in the larger civic order is not an easy choice for anyone to make.

I both empathize and sympathize with the personal and professional agony that he has chosen to put himself through in making this decision. I believe that he is certainly right to say that he is praying about it (as well he should), and right in asking the rest of us to pray for him. In sharing his dilemma with his larger readership, Rob has given us all a window into the very personal element of politics. That is to say, it’s more than just a decision about whether you want to run for political office, it is also a choice that must be weighed against anyone’s responsibilities as a parent, breadwinner, spouse, and spiritual leader of their home.

One of the more controversial aspects of Rob’s proposed candidacy is the fact that he does not live in the First District. No matter how we might feel about the notion of people from outside a Congressional district running for that district’s seat, it is important to remember that under the U. S. Constitution, it is not required that a member of Congress be a resident of the district they represent, although that is certainly the fashion.

For the record I should say that, while I haven’t had the pleasure of a personal meeting with Rob (though I hope to one of these days soon), based on everything that he has written which I have read, I believe he will be an excellent United States Congressman no matter what district he represents. I should say that I wish that he would represent the district in which he lives, but that is only because I happen to live in the same district.

Regardless of the decision Rob makes in the end, I believe he will make the right decision for the people of the First District, for all of East Tennessee, but at this point in the political game, most importantly for himself. Whatever happens to the potential candidacy of Rob Huddleston for Congress in 2006, I think he’ll be a member of Congress one day. He certainly has the political experience for it and he has more than earned his stripes.

posted by Deacon David Oatney @ 11:06 PM