Hey friend,
Lore Bergman stopped by The Kennel on September 30th, as part of The Honorable Series, to discuss her campaign for the U.S. House of Representative in Tennessee’s 6th Congressional District.
She’s taking on the incumbent Republican John Rose, who’s got over $1 million in his campaign coffers, thanks to our lax campaign finance regulations and his connections to some conveniently generous wealthy donors.
We touch on a variety of topics:
Background info about her previous experiences
Problems with our current disability insurance program
Policy positions on labor unions
…and a lot more!
Thanks to Lore for stopping by, and thanks to you for listening to/watching this episode!
A Lengthy Note
Towards the beginning of the interview, Lore mentioned something that, admittedly, I don’t consider much, if at all, when preparing to interview a candidate—the biography on her campaign site.
If memory serves me right, the only time that a candidate’s biography became a main point of discussion in any interview on here was when Santa Claus from North Pole, Alaska stopped by to talk about his campaign for his state’s seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. (That name is not a typo, and neither is his town.)
Nine times out of ten, however, when a candidate stops by, I’m neurotic about getting down to business: What policies do you support? How will you get ‘em passed, if elected? And so on.
Lore demonstrated how my shortcut can miss some key aspects of a candidate’s viability for the office they seek.
Recognizing that oversight, I want to highlight a key portion of her biography that shows her past experiences and justifies some parts of her platform. I recommend checking out the full biography on her site.
All my life experiences have convinced me to run. They have given me great empathy and understanding, which will serve me well when I am representing the 6th District. I needed women’s reproductive health care when I had a miscarriage years ago and I shudder to think what I would have to go through today, to get the help I need, now. It’s hard to believe that my grandmother had more rights 2 years ago, than my college age niece has now. I became homeless when I fought a landlord who was harming the disabled and the elderly in my apartment building. He retaliated against me, pushing me out of my apartment and within less than a year I was living in my car, and did so until I could find affordable housing again. My dog and I barely survived. So, believe me when I say, “I will put myself on the line for you”, I will, because I have already done so, and I will do it again, if necessary. I am a first generation American, from a long line of immigrants, from the former Yugoslavia. I know how hard immigrants work and that the majority by far, are good people and deserve to be treated with humanity and respect. I know how hard it is to deal with childhood sexual abuse, because I have had to heal from it, and I stand with all survivors, and their right to prosecute their abusers, without any time limits. I was raised in an extreme religion, and understand how people can be easily sucked into cult like groups, and deceived. And as a disabled American, I understand what it is like to need help from the government and how all the programs work, because I have had to actually use them. All these experiences will guide me as I represent the people of the 6th District.
Her biography makes her qualification to represent the People quite clear: She’s had firsthand experience with the issues that Congress must address today.
She understands the urgent need for enshrining reproductive health care rights into federal law. She knows what it’s like to be homeless. She’s well-accustomed to the barriers and hurdles that immigrants face. She’s experienced in working through the unnecessary bureaucracy associated with the essential social welfare programs that many Americans need today.
I say all of this to demonstrate that—while I appreciate the directness of an issues list on a candidate’s website—the biographies can illuminate candidates’ priorities quite clearly, and I’d like to thank Lore for kindly reminding me of that.
I’m a Big Dog, not an Old Dog. Still learning new tricks.
…and I intend to show off that new trick on next week’s episode of The Unnatural State of Affairs on WMTS 88.3 FM!
Initially, I was gonna include a whole dissection of her opponent’s biography page. However, what I wrote was quite long, as there’s a lot to unpack from Rep. Rose’s biography, so I’ll save it for the show on Monday.
Lore Bergman