Press Release

AFTER IRAQ CHARADE, U.S. MUST RECLAIM ITS HONOR
Votes for billions to Iraq but opposes help for GIs and those hurt by economy

MEMPHIS – With a former White House insider now saying President Bush played Iraq as a political tool, new leaders will have to reclaim American honor in the world, U.S. Senate candidate Mike Padgett said Wednesday.

“The charade is over,” Padgett said during a campaign visit to Memphis. “The American people must hand the reins to new leaders in November. The task, then, will be nothing less than winning back America’s honor in the eyes of the world.”

Padgett, who favors a reasoned withdrawal of American troops from Iraq, released his extensive plan, “Reclaiming Our Honor in the World.”

His announcement came amid reports that former White House spokesman Scott McClellan, in an upcoming book, has written that President Bush “veered terribly off course” and was “not open and forthright on Iraq” with the American people. Once a staunch Bush loyalist, McClellan says Bush used “propaganda” to sell the war.

“Along with all Tennesseans, I stand proud of the men and women from our state who have served tirelessly, some more than once, in Iraq,” Padgett said. “Today, it is time for them to come home, with the honor they deserve for the bravery they have shown.

“Sadly, they were dispatched to Iraq for trifling reasons, not for the sober war against terrorism that Americans called for after 9/11.

“I applauded President Bush for attacking Afghanistan. But he made a real mistake in diverting our attention to Iraq while the job there was incomplete. We have got to re-engage in this fight.

“To win the real war on terrorism, it will take more than the Cowboy Diplomacy practiced by the Bush administration and supported by Senator Alexander and Senator McCain. It will mean rejoining our old friends and finding new allies at the table of diplomacy. This is not a fight we can or should wage alone.

“If Tennesseans will stand with me, I will diligently use my vote in the 111th Senate to return our great nation to its place of honor in the world.”

William "Mike" Padgett is former Knox County Clerk and small business owner. He and Patty, his wife of 37 years, have three grown children, Matt, Mark and Sara Beth

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