GOP Ground Game will Seal the Deal!

If Republicans will remain true to their party and if they turn out in record numbers tomorrow, Tennessee will deliver John McCain/Sarah Palin and Lamar Alexander landslide victories.

Of more significance to us in Hawkins County, our ground game tomorrow can deliver the 4th District State Senate seat back to the GOP. If Mike Faulk defeats the man who betrayed our party, the Republican Party will hold their majority in the State Senate and we will have a conservative Lt. Governor from northeast Tennessee.

If the turncoat, Mike Williams, wins, he will vote for a liberal Senator from West Tennessee for Lt. Governor. Take a look at the thousands of dollars Sen. Jim Kyle and other Democrats have poured into his campaign to try and prop him up. Can there be any doubt that Mike Williams will once again betray his east Tennessee roots and support a west Tennessee Democrat? And what did that former betrayal by Williams get his constituents? We know part what it got him: appointment as Speaker Pro Tem of the Senate.

So troops, it's up to you. Will you turn out to make Tennessee a big red state and deliver the State Senate in the process?

Mike Williams turns his Campaign over to the Democrats

We passed on the newspaper reports out of Nashville in the past couple of weeks that Democrat State Senators have been transferring their state mail money to Mike Williams to get him re-elected.

Here's the latest news from the Nashville Post: Mike Williams has now hired veteran Democrat fundraisers to try and resusitate his re-election efforts.

His campaign finance report shows his campaign is on life support and only union money and money from prominent Democrat Mike McWherter leaves his campaign with any pulse at all.

Liberal Democrat Memphis Senator Jim Kyle Wants to Be Lt. Governor: Helps Mike Williams' Campaign with Mail Money

Over the last few weeks, you've probably received "official" mail from Senator Mike Williams asking for your opinion or reminding you of the sales tax holiday.

Each State Senator is allocated $6,832 per year for constituent mail and postage. In a copyrighted story appearing in the Tennessee Journal, we learn the spring sales tax holiday mailer sent by Williams cost taxpayers $5,530 and the legislative update piece sent by Williams cost another $4,508. The cost of these and three other mailers far exceed the Senator's yearly constituent mail and postage allotment.

That Sen. Williams would use this asset paid for by you and me as a taxpayer expense during an election year to further his re-election efforts is not surprising or uncommon. But the sheer number of pieces sent by the former Republican, now self-declared Independent raised eyebrows.

If re-elected, is there any doubt who Williams would support for Lt. Governor: East Tennessee Republican Ron Ramsey or Memphis liberal Democrat Jim Kyle?

The Nashville Post reports:

Director of the Legislature’s Office of Administration Connie Fredrick confirms to Post Politics that Democratic Senators John Wilder, Jim Kyle and Doug Jackson have transferred $6000, $7,000 and $5, 000 respectively to the account of Senator Mike Williams.

2nd Quarter Financial Disclosures: Nearly 10-1 Cash-on-Hand Advantage for Faulk

Disclosures for the 4th District State Senate race between former Republican Mike Williams and real Republican Mike Faulk are out for the second quarter. Faulk has a nearly 10-1 cash-on-hand advantage over Williams with 116 days left until the November 4, 2008 election - $143,000 to $15,000.

In the 2nd quarter, legislators were prohibited from raising money until May 15th . To be fair, it must be noted Faulk had twice as much time as did Williams to raise money. But Faulk outraised Williams 28-1.

The Mike Faulk for State Senate Campaign raised over $58,ooo during the quarter. Williams, who sent a fundraising letter to his special interest friends before the General Assembly convened, was able to raise less than $2000 for the reporting period.

Mike Williams Breaks Another Promise: Will Run Again Despite Term Limit Pledge!

Click on the Morristown Citizens Tribune article above and read for yourself in the article above the promises Mike Williams made in 1996 when he first asked for our vote to be State Senator.

He said leaving the State House before serving 8 years was his way of keeping a promise to term limit himself. He said he'd continue to work for term limits once we sent him to the State Senate.

Despite telling folks he wasn't running again and despite telling folks he has stayed longer than he intended, Mike Williams qualified to run for reelection as an Independent at the very last minute on April 3rd.

Eight years have now become eighteen years and Mike Williams wants four more years!

Williams doesn't want to talk about term limits now that he's served 12 years in the State Senate. He should have limited himself to 8 years in the Senate. If he had, these last four years would not have played out the way they did.

So much for term limits! So much for promise keeping! Looks like limiting his terms to a total of 18 years is up to us.

Sen. Mike Williams: A Trail of Broken Promises

The ad shown here is from 1996 when Mike Williams first asked for our vote. The advertisement attacks Democrat Senator Wallace for taking special interest money. Specifically it says, "Mike Williams does NOT take money from special interests. Never has. Never will."

According to the Tennessee Journal, Sen. Williams, who abandoned the Republican Party last session, sent this past week a letter to special interest lobbyists seeking contributions for his reelection asking his "true friends" to stick with him.

To learn about the contributions Sen. Mike Williams has accepted since promising to "never" accept special interest money, see the disclosures at the Tennessee Registry of Election Finance. Type his name and choose a year to see how little he raised and how few contributors he has in the 4th Senate District. Then compare that to how many "true friends" - special interest friends - he has who have handed him thousands and thousands of special interest dollars even though he hasn't had an opponent since 1996.

The issue isn't Political Action Committee contributions. The vast majority of candidates for state office accept PAC contributions. Isn't the issue is whether or not you can depend on the promises Mike Williams makes?

That Sen. Williams shared his plan to seek reelection first with his special interest friends rather than the constituents of his district says it all.

See also Bill Hobbs: "Flip-flop Mike" and Angelia Gibson-Herrell: "Too Little, Too Late".