Why I Voted for Matt Van Epps

Matt Van Epps

by Rod Williams, Nov. 27, 2025- Yesterday was the last day to vote in early voting, and I voted, casting my ballot for Matt Van Epps. It was a difficult choice. If these were normal times, it would not have been difficult at all.  I would have voted for the Republican and not had to think twice about it. These are not normal times.

I actually like Matt Van Epps. I followed the Republican primary closely and voted for Van Epps. To me, he appeared the most thoughtful and traditional conservative of the pack. He struck me as the least Trumpy. However, Trump endorsed him, and Van Epps has given no indications that he would stand up to Trump in Congress. 

I have been disgusted with the performance of Congress. It refuses to stand up to Trump on much of anything. From Trump's imposing of tariffs, which is a power given to Congress, to conducting extrajudicial killing in the Caribbean without a Congressional authorization of the use of force, to affirming Trump's nut-job appointees, and much more, Congress has surrendered its authority to the President. The Republican Congress has been useless and complicit. 

Congress should be a check on the Presidency, and the Republicans in Congress have totally capitulated. They have not checked his authoritarianism nor his corruption. For these reasons, I have thought we needed a Democratic majority in Congress that would check Trump's abuse of power. Believing this, and seeing Trump as an existential threat to American Democracy, I was ready to vote for the Democratic nominee. 

The more I learned about the Democratic nominee, however, the more I realized I would have a hard time voting for her. Since I assumed the race would handily be won by Van Epps, I thought for a while I might just not vote. I have never just not voted that I can recall, and I thought that I should at least express my displeasure with the choices before us at the ballot box.  I thought that I might vote and write in my own name. I have done that before. I briefly thought that I might vote for one of the other candidates, just as a protest vote. I reached the conclusion that I would vote, but not vote for either Van Epps or Behn.

As it became clear the race was tightening, I had to reconsider and think more carefully about my vote. Before, my vote would not have really mattered but now it could matter a great deal.  For the reasons listed above, seeing the only way to curtail Trump's authoritarianism was by voting for a Democratic Congress, I again considered voting for the Democratic nominee. However, if Behn won, power in Congress would not change hands. With the announcement from Marjorie Taylor Greene that she should resign on January 5th, the potential for Democrats recapturing Congress became more of a possibility, however, still a remote possibility.  Even if Behn won and Greene resigned, Democrats would still be short two votes from regaining power and being able to be a check on Trump. 

I just couldn't do it. I could not vote for someone whose values I do not share when the vote would have little impact on curtailing Trump's authoritarianism, so I ended up voting for Van Epps. If the Democratic nominee had been a moderate Democrat, I would have voted for the Democrat. Unfortunately, the Democratic nominee is a radical, woke progressive with the endorsement of the Democratic Socialists. 

I would like to think that Democrats would do better if they nominated normal Democrats, but I am not sure that is true. I am beginning to think that there are too few moderate people left to make it worthwhile to try to appeal to the middle.  The energy seems to lie with the radicals. For the few like me who Democrats could pick up by choosing a less radical nominee, they would lose the energy of the more radical Democrat activists.  As a strategy, maybe moving left makes sense. I am beginning to think there is no middle in American politics anymore. There is no center-left or center-right; there are only the extremes. I am beginning to think that our choices in the midterm and beyond are going to be between the radical woke progressive socialist Democrats and the nationalists, populist, authoritarian Republicans. I don't like that, but I'm afraid that's where we are. 

While I want Congress to be a check on Trump, I cannot vote for a radical like Aftyn Behn, who was a community organizer for left-wing organizations, who has the endorsement of the Democratic Socialists of America, and who advocates sex change operations for children, defunding the police, hates Nashville, denigrates motherhood, and believes men can give birth.  I just can't do it. 

