Letters to the Editor

By Staff
GOP secretary said party doesn’t endorse
Editor:
I am writing this is response to the June 6, 2008, story by (Decatur Daily reporter) Sheryl Marsh on Stacy George pondering swapping parties. I am the secretary of the Morgan County Republican Executive Committee but this letter is not from the committee, only from me as a Morgan County voter. I felt it was important to speak up and set a few things straight that Mr. George is saying.
First of all, the comment was made that the local party endorsed Greg Abercrombie. That is wrong. The local party does not endorse any candidate in a Primary election. The individual members are able to support and campaign for any candidate they choose to and many members did support Greg Abercrombie in this election. But, the reason is not because Mr. George said things about Republican officials, it is mainly because he has continually over the last two years taken every opportunity in the media to bash the Republican party and its members. He has also used the media to insinuate wrongdoing by certain elected officials with no proof of any wrongdoing. In my opinion, he only made these accusations because of personal issues with these individuals. Mr. George has had very limited participation in the party for the past two years, attending only three monthly meetings in those two years and not participating in any of the group campaign events even though he was made aware of them all. It is very hard to support an individual who makes no effort to associate with his own party and seems to hold a strong animosity for its members.
Mr. George attended a special meeting held in April after qualifying ended which was called to discuss the possible challenge of a few candidates who qualified to run in the Republican primary. He was very clear in his position that everyone needed to be able to run in these elections and that it was up to the voters to decide who they wanted as their candidate.
Now, since the voters picked Mr. Abercrombie over him, he doesn’t seem to feel the same way and he wants to blame it on the Republican party not supporting him. He was not the only incumbent who lost in this primary. Kevin Murphy lost to Don Stisher for Commission District Three but I did not hear any outrage by Mr. George about that. Nor did he have a problem with it two years ago when Ken Livingston beat the incumbent Richard Lyons for Commission, District Two. Mr. Livingston was welcomed by the party and has been a very active member. I hope that Mr. Stisher will do the same now that he is our candidate for the General election.
Now, Mr. George is going on television and in the paper talking about his disgust with the local Republican party and changing his signs to replace the Republican elephant with the Democratic donkey. But, he states that he has not officially changed parties. It looks to me that he already has decided to change parties. I am not sure why he doesn’t want to make it official if that is what he feels he needs to do.
Julie Clausen
Decatur
Father remembers son, thankful for support
Editor:
Terry Tanner passed away on June 6. To all of his, and my many friends, I wish to apologize for the wording of “private” in his obituary. With everything that was happening so quickly, I just didn’t catch it, and this led to many people not being able to attend the service, and pay their respects.
My son and I had a special relationship. Whether it was day or night, he was always there for me. He would call me while he was on the road, and we would talk for hours. We would sit on my patio well after midnight, just being father and son, either talking about or planning different things. Our love and caring for each other was mutual. Not only have I lost a son, I have lost my best friend. I’m very thankful for the 46 years he was here, and I don’t know how I’ll get by without him.
I want to take this opportunity to express my sincere thanks and appreciation to all our friends that called, came by my home, sent food, flowers, or attended the service. Special thanks to E.D. Jones for hosting our family after the service. Your caring has helped me through this difficult time in my life. I hope to see everyone soon, and thank you personally.
Billy C. Tanner
Hartselle
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