America First: Mike Padgett And The International Guard

By Kleinheider Posted on May 27, 2008 at 9:49 pm

Today, I had to the pleasure of sitting down for a spell with U.S. Democratic Senate candidate Mike Padgett while on a break from visiting and talking with supporters here in Nashville.

I must say that there is certainly no lie to Padgett’s billing as a “Southern Appalachian Democrat.” Mike Padgett is exactly as he has often been described. If you were to look up the term “Southern Pol” in the dictionary, you should not be at all surprised to see Mike Padgett’s face smiling back at you.

Being as Padgett is a well known Hillary Clinton supporter, one of the first questions I asked him was whether he thought she should drop out and if he would be urging her to step aside.

“Of course not, you don’t tell a ball player down in the ninth inning to just pack it in. People say that Lamar Alexander cannot be beat and that I should drop out. I’m not going to do that and neither should Hillary.”

Curious as to how Alexander came to draw two “legitimate challengers” considering his position and the reticence shown by the Democrats to even make a race, I asked Padgett how he came to be one of the players in a contested primary for a nomination no one seemed to want not that long ago.

Padgett made clear that he was asked by Chairman Gray Sasser to enter this race and when he accepted the challenge he made a commitment to see it through. He noted that the other candidate currently running, Bob Tuke, had dropped out when he himself decided to make the race.

“My word is my honor,” Padgett said, “When I looked Gray Sasser in the face and said I was in the race against Lamar Alexander I meant what I said.”

Well known for a term he seems to have coined, “Southern Appalachian Democrat” I asked him to reiterate what the term means to him.

“Appalachia was the place I was raised. It’s East Tennessee. We didn’t have all the luxuries they had in New York or California or Florida. We made do with what we had. We may not have had all material things in the world but we lived a good life. When there was a person in need we helped that person.”

From Appalachia the conversation made a smooth and appropriate segue to presidential politics. Padgett would not say whether he thought Bob Tuke’s strong support of Obama would hurt him statewide, however, he did not express any hesitation at all with potentially campaigning alongside Obama.

When asked if he would have any problem with Obama campaigning with him or whether he might try to put some distance between himself and Obama, Padgett was emphatic.

“We need a Democratic President. I would feel very comfortable campaigning alongside the Democratic nominee whoever it is,” the candidate explained.

On the war, Padgett strikes a pose as a rabid anti-interventionist. While he would be sure not to put any lives at risk in the process, Padgett seems to support an almost immediate withdrawal from Iraq.

“I do not want to see anymore money spent on infrastructure in Iraq. No more country clubs for our people there, no more schools for Iraqis. We need schools and cities rebuilt here.”

Continuing in a similar vein and pointing to the natural disasters recently wreaking havoc on America’s interior and the lack of people to help relieve the pain, Padgett was circumspect, “We don’t have a National Guard anymore, we have an international guard.”

Padgett rejects the “we broke it, we bought it” notion that because we went into Iraq we have an obligation to insure it is in pristine condition when we leave. He asserts that we have done what we came to do in Iraq and that the burden of reconstruction should be on the liberated.

“We have accomplished everything we have set out to do in Iraq. We have alleviated a dictatorship, we proved there were no weapons of mass destruction — at all. We have instituted a democracy in Iraq. They have held free elections. What else do they need?”

On immigration, Padgett strikes a very restrictionist pose. Padgett would not institute a mass deportation or even necessarily propose new laws or reforms.

“We need to enforce the laws we have. Yes sir, yes we do,” he adds for emphasis.

The key to enforcement and resolution to the immigration problem for Padgett is a focus on employers, “We need to penalize the folks who employ these people — on a massive scale.”

Padgett believes deportation is neither advisable nor possible but if we clamp down on employers, he believes immigrants will return to their native lands. As to the suggestion of some type of earned citizenship for immigrants already here, Padgett shares the story of his daughter-in-law, a naturalized American from England, and the six year process she went through to become a citizen, “If she can do it, they can do it.”

As clear as Padgett is about the need to enforce our immigration law he is just as clear about his feelings on what kind of physical border should separate America and Mexico. When asked whether a fences should be built or expanded for border security purposes, Padgett is quick to answer, “I don’t like fences. Fences are to keep cattle in.”

As to what the most important issue is in campaign, Padgett made clear that he believes that insuring good jobs is the most pressing concern.

“We cannot continue to send our good jobs overseas. We need to keep America First,” asserted the candidate.

For Padgett, the job issue is the ultimate “value issue” happiness and a vibrant family life only happens if you can pay for it.

NAFTA, he asserts, may need to be renegotiated. He thinks that companies who take their business overseas need to pay a penalty and that American workers must be protected, “Why do we have to rely on people around the globe when we have good people here.”

Finally, I asked candidate Padgett what politician throughout history, he most admired.

“When a tough decision had to be made in history Harry Truman was there to make it. He was there to stand up for us when Japan was putting pressure on us. If Harry Truman was here today do you think that Iraq would be a problem for us?”

When asked how Truman’s use of the nuclear option factored in to the above, Padgett made clear the dropping of the bomb was not his reference but Truman’s resolve and ability to build strong alliances, like NATO, that earned his admiration.

A hero like Truman seems fitting for Padgett because in the minds of most political observers the headline “Alexander Defeats _____” has already been written, the only question seems to be whose name goes in the blank.

permalink | 9 Comments

Tags: Bob Tuke, Harry S. Truman, Lamar Alexander, Mike Padgett, Southern Appalachian Democrat