The World According to Oatney

David Davis can reach out to the choir in Jefferson City

Former Johnson City Mayor Vance Cheek Jr. has a post up chiding Congressman David Davis for being a bit too soft on the President where Iraq is concerned. Vance was gentle by design, I think-after all, he was one of Davis' Primary opponents. I will be more blunt, perhaps, than Vance has been. The people of the First District did not send David Davis to Washington to be President Bush's lackey (or anyone else's, for that matter). If Davis feels the need to cozy up to the White House to cover his rear so that the Party will help him in some way, he should know that from a political point of view it is unnecessary.

David Davis presently occupies the safest Republican seat in the nation. The national Republican Party is aware of this, and so are the Democrats. The national party spends little on the seat, and the Democrats historically do not try to compete here, as it is a waste of their time: The First District is blood-red. It was blood-red before David Davis came along , and it will be blood-red long after Davis is gone. Unabashed support for the President will not play well here-people are aggrivated with the President, and these aren't raging liberals, they vote Republican. Davis' remarks sound not as if they are his own thoughts, but came out of a White House press release.

Davis is not dependent on the White House for the maintenance of his seat, but on the overwhelmingly Republican voters of the First District. In our district, the General Election is a formality-the real election is the Republican Primary. Knowing that, it would not be hard to unseat Davis in 2008-all it would take would be a single Primary opponent (not two or three, but one), since 78% of the District voted for someone other than David Davis this last Primary. Davis won only because he had ten other opponents, not because he was an overly popular candidate.

David Davis can be redeemed, however, and it would not be hard to do. Give us some originality, some straightforward original fire and brimstone. Talk to us about runaway federal spending and what you would like to do about it. We'd like an honorable way out of Iraq, give us your original thoughts about how to do that, Congressman. Tell us about David Davis ' conservative vision, not someone else's. Davis has the chance and I will be listening.

David Davis will be the featured speaker at the Jefferson County Lincoln Day Dinner February 17th. Mike Faulk has graciously invited Nicole and I to be his guests at this important event, and as of today, we plan to be there. Mike is also inviting other area bloggers, and if everyone he has invited actually shows, it will be a regular East Tennessee conservative bloggers' convention: Rob Huddleston, Terry Frank, Vance Cheek Jr., Brian Hornback, and myself have all gotten invites. Stacey Campfield may also get an invite if the protocol of asking Frank Niceley and Coach Roach should clear, and it likely will. Lt. Governor Ron Ramsey will be there as well, so it will be the closest thing to a love-in we have in the GOP all year. David Davis gets to convince the blogging community that he is still a bona fide, and Cheek, Faulk, and I are especially important-we are his constituents. David Davis, preach to this choir!

Labels: Federal politics, Local politics, Tennessee politics

posted by Deacon David Oatney @ 11:37 AM