(Host) Republican Greg Parke says he wants to run for the U.S. House because he’s convinced he can defeat incumbent Independent Congressman Bernie Sanders in the November election. The retired Air Force Lieutenant Colonel ran unsuccessfully for the GOP nomination two years ago.
Parke announced his candidacy at a Statehouse press conference on Tuesday. Parke says he disagrees with Sanders on almost every important issue facing the country, including health care, defense spending, education and national security concerns.
Parke says he also strongly supports President Bush’s tax cuts. Sanders has been a vocal critic of the tax cuts, but Parke believes they will help stimulate economic growth:
(Parke) “If you increased the rates, you reduce the revenue that you get. So what do you really want to do? Do you want to increase revenues or do you want to just punish those people that have been most successful in this country? I think that’s what we need to look at. The rhetoric of the left has been more one of punishing and vilifying people that have had the American dream that have achieved that. I want to bring that American dream for everybody.”
(Host) Parke acknowledges that he’s going to try to raise a significant amount of money to defeat the seven-term incumbent congressman. To meet his goals, Parke says he plans to actively raise money from throughout the country for his campaign.