Senator Bob Corker

Not so long ago, Bob Corker was not sure he wanted another six-year term in the U.S. Senate because of frustration over congressional inaction, which he compares to "watching paint dry."

"Most people who know me know that all last year, I really had to think about that myself," he said in a telephone interview from his Washington office."If you have led a productive life, you have to wonder it it's worth your time being here.

"But, for what it's worth, I have become more optimistic than I have been in a long time that we will rise up and deal with our nation's problems ... just because frustrations are so high, on both sides of the aisle."

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