It was supposed to be your typical election with an establishment Democrat repeating talking points and facing an establishment Republican repeating talking points. That was until local businessman Jack Davis successfully got on the ballot as an Independent on a “Tea Party” line. The 78-year-old Davis has a moving personal story: He is a self-made entrepreneur who is proud that he’s never “outsourced a single job” and is going to leave his business to his employees when he’s gone.
In an interview with The New American magazine, Davis, who has never before held public office, explained the motivation behind devoting so much of his time and money to be elected to Congress: “It’s all about jobs, farms, and industry.” According to Davis, the job picture is so bleak because America has outsourced all of its manufacturing jobs to other countries. “Free trade is just killing this country and leaving a mess for our children." A life-long Republican, Davis became disenfranchised with the GOP over corporate trade agreements like the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). His vocal criticism of such agreements led to his being ostracized by the Republican Party, and it was then that he decided to run for office. He ran twice previously as a Democrat in unsuccessful bids, but as he explained, things are no different now with Obama in office than they were with Bush. “Both parties have it wrong. Obama and Boehner are pushing new trade agreements. They’re just screwing this country up.” In his speech accepting the endorsement of the local Tea Party group, he referred to the “one-world Globalists” who keep pushing these international type agreements.
Davis sounds a lot like other well-known critics of trade agreements like Pat Buchanan and Ross Perot. At many different times during the interview, he rattled off statistics about numerous manufacturing plants shutting down and other similar figures. While clearly not a free-market-minded libertarian, Davis asserts that he strongly supports cutting government taxes and spending.
Unconstitutional foreign aid is at the top of his list of what he views as one of the biggest wastes of government spending. “Why are we sending foreign aid to countries that hate us when we’re so far in debt?” He also stands out from the other two major party candidates because he supports bringing all the troops home from overseas and ending our costly foreign entanglements.
While critics describe Davis’ views on trade as protectionist, he argues that they are consistent with the vision of our Founders. “They all favored a large protective tariff to ensure a healthy economy at home.” Some people are wondering why, after running as a Democrat, he is he now seeking the Tea Party affiliation. After repeating a series of famous quotes by Patrick Henry, Nathan Hale, and the like, Davis explained, “I’ve was always one of those tea party guys anyway. I stand for smaller government, lower taxes, less regulation, and I’m a big Second Amendment guy too!”
Davis is definitely not your typical polished career politician, and while third-party candidates typically do not do well against the two established parties, there are some factors running in his favor. Not only is he well-known and well-liked locally but special elections have notoriously low turnout, and if he garners enough grass-roots support, he just might upset both major parties on May 24.