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Aftyn Behn Rushing the Governor's Office, Dragged Out Screaming and Crying

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Aftyn Behn Says Men Can Give Birth

" Behn, who is currently a Tennessee state representative for District 51 and is running for the U.S. Congressional seat left vacant by former Rep. Mark Green (R-TN), used the term “birthers” before clarifying “men and women who can give birth” while speaking on her podcast Grits. She made the comment before discussing a book by pro-abortion feminist Jenny Brown called Birth Strike, which argues that women should refuse to have children as a way to collectively bargain with the government and achieve their political aims." (link)

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Tennessee Dem Candidate Aftyn Behn: ‘I Don’t Want Children. I Want Power!’

 https://x.com/greg_price11/status/1993043067486527894?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1993043067486527894%7Ctwgr%5E405bbbe3c9f50560daef6c0f11ca512950f862ee%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.dailywire.com%2Fnews%2Ftennessee-dem-candidate-aftyn-behn-i-dont-want-children-i-want-power

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Democrat Candidate Aftyn Behn Said Prayer Makes Her ‘Deeply Uncomfortable’

"Democrat Candidate Aftyn Behn Said Prayer Makes Her ‘Deeply Uncomfortable’ In Resurfaced Audio Democrat Candidate Aftyn Behn Said Prayer Makes Her ‘Deeply Uncomfortable’ In Resurfaced Audio" Link

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Poll Shows Van Epps 48%; Aftyn Behn 46%

 

link

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Thanksgiving Proclamation Issued by President George Washington

 

Thanksgiving Proclamation Issued by President George Washington, at the request of Congress, on October 3, 1789 

By the President of the United States of America,

 a Proclamation. 

Whereas it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor; and—

Whereas both Houses of Congress have, by their joint committee, requested me “to recommend to the people of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness:” 

Now, therefore, I do recommend and assign Thursday, the 26th day of November next, to be devoted by the people of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being who is the beneficent author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be; 

that we may then all unite in rendering unto Him our sincere and humble thanks for His kind care and protection of the people of this country previous to their becoming a nation; 

for the signal and manifold mercies and the favor, able interpositions of His providence in the course and conclusion of the late war; 

for the great degree of tranquillity, union, and plenty which we have since enjoyed; 

for the peaceable and rational manner in which we have been enabled to establish constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national one now lately instituted; 

for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed, and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge; 

and, in general, for all the great and various favors which He has been pleased to confer upon us. 

And also that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations, and beseech Him to pardon our national and other trangressions; 

to enable us all, whether in public or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually; 

to render our National Government a blessing to all the people by constantly being a Government of wise, just, and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed; 

to protect and guide all sovereigns and nations (especially such as have shown kindness to us), and to bless them with good governments, peace, and concord; 

to promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the increase of science among them and us; 

and, generally, to grant unto all mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as He alone knows to be best. 

Given under my hand at the City of New York the third day of October in the year of our Lord 1789. 

Go: Washington

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Happy Thanksgiving

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With Marjorie Taylor Greene's Announced Resignation, the Behn-Van Epss Seat Becomes Even More Important.

Republican Matt Van Epss and Democrat Aftyn Behn

by Rod Williams, Nov. 25, 2025- The TN-07 special election for Congress has been getting lots of national attention. I must have seen half a dozen podcasters report on the race and several mainstream news outlets. Also, a lot of out-of-state money from independent groups is pouring into the race. Total independent expenditures by Democratic groups has reached $1.9 million so far and Republican groups have injected $2.4 million into the race. (1) The race has taken on a lot more importance with the announcement that Marjorie Taylor Green is resigning from Congress on January 5th. 

There is widespread belief that Democrats will retake the House in the midterms on November 3, 2026. Something like 20 House Republicans have already announced they will not be seeking reelection.  There is a possibility that the House could switch earlier, if things go right for Democrats. Part of things going right is Aftym Behn winning the upcoming Dec 2nd election. 

Republicans currently hold a 219-213 edge in the House of Representatives. With Green vacating a seat, the split will be 218 to 213.  There are two other special elections to fill vacant seats scheduled to take place soon, and Democrats are heavily favored in both races. One is in Texas to replace the late Representative Sylvester Turner who died in March, and the other in New Jersey to replace Governor-elect Mikie Sherrill, who last week resigned from her seat in the House of Representatives. The Texas special election is set for March, while the New Jersey race is set for April. (2) If  Democrats win these two seats in addition to the Marjorie Taylor Green seat being vacant, the split will be Republicans 218 to Democrats 215. If this happens and Aftyn Behn wins the TN-07 seat split would be 218-216. 

