On the Road

On the Road: Rejecting Gutter Politics
July 30th, 2010 10:17 AM

My thanks to the gentleman who called in to Hallerin Hilton Hill on WNOX this morning to urge Tennesseans to reject the negative and misleading campaign being run in the Third District

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On the Road: A Letter From Collegedale Mayor John C. Turner
July 21st, 2010 1:56 PM

In seven and one years of public service I have learned two very important things.

1) There is always three sides to every story, my side, your side and then the truth.

2) You can judge a legislator by his/her words/actions. The recent "mud slinging" toward Robin Smith is not a character trait I'm looking for in my representative.

The audit/report cited is not Robin's. It's the State Republican Party's report. Mr. Fleischmann says he's pro gun. Why did he sue the Chattanooga Rifle Club in April 2003? Is that really a pro gun position? I have listened to both candidates speak on more than one occasion. I have also heard bits and pieces from the other candidates in this race. I am convinced without reservation, that Robin Smith will represent the third district with character, integrity and from a conservative position, which I believe represent the majority of the third district. Please join me in support Robing Smith as our new representative in Washington.

John C. Turner
Mayor
Collegedale  

Posted by Robin Smith   |  1 Comment(s)

On the Road: A Letter from Representative Vince Dean
July 20th, 2010 12:45 PM

I would like to publicly thank Robin Smith for her outstanding work during the 2008 state election. For the first time in over 100 years, the Republican party gained a majority in the Tennessee General Assembly.

She helped good candidates across the state win seats that had been held by Democrats for decades. Seats that were once believed to be strong holds for the Democrat party. She did this with class and tenacity. Doing so was neither easy, nor cheap. It costs money to win elections. I appreciate the fact that people from all walks of life and every community in the state donated money to help win the majority. I want to thank her for using the donated money, wisely to win the majority. Critics might say that she should have saved money and put it back into the coffers of the state party. Having money in the bank and losing an election does not show very much political savvy. I would much rather be broke the day after an election with a win, than to have a bankroll, with a loss. Robin spent years working toward this goal, for the party that represents the values of the majority of Tennessee residents.

Taking the majority in the General Assembly was extremely beneficial to the party and its platform. While other events prevented our party from taking complete control over the house, we were finally given a seat at the table and allowed to move several previously stalled pieces of legislation forward. Members of our delegation were given chairmanships of committees and sub-committees. I was fortunate enough to be named the Vice-Chair of Transportation and the Chair of Public Safety, both appointments previously held by Democrats. Had we not gained the majority in the house, this would have never been possible.

Robin Smith should be praised by her party for this accomplishment. She has been a true republican, promoting republican candidates and advancing republican causes for years. I personally know the three apparent front runners in the 3rd district congressional primary. I believe that all three are great people and consider each of them a personal friend. On August 6th, there will only be one republican candidate. That candidate will need the support of the others to win the general election in November. I urge all of the candidates to remember that and refrain from driving wedges within the party. If maintaining the seat and taking the majority in the U.S. House is important, we must be united in the general election. A little civility would go a long way in doing that. It is hard to ask for support from someone that you have publicly demeaned and called names.

Vince Dean-R
District 30
Tennessee General Assembly

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On the Road: Chatting With Steve Gill
July 17th, 2010 12:58 PM

This morning I took a break from knocking on doors and meeting with voters to chat with prominent talk host Steve Gill about the negative tactics my trial lawyer opponent has begun using to salvage his losing campaign.

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On the Road: Early Voting Begins
July 16th, 2010 5:00 AM

On this first day of early voting, I find it hard to believe that we have reached the point where Tennesseans actually begin casting your votes to decide our Republican nominee in the Third District. What a great campaign it has been. On behalf of the entire Smith family, I thank each person who has offered your support, your time and your contribution.

Over the past year I have stood in places as diverse as family farms and in the national security complexes that are transforming the way we produce energy. I have been in homes and businesses, small shops and large factories. I have listened to your concerns and shared with you my ideas on restoring the American dream.

I have shared with you a pro-growth and job creation agenda that includes eliminating the death tax, capital gains taxes and reforming the way government collects taxes. I’m proud that my economic stands have been recognized with endorsements by the Club for Growth and The United States Chamber of Commerce.

It’s been humbling to me that my stands for the sanctity of life and protecting the role of the family earned the endorsements of Eagle Forum, Concerned Women for America, Susan B. Anthony List and the Family Research Council. Our government today ridicules the values we share. By standing together, we can return these values to a place of honor in government.

I understand and share your concerns about government spending, bailouts and selling our debt to hostile nations. I have been the only candidate who, from day one to today’s first vote, has called for an end to the Washington favor factory of earmarks. Like you, I know we cannot spend their money so irresponsibly and look our children in the eye without shame. The President has ignored our concerns about spending and, with your support, we can “take away his checkbook.”

If we are to have a health care system that honors America’s free market traditions, ObamaCare must be repealed and replaced with reforms that reduce cost, increase access and deal with the damage of trial lawyers.

