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Tennessee: Some veterans upset over Cobb signs
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| Jim Shull | |
Several political signs bearing the words “Veterans for Jim Cobb” apparently disappeared Thursday after veterans complained about their message.
Several members of veterans groups in Soddy-Daisy said Thursday they thought the signs seen on Hixson Pike and at the intersection of Middle Valley and Gann roads were inappropriate.
Jim Shull, a Soddy-Daisy resident and member of several veterans groups, said the groups cannot endorse political candidates.
“He may have gotten 10 or 12 veterans to endorse him,” he said. “But it’s misleading.”
Rep. Cobb, a Spring City Republican who is seeking reelection to the 31st District House seat in Rhea and northern Hamilton County, did not respond to calls seeking comment Thursday.
It is unclear whether Rep. Cobb’s campaign had placed the signs in Hamilton and Rhea counties.
His primary opponent, Soddy-Daisy Republican Jim Vincent, said the signs are misleading and wondered whether Mr. Cobb or local veterans had taken them down.
“I just assumed the veterans got fed up and ripped them down,” Mr. Vincent said.
The complaints come several weeks after Tennessee Right to Life and the National Rifle Association asked Rep. Cobb to take down signs saying they had endorsed him.
Rep. Cobb altered his signs to say he had won the groups’ endorsement in 2006.
Veterans in Hamilton and Rhea counties had mixed reactions.
Don Mathis, former Rhea County veterans service office and commander of the Dayton Veterans of Foreign Wars post, said it’s true veterans groups may not support candidates.
“Individually, I think the veterans are for Jim Cobb,” he said.
Rep. Cobb is a U.S. Army veteran, according to his campaign Web site. Mr. Vincent said he is not a veteran.
Robert Cothran, another Soddy-Daisy veteran, said the signs may lead people to believe the organizations support Rep. Cobb.
“I’m a veteran and I don’t support him,” he said. “What veterans is it talking about?”
James Thurman said he and Rep. Cobb are both members of the Spring City American Legion chapter.
He said has never asked people in the group to support him. He said he thinks complaints about the signs are purely political.
“I think it’s just some more stuff getting started,” he said.
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Comments
As a veteran and Soddy Daisy resident I have seen Jim Cobb's
campaign signs and there is no mention of any veterans
organization on them,and person implying that a veterans
organization may be responsible for the signs is on a witch
hunt.I proudly tell you and Robert Cothran, that I am one of
those veterans mentioned on the sign.Jim has served his
country well: during the Vietnam War and in State Government.
Vance Elliott
118 Igou Ferry Rd.
Soddy-Daisy TN 37379
US Army
Door Gunner
Vietnam'65
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