If that happens, then it only takes two Republicans to follow Marjorie Taylor Greene's example and retire early for the House to split 216-216. Punchbowl News is stating that "a few other GOP members" are "considering retiring in the middle of the term." (2) Should this happen it would lead to a power-sharing arrangement. If three resign early, the Democrats gain control. While this scenario is unlikely, it is possible. This is why so much national attention is being focused on a race that until recently was considered a solid, safe red seat and not worth spending money on. 

I feel pretty confident that the TN-07 seat will stay Republican. With revelations that Behn supports sex change treatments for children, supports defunding the police, and hates Nashville, I think her chances of winning have decreased. If Democrats had chosen a more moderate candidate, I think the chances of flipping the seat would be much greater. 

Even if Democrats do not retake the House, a slimmer Republican majority means that it takes fewer disgruntled Republican House members to cause headaches for the Speaker. It means it is harder for the Speaker to hold up legislation that a large portion of the House wants to see the light of day. It takes fewer Republican defections for committees to conduct meaningful oversight. 

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Ethics complaint filed against Metro Nashville Councilman Rollin Horton

Rollin Horton

WSMV, Nov. 25, 2025- The Voices of District 20, a group formed to recall Councilmember Rollin Horton, filed a complaint with the Metro Board of Ethical Conduct on November 20. ... The Voices of District 20 shared a copy of the criminal complaint it alleges to have mailed to the DA’s office. In it, the group accuses Councilman Horton of harassment, stalking and civil rights intimidation.

“His conduct - targeting recall petitions through doxxing, repeated communications, and misuse of police - intends to annoy, alarm, frighten, or offend, constituting harassment (Class A misdemeanor). The repeated, coordinated targeting potentially qualifies as stalking. Most critically, it coerces residents from exercising First Amendment rights to petition, violating civil rights intimidation laws.”

... The clerk provided a copy of the ethics complaint to WSMV. In it, Chris Remke, Rachel Gladstone and Lauren Magli, all representatives of the Voices of District 20 group, claim, “Councilmember Horton has engaged in a sustained campaign of intimidation, harassment, doxxing, and interference targeting residents of District 20, particularly those involved in a lawful recall petition effort against him. This conduct has created a climate of fear, suppressing civic participation and chilling support for the recall.” (link)

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Why Dems Are Pouring Money Into the Tennessee 7th

by  Lauren Egan, The Bulwark, Nov. 23, 2025 - IT’S BEEN A GOOD MONTH for the Democratic party. Double-digit wins in the Virginia and New Jersey gubernatorial races, fractures within the Republican coalition over releasing the Jeffrey Epstein files, and polls ....

The 7th is now reliably Republican; Trump carried it by 22 percentage points in 2024 and Green won his last two races by a similar margin. ...

In short, TN-7 is not exactly the place where the two political parties tend to fight it out, let alone spend meaningful sums of money. Yet that’s exactly what is happening in this special election.

Millions of dollars have poured into middle Tennessee in an attempt to tip the balance between Democrat Aftyn Behn, a progressive organizer and state representative, and Republican Matt Van Epps, the former Tennessee General Services commissioner.

... while it’s notable how much more bullish Democrats have gotten about their prospects, most party officials I spoke with (both in Tennessee and at national party organizations) think that Van Epps will ultimately win. It’s simple math. While Democrats tend to overperform in special elections and a Trump backlash is clearly brewing, a 22-point deficit is just a lot to overcome.

In private, Democratic officials tell me that they are hoping to see a single-digit loss. They believe even that would be enough to send a message that the political winds are at their backs, that Trump’s agenda is politically toxic, and that Democrats can seriously compete in red parts of the country that just a few weeks ago felt out of reach.

... Behn is running a campaign designed to turn out Democrats more than to make crosscurrent appeals to Republicans. That may work in a special election. But officials here think that such an approach would doom her in a regular election cycle, when Republican voters are more clued in and willing to show up. If Democrats want to be anything other than the party of highly educated people who show up in special elections, then they have to figure out how to win over more moderate and conservative voters.

