Your View: When politicians play games, ‘we the people’ lose

In the Bristol Herald Courier, September 11, 2020

We’re missing summer sports and cheering for our “side,” but politics is a poor substitute. Spreading misinformation and labeling strangers without any empathy or evaluation has more dire consequences than the outcome of your fantasy football pool. Our elected Representatives should work together on solving the complex problems facing our country this year. Instead, they’re squeezing pet projects into bills, childishly name-calling, jaunting off to recess and figuratively flipping the table on negotiating pandemic relief after stalling for two months (because their jobs aren’t on furlough, they aren’t losing insurance or facing eviction), while those who fund their salaries are going deeper into debt, despair and holding online fundraisers to buy needed medicine.

The Democratic candidate for Congress in Tennessee’s 1st District, Blair Walsingham, isn’t even in office yet and she’s funding two grants from her own campaign money to demonstrate how monthly “stimulus” payments can benefit our communities and relieve the pandemic pressures for all our citizens. She’s listening to the people, discussing policies on her podcast and calling for unity. She’s not a self-funded millionaire buying her ticket to D.C. with a flood of TV ads that make you angry and afraid of your neighbors. She’s looking for solutions that work for ALL of us.

I want people like her in Congress. We must stop bickering and focus on common goals. Turn off divisive TV and radio shows and see if you can help your community. And come November, we should look beyond what “team” the candidates are on and focus on who’s putting people over political games, living our daily struggles and who will advocate for us, not corporate donors. I’m voting Blair Walsingham for Congress and if you’re ready for positive change in our district, you should too.