Running to be a difference-maker… Sethi makes final stop of 95-county tour in Elizabethton

Published 2:26 pm Monday, August 3, 2020

By Ivan Sanders

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BY IVAN SANDERS
STAR STAFF
ivan.sanders@elizabethton.com
With the sands of the hourglass rushing to the end for candidates seeking various offices in the state, U.S. Senate Republican candidate Dr. Manny Sethi wrapped up his 95-county campaign tour of Tennessee when he made an early Saturday morning appearance at the Rotary Pavilion in Elizabethton to a rousing group of supporters.
“We saved the best for last,” Sethi said after taking the microphone.
Sethi shared with the gathering the story of how his parents made the decision to immigrate to the United States from India after both had witnessed their own parents’ homes burned by Muslim radicals in the 1940s.
He further spoke of how his parents had heard of the American dream and stood in line at the Embassy to get clearance to come to the United States and finally arrived in 1970 legally, “with a capital L” according to Sethi.
The family lived in Cleveland before moving to Coffee County when Sethi was four-years-old in Manchester.
Dr. Sethi has been a trauma surgeon at Vanderbilt Hospital in Nashville for 10 years following in the footsteps of his parents who both were physicians.
Sethi said his reason for running was something that his father had instilled in him as a young boy.
“I will always remember what my father told me and that was it doesn’t matter what is in your bank account but it is the difference you make,” Sethi said. “The Lord calls each of us to make a difference in the lives of others.
“In all of my travels over the last 18 months, I certainly feel very connected with the people here in Northeast Tennessee talking about my faith and my faith in the Lord Jesus Christ has led me to this moment to run for the United States Senate.”
As in past elections, most candidates who have run for any national office representing Tennessee have identified that to win, Northeast Tennessee is a must to carry.
“You cannot win a U.S. Senate race without winning Northeast Tennessee and East Tennessee and that is why every time I come here, and this is my second visit, you just feel the energy for a Christian Conservative outsider, so we are just really excited to be back here today,” Sethi stated.
As the days and minutes continue to erase away, the race for the U.S. Senate seat to replace current Tennessee Senator Lamar Alexander has become hotly contested as Sethi’s opponent, Bill Hagerty, has felt the breath of the hard-charging Sethi down his neck as the race is now anyone’s heading into Thursday’s election.
With that closure in the race, several negative-attack campaign ads have been launched against Sethi by his opponent.
“I think my opponent is a good man,” Sethi commented. “Unfortunately, he is getting some really bad advice and has decided to take his campaign in an entirely negative direction spreading mistruths and false accusations and I just don’t believe people in Tennessee want that.
“They want to know what you stand for – what are you going to do to repeal and replace Obama Care, what are going to do to take on the communist Chinese government, what are you going to do to take on this angry mob that’s burning and rioting and looting in the street calling everybody a racist when you push back.
“I believe that Tennessee is ready and wants a Christian Conservative outsider for the Senate,” Sethi continued. “They are sick of the same old, same old and that’s why my opponent and the establishment in Washington now are spending millions of dollars on attack ads because they never believed that this moment would come where we actually gave the people of Tennessee a choice.
“They thought they were going to hand-select a Washington insider, Mitt Romney’s friend, but instead what they are seeing now is that they are desperate. They are losing so they are trying to tear another person down with false accusations and that’s not what we do here in Tennessee.”
During his address, he encouraged everyone that now is the time to get behind and support President Donald Trump as he to is a political outsider just like Sethi butting heads with the Washington establishment.
Sethi also stated that this election is more than about him, it’s an election about life.
Sethi is a staunch supporter of Pro-Life stating that he believes life starts at conception. As far as the second amendment, Sethi has been endorsed by the National Gun Owners of America.
He concluded by saying, “If Tennessee wants a voice – a conservative outsider – I believe they are going to vote for me.
“I believe people are desperate for change. They are just sick and tired of these say anything do nothing Washington Establishment Republicans.”
According to a Sethi team member, the candidate will be back in the area on Wednesday. He was headed to Knoxville after his Elizabethton visit for an event with Rand Paul.

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