...it is imperative for Democrats to find a formula that works. Behn may benefit from running in a special election—in which her party has routinely overperformed—but her success (or failure) is going to be closely studied for which voters are activated and why.

...Democrats in the state insist that a base-turnout strategy could work. In my conversation with Martin, he stated plainly that the race was “not about persuading voters, it’s about turning them out.” And at a canvass launch I attended last week, organizers for the Behn campaign told volunteers that they would be knocking only on the doors of Democratic voters and likely wouldn’t encounter any Republicans.

... Republicans have attempted to paint Behn as too liberal, resurfacing old podcast comments she made about policing and going after the work she did for the progressive grassroots group Indivisible. They’ve dubbed her the “AOC of Tennessee” and circulated clips of her calling Trump a “racist, white-supremacist bigot.”

There are some signals that Behn recognizes the risks and rewards of a base-turnout approach—and is trying to balance them. She has campaigned with progressive stars like Rep. Jasmine Crockett and activist David Hogg. But her buzziest campaign video does not even mention her party affiliation. When Kamala Harris made a surprise appearance in Nashville to encourage people to vote in the special election, it was hosted by the Tennessee Democratic Party, not Behn’s campaign. Harris, who had long planned to be in town for her book tour, never mentioned Behn by name and the two did not appear together. Behn left the rally to attend a fundraiser just a few minutes before the vice president arrived.

... The Behn model might be the smartest play for a special election, but the Democrats I spoke with warned that it was not how the party would unseat other Republicans in deeply red districts, like GOP Rep. Andy Ogles in Tennessee’s 5th—a race that the national Democratic party has already said they will spend money on next year.

“If Aftyn comes within 10 points, I absolutely think most Democrats in Tennessee will see this as ammunition to run further to the left in all races,” said a local elected official.

... Van Epps won a crowded Republican primary thanks to an endorsement from Trump, he’s done very little to highlight his MAGA credentials in the general election. In a recent TV ad, Van Epps doesn’t even mention he’s a Republican. (Read it all)

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Aftyn Behn on Defunding the Police

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Is Peak Trump Past

 by Rod Williams, Nov. 23, 2025 - Is it possible that Trump is a lame duck and that Trumpism is past its prime, and we are turning the page? I don't know, but it feels like it. Of course, I thought after the Trump-encouraged coup attempt of January 6, 2021 that Trump was done, and I was wrong. That being said, this is the most encouraged I have been since Trump got reelected that people are tuning on Trump and his power is waning. 

This past week was a very bad week for Trump. Writing in The Dispatch, this is how Rachael Larimore described it. 

On Tuesday, Congress voted almost unanimously to approve the release of the Epstein files. The same day, a federal court blocked Texas’ newly drawn congressional map, a move made at Trump’s behest to help the GOP pick up seats in the 2026 midterms. (The matter is now before the Supreme Court.) On Wednesday, a federal judge criticized the government’s handling of its prosecution of former FBI Director James Comey, saying that “government misconduct may have tainted the grand jury proceedings,” and ordered prosecutors to turn over records from the grand jury proceedings to Comey’s legal team. On Thursday, the September jobs report, unreleased until now because of the shutdown, showed that unemployment ticked up to 4.4 percent, its highest level since October 2021. And Trump has spent the last week rolling back some of his signature tariffs in an attempt to bring prices down.

That is bad, but she is only speaking of the most recent week and missed some other bad news for Trump. This is also the week in which Marjorie Taylor Greene officially broke with Trump. While I think MTG is a certifiable nut-job with her crazy talk of Jewish space lasers causing California wildfires and similar nutty stuff, I think she is a person of integrity, and she is authentic. While many Republicans are playing to the base and know Trump is a con artist and his policies are insane, they go along to avoid Trump's wrath and a primary challenge. Marjorie Taylor Greene really believes the Trumpy stuff. I suspect she really wants to "drain the swamp," believes there is an international cabal of pedophiles controlling the world, and really is a committed isolationist. She is a True Believer and is more MAGA than Trump. Marjorie Taylor Greene is representative of a lot of people within the Trump movement.

