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Re: "The curious gubernatorial campaign of David Hatley"
The letter written by Charlotte Cooper, published Sep. 16, was long on smear and short on facts.
The tone of Ms. Cooper's letter, especially the part about candidate David Hatley getting onto the general election ballot with "only 25 signatures," implied that he did something nefarious. He did not. The signature requirement for nominating petitionshas been in the law books for a long time. (It was the same 20 years ago, when I ran against Jim Cooper for the 5th Congressional
District.)
Hatley followed the law; end of story.
Cooper also states that it is somehow "not fair" that Mr. Hatley was not required to run in a primary election first. But that is what being an "independent" candidateis all about – not being locked into any specific political party. There is nothing "not fair" about it. It is simply another option available for someone wanting to run for office. Hatley openly states that he leans toward the Republican Party, but he does not want to be under their thumb.
Another attempted smear was the reference to Mr. Hatley's criminal charge from decades ago. He was young; he overextended his business credit; he wrote bad checks to meet payroll and maintain inventory – nothing nefarious about it. It was a case of good intentions gone bad. He paid the penalty and he paid all the money back. End of story. (I would rather have a candidate with a reformed criminal past than a current official with an active criminal present.)
Yet another smear attempt was her remark about Hatley "making unsupported and speculative promises." Show me one. Every campaign is about the specific candidate's views and intentions. An "intention" is something that might not be current law or policy, but the candidate thinks that it should be.
Don't voters have a right to know what the candidate's intentions are?
I have been to some of David Hatley's campaign events. I have read his bookand listened to his speeches. As a former military law enforcement supervisor, I'm pretty good at figuring out when someone is lying. I have not found anything suspicious in Mr. Hatley's words, nor his behavior. Further, I have been on the ballot for Congress twice. I find his campaign to be transparent and above board.
If the smear attempt by Ms. Cooper is the best the Left can do, candidate Hatley has nothing to worry about.
Tom Kovach, Mt. Juliet 37122
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This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: David Hatley is legit, deserves to be on ballot for governor | Letters
