by Rod Williams, Sept. 21, 2025- I am still undecided for whom I will vote in the primary for the Republican nominee for the 7th Congressional District special election to complete the term of Senator Mark Green, however, after watching the political forum posted above, held between eight of the candidates seeking the nomination, I am now leaning more strongly toward Matt Van Epps.
In a forum with eight candidates, it is challenging to walk away with much more than just an impression of the candidates. It is hard to remember who said what.
My impression from watching the forum is that I would be most comfortable with Mattt Van Epps representing me. Mr. Epps is not Mr. Charisma and he does not have a flair for flowery rhetoric. He didn't quote the Federalist Papers or paint a picture of his family life. He is a common-sense, practical, kind of boring, kind of wonkish, normie conservative Republican. He does not inflame passion. I kind of like that about him. While he naturally paid lip service to supporting Donald Trump, Epps did not repeat any Trump lies or float any conspiracy theories.
My impression of the absolutely worst candidate is Steward Parks. He is the guy who participated in the January 6 insurrection and was imprisoned for his actions and then pardoned in President Trump's mass pardon of J6 insurrectionists. Parks repeats the lie of the stolen election and says his actions of January 6 were to stop a Communist takeover. He is truly a nut-job.
A close runner-up for the worst candidate is Tres Wittum, who said some nutty stuff and wants to repeal the 16th Amendment. Even if one may make a reasoned argument among friends about why we would have been better off if we had never passed the 16th Amendment, it is not the stuff of a campaign. He also advocates the repeal of the 17th Amendment. I think we might be better off if we did not have direct election of senators, but that battle was lost in 1913, and it is foolish to bring it up as part of a campaign. The issue is settled.
Lee Reeves lost a point with me when he made a point of pledging to fight for an end to birthright citizenship. Also in response to a question about getting the economy going, he said mass deportation would improve the economy. Most economists think mass deportation will be detrimental to the economy and that immigrants contribute more than they drain.
Jody Barrett lost a point with me when he answered a question about how to address the cost of living. He said the Federal Reserve should slash the interest rate. Due to the poor job growth numbers and increasing unemployment, it may be time to trim interest rates; however, reducing interest rates is likely to lead to greater inflation, not less.
A question was asked about what the greatest threat to the country is, and Van Epps, Bulso, and some others gave serious answers and explained the threat from China. Some of the others said immigration or the deterioration of the family, and what is happening culturally. That question kind of separates the serious people from the others.
Some of the forum was wasted by asking questions with predictable answers. Of course, any Republican wants to save Social Security, and any Republican thinks the national debt is a serious issue.
Questions I wanted answers to that were not asked are these: (1) Do you believe the Corona vaccine saved lives? (2) who won the 2020 election? (3) Are tariffs a tax on the American people?
The correct answer to get my vote is yes, Biden, yes.
If you are inclined to watch the video, you can watch it in 1.25 or 1.5 time and not lose content.
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Not a very deep bench here, just more mega rubbish.
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