An Open Letter From Mark West
April 30th, 2010

I was made aware of this letter yesterday. It is the support of patriotic Americans like Mark and Lori West than encourages and strengthens my resolve every day. They have my deep appreciation.

Friends:

It's been a little while since I last emailed you but I wanted to take a few minutes to share with you my thoughts on Governor Mike Huckabee's recent endorsement of Attorney Chuck Fleischmann for Congress.

Many of you know that I was a strong supporter of Gov. Huckabee's Presidential Campaign in 2007 - 2008. Not only was I involved locally here at the grassroots level with many of you in educating the community about his candidacy and making the case for his Presidency, but I was also a member of the Campaign's National Fundraising effort through "Team 100" made up of a handful of men and women around the country who were committed to raising approx. $100K each for the campaign.

Note that over a year ago I chose to keep this Meetup group alive (even though the Presidential Campaign was over) and renamed it to "Chattanooga TN for Mike Huckabee Values" because for me, it was the values of Mike Huckabee that drew me to him since they identified with mine. My ongoing personal belief in those same values is what I continue to look for in any political candidate.

Now fast forward 2 years to the 3rd District Campaign. Given the number of candidates in the race, it was important to my wife and me to get to know them and to sit down one on one with the candidates to find out not only their position on the issues but what were their personal values, what made them tick, what was their worldview.

To me, the character of an individual is infinitely more important than a stated position on a matter. It is their character that will ultimately determine how they think, make their decisions and conduct themselves. And it is their historical track record that can best predict what they will do in the future.

As a result of our thorough meetings and/or follow up research of the candidates, my wife and I personally chose to support Robin Smith for Congress last fall and that decision has been affirmed time and time again over the last 9 months.

I have been asked by many, many former Huckabee supporters about why the Governor would have supported Chuck Fleischmann over Robin Smith because it just didn't seem to fit with their understanding of the candidates or of Mike Huckabee for that matter. And I've had to be honest in my response according to my understanding of the situation. I will share these facts for you to come to your own conclusion, but to me they are beyond misunderstanding:

1. National Pro-Life & Pro-Family Groups that endorsed Robin Smith (some of the same groups that identified with Governor Huckabee's Presidential campaign):
* Concerned Women for America
* Family Research Council Action
* Eagle Forum
* Susan B. Anthony List

2. Governor Huckabee's Presidential Campaign Manager: Chip Saltsman
3. Chuck Fleischmann's Campaign Chief Strategist: Chip Saltsman

4. Chuck Fleischmann Funds Raised in 12 months (from contributors): $180,000
5. Robin Smith Funds Raised in 9 months (from contributors): $400,000

6. Chuck Fleischmann Funds from Personal Loans: $544,000
7. Robin Smith Funds from Personal Loans: $0

Let me be clear as I close this email. I am not looking for a fight and do not hold any ill-will towards any candidate in the 3rd District. But if it's appropriate for one person to endorse a candidate (while flying in on a jet from out of town) then I would hope you would agree that it's certainly in order for me as a local resident to stake my position clearly as well. I hope some of this communication has helped clear up some questions some of you may have had. Obviously though, I would welcome your response and additional questions if you have any.

And, if you are solidly supporting another candidate other than Robin Smith, I hold no ill-will towards you either. That is the beauty of our nation's election process -- we can all evaluate and arrive at a freely formed decision and the thanks goes to our Heavenly Father for blessing us with these United States of America!

Respectfully,

Mark West
Promoting Liberty & Restoring Values 

Posted by Robin Smith

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