Some people plan to sit out the primary election and just vote in the general election in November.
In the primary election, you will be voting for delegates to the national convention. These delegates will select the candidate who will be on the ballot in November. In the general election you will be voting for electors to the Electoral College. These will actually elect the president.
Tennessee has 11 electors to the Electoral College. It is winner take all. The last time that Tennessee voted for a Democrat in the presidential election was in 1996, and the state has become redder every year since.
My point is that if you are a Democrat in Tennessee, your vote in November is less important than the vote in March. The presidential election will be decided in the swing states Arizona, Florida, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska's second congressional district, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
The decision for Democrats is who has the best chance to win in those areas of the country. This decision will be made in the primaries.
Please consider carefully and show up to vote on Super Tuesday, March 3 (early voting ends Feb. 25).
Jim Milburn, Lookout Mountain, Tennessee
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Limbaugh, Trump are two peas in a pod
It's a good thing I didn't have a brick handy as I watched the latest State of the Union speech. If I had, I'm pretty sure I would have given in to the urge to hurl it at my TV the moment I saw Trump present the Presidential Medal of Freedom to one of the most racist, misogynist, hate-spewing purveyors of half-truths and ultra-conservative nonsense alive today - besides the announcer of the award himself, that is.
Rush Limbaugh is to freedom what Lester Maddox was to the Civil Rights movement, or what Andrew Jackson was to Native American goodwill. It's disconcerting to know that he has a following of 15 million fans who hang on his every word.
The TFP's conservative editorial page editor, Clint Cooper, wrote glowingly of Limbaugh as a "pioneer." I suppose there is some truth to that, if the criterion for a talk-radio pioneer is being one of the longest-running and most prolific bloviators of hate, bigotry, and alt-right white male privilege of all time.
Rick Armstrong, Monteagle
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Remember, politics, religion not same
Hate and outrage were quite obvious between Democrats and Republicans during the impeachment trial of President Trump. It continued throughout the State of the Union address.
Two days later at the National Prayer Breakfast, lacking was the assurance of restored unity and nonpartisanship. The president was acquitted, but the American people will never forget the dangerous partisan politics that played out by the opposing party.
Politicians think it's their duty to apply their best reasoning, including conscience and judgment, to their work rather than some perception of universal truth. Politics is not religion. It is not the battleground of good and evil. Religious people worship God. They do not worship political parties or ideologies.
Political opponents are not enemies. They all are advocates for the common good. They are to be a unifying force working to bind the nation together. They should advocate political compromise and make the case that the spirit of compromise is consistent with their faith.
Discussing religion and politics, I mean Judeo-Christian faith. I don't doubt the sincerity of our politicians' faith; however, the prayer breakfast promotes humility in the face of God's judgment and calls each other to fellowship across political differences.
Amos Taj, Ooltewah