Lunch With Senator Kurita

Thanks to Bill Hobbs I had the privilege of attending a bloggers luncheon with Tennessee State Senator and aspiring U.S. Senator Rosalind Kurita. I am working on a profile of Senator Kurita and her campaign that will hopefully publish sometime next year, when it is more timely. In the meantime I'll give you my initial thoughts on the senatorial candidate who hopes to upset U.S. Rep. Harold Ford, Jr. in the Democratic primary in hopes of running in 2006 for the seat that current Senator Bill Frist is vacating. (Context provided for my readers outside of the Volunteer State.)

Senator Kurita is very motherly: As a state senator from Clarksville, Kurita's district includes Fort Campbell (where, I learned, the senator goes for some recreational skeet shooting). Without exception, she talks about the troops stationed at Fort Campbell as "my soldiers." She talks to her soldiers almost daily and has responded to thousands of letters from military families in her district. As a result, her views on Iraq are colored by the effect the war has on her soldiers. Though she offered no creative ideas for handling the situation in Iraq, her concern for the troops fighting the war is personal and genuine.

She is very proud of her work as a nurse: Media outlets in Tennessee took note of Senator Kurita's aggressive "blogvertising" campaign. The Kurita campaign first came to my attention when I noticed an ad popping up on several political blogs that read, "Replace this Republican doctor [Senator Frist] with this Democratic nurse [Senator Kurita]." Kurita worked in several types of nursing for many years before getting into politics. (She prefers public health nursing and working in the operating room.) The senator helped initiate a "Nurses for Newborns" program at Fort Campbell and feels that her experience as a nurse gives her credibility as "one of the people." When asked what separates her from her primary opponent, Harold Ford, Jr., she said, "I know what it means to work hard for a living."

She considers herself a fiscal conservative: Senator Kurita has, in recent years, opposed both a state income tax and an increase in the Tennessee's sales tax. While opposing all taxes may win votes, I still have to ask if it is good public policy at either the state or federal level. State budget cuts have resulted in the loss of healthcare for millions of Tennesseans. And my simple economic mind tells me that reducing the federal budget deficit will require not only stopping spending, but also either cutting spending or increasing revenue. If raising taxes is not an option, what gets cut?

These are my initial impressions of Senator Kurita. Look for more as next year's primary nears.

Update: TV on the Fritz has more.