Bob Tuke (D) is weighing his military credentials and religious convictions real heavy on his platform for Tennessee Senator against Lamar Alexander (R).

To show his support for our troops and their efforts overseas, he implemented Operation Bob's Boxes to gather up packages of food, toiletries, books, and other items to ship over to Tennessee troops serving our country.

However, as the project was in process, Hurricane Gustav loomed over the Gulf Coast and Tuke sent a portion of the packages to the relief effort.

"This is what Democrats do when people are in need. We 'pray with our feet.'"

In his most recent post on his campaign website, he attacks Alexander for voting against the Predisaster Mitigation Grant Program at FEMA, which would have helped in providing services to potential disaster victims beforehand rather than after the catastrophe.

He closes his post with "When I am your Senator, you can count on me to vote with Matthew 25 in mind: to care for the most needy among us. It is after all what we are called to do as stewards of our people and our planet. Together, Let's Take the Hill.

Semper Fidelis, Bob Tuke"

I suppose to some extent, Tuke has a right to lay heavy on the military/religious angle to appeal to the Republican majority in the state of Tennessee. Yet, if he keeps backing it up with pragmatic projects and runs a steady stream of campaign ads in the next couple months, it may pan out to be a close race afterall.

According to ontheissues.org, "drug lords in Afghanistan are making record profits in heroin trafficking and are even outsourcing their work to increase the amount of heroin they can process." The Afghan heroine market provides up to 90% of the world's supply and the money is being used to fund terrorist efforts inside and outside of the country, according to the report.

Bob Tuke (D) has promised to commit himself to combat the heroin sale and production in Afghanistan as an effective measure to decrease funding behind organizations such as Al Qaeda. He is also calling for a responsible withdrawal of our troops from Iraq to recommit our military forces and spending towards fighting the war on terror where the problem has been and is still building its forces.

Bob Tuke (D) has released a public statement denouncing the near $700 billion bailout of the federal financial markets proposed by the Bush Administration.

He states, "To be sure, the financial markets need stability, and it is clear that our government will be required to help. But with that help must come reliable assurances of responsible financial behavior in the future and accountability for how this disaster happened in the first place."

He continues, "We should slow down and require any plan to deal with the weakened financial situation of banks to include the following: strict accountability to insure that institutions benefiting from government assistance are held accountable for their debts; assurance that other nations are paying their fair share for the rescue of their own banks; and requirements that taxpayer money be used to stabilize consumer banking functions and not for executive compensation."

He then goes on to criticize his opponent, Lamar Alexander (R), for his failure to speak up on behalf of the issues that are hurting Tennessee voters such as high gas prices and a declining job market. He attacks Alexander for the Republican's ties to the Bush Administration, wealthy banking professionals, and oil executives, which (he suggests) may account for the senior senator's silence on the financial crisis.

In sum, Tuke's message rings very simply: "The Bush administration's proposal that U.S. taxpayers blindly cough up a minimum of $700 billion of welfare for Wall Street is wrong."

William "Mike" Padgett is focused on balancing the national budget and is promising Tennessee voters that as Senator he will "see that your hard-earned money won't be spent on the priorities of the few but on your priorities."

A harsh critic of the tax cuts of the Bush administration, Padgett argues that the tax cuts belong to the middle-class workers. He is calling for a more consistent and productive use of tax money in contrast to the amount of money the U.S. is currently spending in Iraq and the tax cuts for special interests. A more fair and comprehensive taxation and a smarter budgeting of our finances, Padgett argues, is paramount to the future economic health of our country.

As Senator, Mike Padgett promises "not vote to raise the federal debt limit and will work to restore pay-as-you go financing."

Bob Tuke (D) received a valuable endorsement from Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen on September 7th.

The Governor supported his endorsement primarily by highlighting the Democratic candidate's "capability to address the critical problems confronting Tennesseans today: bringing down high fuel prices, creating more jobs, jump-starting our slowing economy and better managing our war on terror."

Bredesen goes on to highlight Tuke's military career in Vietnam (a major talking point for Tuke's campaign) and also to point out Tuke's active support for Barack Obama. He also counts himself alongside Al Gore and other prominent political figures who are backing Tuke in the Tennessee Senate race.

Overall, the endorsement letter lacks any "red meat" (or whatever it is that the pundits are calling partisan jabs these days) and it merely reiterates the usual jargon about improving the economy, solving the energy crisis, and fighting the war on terror that seems to incessantly ring from every political microphone and letter across the country.

Nonetheless, endorsements can go a long way in garnering votes and it doesn't necessarily hurt for Tuke to accept fairly well-respected governor's approval.

Former Vice President Al Gore will be hosting a fundraiser for Bob Tuke (D) on October 10th at his home in the Belle Meade neighborhood at $1,000 per person. According to the report in the Knox News website, "A special reception before will be held for those who give $2,300 and groups can be named host committees by giving at least $5,000."

Tuke is facing a sizable financial disadvantage to Lamar Alexander (R) and a fundraiser of this caliber occurring just five days prior to the first day of early voting (October 15th) has to put a strong wind in his sails heading into the final stretch to November.

Former Marine Bob Tuke is a moderate liberal populist who has been endorsed by Tennessee's favorite son Al Gore and Gen. Wesley Clark, and deserves to be the next senator from the 16th state. He is for health care reform along, energy independence, and endorses A Responsible Plan to End the War in Iraq. His opponent, Lamar Alexander, is an old time Washington insider who blindly supported Bush in virtually every major decision the current administration made. Some accuse him of being a scandal ridden phony- as you can see here:http://www.realchange.org/alexandr.htm. The choice is clear, an Tuke is the one.

Republican Senator Lamar Alexander is just now releasing his ad campaign to "reintroduce himself to Tennessee voters" according to an Associated Press report in the College Publisher Network.

The ad refers to Alexander's former years as the "young, enthusiastic, piano-playing governor" and how, as Senator, Lamar Alexander "doesn't really care if you're a Republican or a Democrat...He looks you in the eye, listens more than he talks, just tries to do something good each day."

No debates have yet to be scheduled and the ad itself (in my opinion, at first glance) fails to respect or even acknowledge the real issue that is taking the top priority in Tennessee and national concerns: the economy.

I think it's a bit late to be "introducing" yourself to voters and perhaps the Bob Tuke, Alexander's Democratic rival, will benefit from the Senator's failure to publicly (in this ad at least) address the economic crisis.