If America is going to be a nation that respects the law, we will find leaders with the courage to seal our borders and deal with the growing problem of illegal immigration. If we are to respect our traditions, government will protect, not attack, our Second Amendment rights. If we are to honor the founders’ intent, the states will no longer feel the heavy hand of the federal government mandating policy from Washington.

This past year has been a remarkable experience. I have made so many new friends and grown closer to old friends across these great eleven counties. Whether it is a group of sisters inviting me into their home for singing in the kitchen after church or stopping for apple butter at Ritter’s Farm, each moment is one to remember and only makes me more proud to call this place home. Most remarkable are the moments when I know someone who cannot afford it hands me a contribution of a few dollars because they believe I might be the vehicle through which a government that has long since stopped listening might hear them once again.

It is a humbling experience when someone places their faith in you.

So with the end of a wonderful year, I ask for your vote. I will carry your belief in life, opportunity and freedom with me to Congress. I believe in this nation and ask you to stand with me as we put it back on the path to being a more perfect union.

God bless,

Robin

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On the Road: Join Us on the Road This Week!
July 13th, 2010 3:12 PM

I hope you’ll join me on the road this week. With the beginning of early voting on Friday, we are gassing up the RV and hitting the road for a Get Out the Vote Tour.

We’ll be on the road early on Wednesday and rolling through the Third District to spread the work that we’re going to take our country back and take away Barack Obama’s checkbook. We’ll be starting in Bradley County On Wednesday and will be out there on the road until Thursday night. You can check the full schedule here to see when I’ll be in a town near you.

Come join us and let’s roll to a win on August 5!

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On the Road: July 4th
July 2nd, 2010 8:05 AM

On July 4, 1826 as the nation celebrated the 50^th anniversary of independence, two of America’s founding fathers took their long standing rivalry to their final day. Thomas Jefferson and John Adams passed away within hours of each other, each thinking his old rival had survived longer. While these two giants stood as rivals in life, and even in death, they shared a common bond in their determination that we carry forward this greatest experiment in human history; a nation founded and sustained by the belief that limited government serving a free people would lead humanity to build a greater world.

In 1820, Jefferson said, “I know no safe depository of the ultimate powers of the society but the people themselves; and if we think them not enlightened enough to exercise their control with a wholesome discretion, the remedy is not to take it from them, but to inform their discretion by education. This is the true corrective of abuses of constitutional power.”

This weekend we celebrate the nation they created through powerful words and noble deeds. It can be easy to overlook and take for granted the freedoms America was founded on. With the current attitude in Washington that larger and more intrusive central government is the path to a better future, we are constantly reminded of the erosion of our freedoms and the danger that we can lose those liberties through inattention or inaction. As I wish you a happy and safe July 4^th, I hope that between the fireworks, barbecues, parades and picnics that we will all take a moment to consider our freedoms and the genius of the men who gave them voice.

On that July 4^th in 1826, John Adams had been invited to participate in a celebration of the 50^th Anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. Failing health made him unable to attend and he sent his regrets with a warning that echoes all the way to the present day:

“My best wishes, in the joys, and festivities, and the solemn services of that day on which will be completed the fiftieth year from its birth, of the independence of the United States: a memorable epoch in the annals of the human race, destined in future history to form the brightest or the blackest page, according to the use or the abuse of those political institutions by which they shall, in time to come, be shaped by the human mind.”

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On the Road: One Year
July 1st, 2010 8:26 AM

One year ago today I began a conversation with my fellow Tennesseans in the Third District about the direction of our nation. It’s hard to believe that a year has already passed and we’re in the stretch of the Republican primary. I am grateful to each resident of the Third District who has taken the time to share your thoughts and concerns with me.

Here’s a look back at Day One of the campaign, staring in Copperhill, Tennessee. Our video skills have gotten a little better in a year, but the message hasn’t changed. I’ve been consistent in my positions and statements as a candidate and I will as your representative. While others poll and test the political winds to determine what they think you want to hear, I’ve said no to earmarks, no to amnesty, yes to less government, yes to changing the way we fund our government and yes to a return to the founder’s vision of America.

It’s been a great year. Let’s keep it going.

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On the Road: Team Robin 2nd Amendment Shoot
June 27th, 2010 8:06 AM

Thanks to all who joined us Friday evening for our 2nd Amendment Shoot at Montlake Classic Clays. I am absolutely determined to defend our right to keep and bear arms as a member of Congress.

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On the Road: Promoting Y-12 and Oak Ridge Innovation
June 21st, 2010 3:04 PM

The Knoxville News Sentinel mentions my stop in Oak Ridge this last week for the dedication of the new clean fuel steam plant that will power the great advancements at Y-12.

I am determined to be a partner with Y-12 and the other great facilities throughout Anderson County to keep the innovation going. Thanks to the men and women of Y-12 for their tireless work on behalf of our nation and for the invitation to attend the dedication.

Robin Smith, who's seeking the Republican nomination for Tennessee's 3rd Congressional District seat (currently held by U.S. Rep. Zach Wamp), talks with Jerry Talbot, the NNSA's assistant administrator for management and administration, who was in Oak Ridge last week for dedication of Y-12's new steam plant. In the foreground, that's Ted Sherry, the federal site manager at Y-12.

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