Polk, Bradley, Hamilton and Twitter too…
Jake and I drove to Polk County early this morning for breakfast at Kathy’s Cowntry Kitchen. We had a good crowd there, including Benton Mayor Jerry Stephens.
Then, we rode over to Benton Shooter Supply. It was a pleasure to meet Jimmy MacAbee, the store’s owner, who has a great gun selection. We looked over some shotguns and handguns.
We stopped by a little country store and met with Commissioner Lewis, who’ll have our campaign signs to distribute from his barn when we’ve got them ready.
I was astonished to learn from him that Polk County has no library, and I had to wonder where the kids there can go when they need a book to read or an encyclopedia to use for a school project. No Child Left Behind? I’ll tell you: Plenty of them are being left behind. Let’s put some emphasis on books and cultivating a love of reading instead of forcing teachers to spend all their time teaching our students how to take a test.
Jake was getting hungry, so we headed to Bradley County and had lunch at Roma’s restaurant in Cleveland. I shook hands there, met quite a few folks. Then, we went by the Daily Banner and had a long talk with Managing Editor Dave Davis.
At the end of the day, it was off to Chattanooga, where we met friends at Panera Bread. (Jake’s about hounded me to death, asking me if we have time to see Rock City. I don’t expect we’ll make it this trip.)
We will get together in the morning with friends in Hamilton County before we make our way back to Knoxville for tomorrow nights big Truman Day dinner with Knox County Democrats. Political guru James Carville, one of my favorite commentators, will be on hand to give the keynote speech. (I’m glad I’ll be speaking before him – he’s not a guy you want to follow at the podium.)
Be sure and check out a couple of new features on our Web site: You can now receive text messages from me by signing up on the website or texting “mike” to 27538, and I am also now twittering so you can sign up at twitter.com/mikepadgett or click on the link on my website and follow me each day as I continue to visit the people in every corner of our great state…just a couple more ways to stay in touch…Mike