Marjorie Taylor Greene represents one rebellious faction in the Trump movement that is unhappy with Trump. There is another faction that is also in rebellion, and that is those who are disgusted by the tolerance of neo-Nazis within the movement. Many were shocked in early October to learn of an email exchange among Young Republican leaders in which they joked about gas chambers and expressed pro Nazi sentiment. If you missed this, see Hitler Loving Young Republicans.

The expose that some significant Young Republican leaders view Hitler favorably caused a ripple of revulsion in Trump world but quickly faded. Then, in late October, America's leading pundit, Tucker Carlson interviewed Nick Fuentes, a self-described white nationalist known for antisemitic and racist comments. The interview went on for over two hours and Carlson asked only softball questions of this young man who had praised Hitler and denied the Holocaust. The interview sparked immediate backlash within Republican and conservative circles, including from people like Senator Ted Cruz. 

Then Heritage Foundation president Kevin Roberts posted a video defending his "close friend" Carlson and denouncing his critics as a "venomous coalition" and "globalist class." This was met with strong opposition and outrage within the Heritage Foundation and much of the Trump movement. Roberts apologized and issued a stronger condemnation of Fuentes's views and some people within Heritage who had advised Roberts were forced to resign.

All of this stuff about the pro Nazi email exchange and the Carlso-Fuentes-Heritge episode may not seem significant, but I think it is. There is a civil war going on within MAGA. It is only going to grow. Without unity within the movement, there will not be the same enthusiasm to work the polls, knock doors, give money, and defend Trump and Trumpism on social media. The worker bees of the movement may just sit out the midterms and by the 2028 presidential election, MAGA may be split between different candidates, opening a path for a normie pre-Trump type Republican. 

Another reason to be of good cheer about the demise of Trumpism is that the Democrats swept the recent off-cycle elections. Abigail Spanberger in Virginia and Mikie Sherrill in New Jersey won by double-digit victories with margins that exceeded expectations.  In Georgia, two Democrats flipped seats on the state’s Public Service Commission, and Democrats flipped a couple of Republican-held state Senate seats in Mississippi. And, of course, Mandomi won big in New York City. The New York race was an expected win for Democrats, but for Democrats to win in Mississippi and Georgia is a sign of a Democratic resurgence. I think those votes are as much a way to express anti-Trump sentiment as they are a vote in favor of Democratic policy positions. 

Another thing going wrong for Trump is that Republicans got the most blame for the recent government shutdown. Another is that prices are up, and Trump had to tacitly admit that tariffs raise prices and had to remove tariffs on over one hundred common grocery store items. And, the mass deportation is causing people to turn against Trump. This is especially true in the Hispanic communities where Trump had made gains. Many people who believed Trump would go after the worst of the worst are unhappy to see people like their lawn care guy or the nice lady who also has a child in the same daycare as their child get deported.

There is also an indication that the Republican Party in Congress is finally getting some backbone and may stand up to Trump. They exhibited this in defying Trump in voting for the Epstein files to be released. Equally important, I think, is that Trump pressured the Senate Republicans to abolish the filibuster in order to end the shutdown and they didn't do it. Republicans know that without the filibuster, once Democrats come back into power, Democrats will grant statehood to Washington D. C. and Porto Rico, giving Democrats four more Senate votes, they will pack the Supreme Court, and make the right to abortion the law of the land.  The filibuster protects the interests of the minority party and prevents a temporary, tiny minority from exercising its will. Trump is only concerned with his legacy, but it seems Republicans can see beyond Donald Trump, and that is a good thing.

While all of the above I see as good news, indicating Trump's peak popularity and power are past, that is not to say that all is well. Given Trump's disregard for the Constitution and norms, he may become more dangerous when he feels power is slipping away. Also, we don't know what comes after Trump. I am going to put those concerns off for another day and bask in what I see as the beginning of the end of Trumpism. We are on the downward side of the Trump curve. Let us acknowledge it and enjoy it. 

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Aftyn Behn Caught Saying She 'Hates' Nashville

Fox News 17, Nov. 23, 2025 - Democratic congressional hopeful Aftyn Behn did not hold back when describing how she really feels about Nashville — the city she’s now running to represent — in a 2020 podcast that’s resurfaced just days before the Dec. 2 special election. (link)

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