The Rabidoux campaign is looking forward to the November elections

Greg Rabidoux has been hard at work since announcing that he was running for the Democratic nomination for the 7th Congressional District. Although he was unopposed in the Democratic primary, he ran his primary campaign as if he was already facing Marsha Blackburn in the November election. “We been doing everything that you would expect of a serious campaign like ours. We cover 15 counties and have been to numerous community events in each of the counties. We have
also built up a core group of supporters in each county.”

Rabidoux understands that if elected he would be representing the entire district not just those who supported him in his campaign, So they have been conducting extensive community outreach, and listening to the concerns of the voters of the district. As a professor of Political Science, he knows that grassroots support can decide the outcome of the general election. His campaign has been working really closely not only with the Democratic party but with non-partisan organizations as well. “We have been meeting with churches, community organizations, etc. – talking about what it would take to help turn the economy around in each of their areas,” said Rabidoux. “We can go into any county in the District, and we find that the regular people know who we are. We have been working side by side with the people of the 7th Congressional District at places big and small, like Mag’s Coffee in Clarksville Tennessee.”

Blackburn refuses to participate in a debate

“We went to Marsha Blackburn’s district office the day after the election and proposed a series of public forums between the two candidates that would focus on the issues that are important to people in our district.” Rabidoux said, “Her campaign refused to even discuss taking part. Their response was that they wouldn’t debate me because they were concerned that I would cast my vote for Nancy Pelosi as the Speaker of the House. I appreciated their concern about who I would vote for, because it would only matter if they believed that I would in the end be victorious, and that my political party would retain the majority in Congress. The reality is that the people want to see us face to face at a public forum; to hear our ideas, our policies, so they make their decision on just who is the best person for the job.”

Economic Concerns

“Tennessee is lagging behind other states, other countries, in utilizing innovations and technology to create jobs in the new emerging economy. The first change we need to make would be to build public private collaborations and support small businesses. We need to get a representative in Congress who has a vision on how to make this  happen for our district.” Rabidoux said. He continued, “Blackburn doesn’t have a plan, she has simply been selecting À la carte items from a menu of bad choices. One of her main focuses is keeping the tax cuts for the super wealthy. If you are serious about developing a true economic plan to turn our district around, you don’t make cornerstone of your plan simply to make sure that the super wealthy get even richer. We have seen the evidence over the last thirty years, the trickle down theory of economics simply does not work.”

Rabidoux also thinks that Federal dollars for research should be more results oriented, “We should be focused on researching innovations that can be brought to the marketplace; as this would generate job growth, and would help us to be more competitive in the world economy. It speeds up the time that it takes for a good idea to be grown into a profitable one.”

Education

Being a College Professor means Rabidoux has strong opinions on Education, “Generally speaking, there is a lot of talk about accountability for teachers. We need to make sure we are recruiting , retaining, and rewarding quality of teachers. We rank pretty low on the scale for salaries for teachers. Good teachers end up moving to other areas where they can do better on salaries and other benefits. ”

He went on, “The second piece we need to do is have a much closer connection between our educating and training of students to meet the needs of the emerging needs of the job market. They need to be able to use their education when they graduate. A good model is the collaboration between Hemlock Semiconductor and Austin Peay  State University.Tto ensure that Hemlock had the trained personnel they needed to staff the plant when it is completed, APSU partnered with Hemlock to create a 2-year program that would ensure that those needs were met.”

He also feels that teachers must be given the resources to meet the demands that we as a society place upon them. ” We need to make sure that we  are not simply talking about how important education is while at the same time slashing the education budgets. If we are going to hold teachers accountable we have to ensure that they have the resources to get the job done. Education is the key to prosperity in this county. Ultimately we want to get results with our education system. We want our students able to compete in our state, our nation, and globally.”

He had a good point when he said, “The reports all say there is no substitute for Quality teachers, for parental involvement and family support, and lowering student to teacher ratios. It’s not magic when the class sizes are smaller the students learn better.”

Jobs

“We know that jobs can be created in districts just like ours because we see other states creating jobs in areas that were not booming. We need to look at our advantages, our competitive edge.” He listed what he believes makes the 7th Congressional District attractive to businesses looking to relocate into our area, “We have strong work ethic, generally good weather, cheap electricity, and an attractive tax base.” Rabidoux then identified what he feels is one of our problems, “Other states focus on not just where the job markets are today, but where they are heading in the next few years and then building the infrastructure to be ready for the needs of not just today, but tomorrow. For example there are many exciting possibilities in connecting our rural areas together and connecting our rural areas to our urban areas.”

Rabidoux feels that our elected official could do so much more for the district, “Blackburn does not fight for the funds available to help grow our district. What she calls earmarks, other representatives and areas call job creation funds. We need to send a representative in Washington who will fight for our community.”

Greg Rabidoux is serious about bringing the power back to the people of the 7th District. His grassroots campaign is building momentum with increased press visability, events across the 15 county district and a building base of support. “I am proud of the work our campaign has done,” said Rabidoux. “People across the district have told us that they are tired of a representative who represents corporate and special interests over that of the working people.”

Rabidoux recently released his SMART Plan which outlines his plan for economic growth, linking education and training to private sector business, and also take a look at connecting our rural and urban communities through technology and transportation. He also released a statement on unemployment in Tennessee with an accompanying web ad on the subject. “Jobs, the economy and education are top on the list of issues important to the people of our district,” he said . “These are the issues that Blackburn and I should discuss in a public forum. We owe this to the working families of the 7th District who want to make informed decisions on who should hold the job as their representative for US Congress.”

“Afterall, this campaign isn’t about party labels; it is about the best person for the job,” says Rabidoux. “Tennesseans want someone to work for their family. And I will do that. It is time to have someone who truly represents the people of District 7.”

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