Tim Barron This is Me

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1. 1. 'Common-sense' nominee looking for upset victory - Sunday, 10/06/02

   vh80017.vh8.infi.net/governmen - [Cached]

   Published on: 1/12/2002   Last Visited: 10/6/2002

   CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. - Tim Barron has known he wanted to enter politics since his college days at Union University in Jackson, Tenn.
   
   What he didn't fully appreciate, Barron, 43, admitted, is the sleep deprivation of campaigning. On a recent day he left his West Tennessee home before dawn for Clarksville's Austin Peay State University, where his first appointment was to speak to a political science class. That was followed by several discussions with individuals, a luncheon with Democratic Montgomery County officials, an impromptu session with a tobacco farmer and a meeting with election volunteers that night.
   
   "Once you get up and going, it's all a state of mind," he said.
   
   For Barron, the Democratic nominee in a district that has been solidly Republican during the four-term tenure of Ed Bryant, his state of mind is focused on nothing less than a Nov. 5 upset.
   ...
   Barron, who calls himself "the common-sense candidate," has been campaigning full time since April. He is on leave from a management position with the Chrysler Corp.
   
   "I'm not here to show. I would have never gotten into the race if I didn't think I had a chance of winning."
   
   Raised in Dyer, Tenn., a small Gibson County town near Jackson, Barron graduated from Union University in 1980 with a business degree. His work experience has primarily been in the automotive industry, either as a car dealer or in management with car manufacturers. In addition to Chrysler, Barron also has worked for Mazda.
   
   He and his wife, Lee, have two children and live in Collierville, a Memphis suburb in eastern Shelby County, the most heavily populated and most Republican part of the district.
   
   Barron's only brush with politics before entering this race was to serve as an intern for former U.S. Sen.
   ...
   Barron, a Southern Baptist who noted that "the Democratic Party needs conservative Christians, too," admitted he is advocating some of the same issues the Republicans have adopted.
   
   For example, he is against "watering down" the Second Amendment gun ownership rights. Barron noted that he is a member of the National Rifle Association. He supports strengthening the nation's military and opposes new taxes.
   
   But the candidate is also talking about the staples of the Democratic platform, such as improving the quality of health care and bolstering Social Security.
   
   He also advocates improving education and preserving American jobs.
   
   "When I was growing up in West Tennessee, industry was booming. Now, manufacturing jobs are leaving the area, and our young people are unable to stay," he told Montgomery County officials at the luncheon meeting.
   
   "I want to be a force to help change that."
   
   Barron wants to improve the lot of small businessmen, as well. A local car dealer related how skyrocketing health insurance premiums are taking more and more money from both his and his employee's wallets. A druggist complained of out-of-control costs that force patients to choose medicine or food.
   
   ...
   "We've got to give people relief, and I think it's got to come from the direction of the federal side," Barron said.
   
   ...
   Barron sympathized with the farmer. As a boy, the candidate said he spent a summer tending two acres of okra for his grandfather.
   
   "The going price was $4 a bushel at the beginning of the summer, but it dropped to $2.50 a bushel. The amount of work required was still the same, but the money was less. To this day I don't like okra," he said.
   
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