Brent Moody will put the interests of his district and state above special interest.

Brent Moody

by Rod Williams - Bob Freeman is running to replace Beth Harwell in District 56, the seat currently held by Speaker Beth Harwell.  Freeman is the Democratic candidate, selected by their party leadership, facing off against Republican nominee Dr. Brent Moody who won a spirited primary in August.

Freeman's campaign talks about listening and bringing people together but not about specifics.  How would he improve Education?  What ideas does he have for Transit in Davidson County and Middle Tennessee?   Does he have suggestions for preserving and improving the economic progress of the last few years of Republican governance?  You can read his candidate profile in the Tennessean at this link.

What we know about Freeman is that, despite his talk of being born and married in District 56, he only moved here recently in order to run for office.  His ties to the area seem to be less important than the opportunity to seek a political position.  Apparently if Speaker Harwell were running for re-election, the Freeman family would have stayed put or moved into another district where he would create deep 'ties' to the community.  We can see that Bob Freeman doesn't want neighbors, he wants voters.  

Freeman talks about people being tired of "partisan rhetoric" and seeking "common ground" but a PAC to which his father donated over $100,000 earlier this year has sent out a dishonest mail piece attacking Brent Moody for being a highly respected skin cancer surgeon who travels widely to train other doctors in how to employ certain promising cancer chemotherapies.  Clearly Bob Freeman is above partisan rhetoric, leaving that to his father's friends.  Dirty campaigning is dirty campaigning even if you pay others to do it.  

The big question is why the Freeman family is focused on the State House.  There are already several Democrats representing Davidson County.  One more won't change the Republican super majority in the House.  But Bob's father Bill is predicted to run for Mayor next year.  

Bill Freeman didn't buy the company that owns the Nashville Scene and the Nashville Post just to lose money.  He already fired Megan Barry's husband from his role as a respected columnist.  And there is considerable speculation that the Freeman political machine was behind some of the revelations that helped expose Mayor Barry's romantic activities.  Having the new State Representative from Nashville's wealthiest area would be politically valuable to the Freeeman machine even if it did nothing to help the city and county.  

A vote for Bob Freeman is not a vote for specific ideas or for a clear philosophy of government.  It is a vote for politics as usual and to further a larger agenda to help elect his father.  

District 56 has benefited from having Beth Harwell as their Representative.  So has Tennessee.  Both groups will benefit from electing Brent Moody.  He will put the interests of his district and our state first and ahead of special interests.  He is strongly supported by Governor Haslam and Speaker Harwell and State Senator Steve Dickerson. You can read his candidate profile at this link to see some of the key distinctions.

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