US Senate 2014: The doctor is IN
“If you want to be represented by a Ted Cruz, Rand Paul, Mike Lee or Jim DeMint type, send me to the US Senate.”
That is the simple explanation Dr. Greg Brannon, a Cary OB-GYN, gives when people ask what they would be getting with a vote for him in the 2014 US Senate race. Brannon is getting an early start on trying to unseat North Carolina’s rookie Democrat senator Kay Hagan. He realizes he has a long way to go in raising his name ID. But at this time, in 2007, how many people outside of Greensboro really knew anything about Kay Hagan?
Brannon has a résumé that sounds like perfection to grassroots activists frustrated with what they see as an out-of-control federal government. He’s never run for or held political office. One of two sons raised by a single mother, he worked his way through school and established what has become a successful medical practice. He’s a self-described “born-again Christian” who has participated in medical missions to Africa and China. ( He opposes same-sex marriage and is unabashedly pro-life. )
Brannon and his wife have seven children — three of whom were adopted from China.
He’s a self-taught constitutional scholar who can quote verbatim from our Founding Documents. Brannon says those documents will form the basis of his decision-making process in the Senate:
“If it’s not enumerated in The Constitution, the federal government has no business being in that business. Plain and simple.”
Brannon says he — like many Americans – has grown frustrated watching Congress ignore the specifics in The Constitution while pushing the country deeper into debt. As a practicing physician, he’s seen first-hand the problems that government meddling has caused the nation’s health care system. Brannon says ObamaCare, in its early stages, is already creating more problems than it’s solving.
The Republican has a pretty clear philosophy on foreign policy and the use of the military:
“I want to have the strongest, most impressive, most powerful military possible that, hopefully, never has to be used. If you’re the biggest, toughest guy on the block, people will tend to respect you and leave you alone. ”
Brannon says that — if a credible need for military action arises — Congress should follow the specifics set out in The Constitution:
“Congress should take up the matter and declare war. Once the declaration of war is made, the politicians need to step back and turn things over to the admirals and the generals, letting them do whatever they need to do to finish things as quickly as possible and come home victorious.”
Brannon says he is encouraged by the high level of interest shown his campaign by Tea Party-affiliated leaders and organizations across the state and the nation. His campaign has retained the services of consultants and managers who have been successful in electing constitutional conservatives on the national level.
Brannon gives a good speech, but he’s a Ron Paul nut, not a true conservative.
Remember what happened when the GOP ran a Ron Paul nut for State Treasurer? Democrat Janet Cowell should have been vulnerable, after her Facebook stock debacle, and in a year when NC Republicans dominated. But when the news got out that the Republican candidate is a Ron Paul nut who wants to create a regional currency as an alternative to the U.S. dollar, Cowell coasted to an easy victory.
The lesson is that if Republicans want to win, DON’T RUN RON PAUL NUTS!
And, on top of that, he’s a guy who has neither held nor run for any public office at all, yet he thinks he can START his political career by running for the U.S. Senate??
And, worse yet, he says, “Most disease come from a lack of education on proper nutrition, exercise, supplements, and bioidentical hormone replacement. Medi Weightloss Clinics® and Dr. Brannon offer the education and treatment you need to become the ‘New You’.” http://pages.citebite.com/q9q8n1d7bkis
Seriously, people: do you want to run a guy who promotes THAT kind of snake oil?
I much prefer that to the legislative snake oil I have seen from phony Tea Partier turned Rippon Society member Renee Ellmers or Richard Morgan disciple Thom Tillis. Among those three, the doctor is the only one I would trust behind the legislative wheel in DC. Maybe a better candidate will come along as things develop, but Tillis and Ellmers certainly do not fall into that category.
Sorry, but if you don’t support competing currencies, you’re a statist. Do the English language a favor and don’t pretend to speak for conservatives.
If he is a Ron Paul nut, why does he say he wants a first class military? That is not something Ron Paul would emphasize. And other than that, Ron Paul makes a lot of sense. Your criticism actually makes me like Brannon more, because it indicates he’s serious about what he says.
A “Ron Paul Nut” He’s no conservative because he likes Ron Paul????? It’s people like you why we have Obama again. Do you really think the word republican and conservative are interchangeable???? You must by what you’ve written. Conservtism: Not using as much. how is not wanting to use more government not conservitism? Remember what happened to the GOP when they ran Romney? Romney Care, had a AR ban in Mass, just like Obama doesn’t think he needs congress to approve an act for war. The two were one and the same and most are too brainwashed to know the difference. You most likly fit into that crowd.
Mr. Burton,
Many conservatives stayed home last election because they have had it with the Progressive Republicans. They are tired of seeing people like Karl Rove making decisions about candidates. Unfortunately you are like many Republicans who are very narrowly focused and I would suggest to you that if you want to win again you will open your mind and see the big picture. I have heard Dr. Brannon speak and he relates to Rand Paul more than Ron Paul.
The many conservatives who stayed home last election helped to put the traitor back on the throne. I was not a great fan of Romney; however ousting him would have been much easier than impeaching Obama. And Romney supporters definitely out class many of those who support Obama,e.g., Hollywood, union thugs, the EPA, pro-abortionists, Bill Ayers(murder Inc.), radical Islamic groups(CAIR, Muslim Brotherhood, the gimmies, dummies and yuppies. Birds of a feather DO flock together.
Dave:
Rand Paul was an eye doctor in KY when he made his first run for office — the US senate in 2010. Ted Cruz from TX made his first run for office in the 2012 Senate race. Mike Lee from UT went from being a local prosecutor to a US senator. It’s been done before. I don’t see THIS argument as valid. I don’t see starting at the Senate as a problem.
I’m sure Steve Royal’s difficulties in the General Election last year had absolutely nothing to do with the fact that despite his having won the Republican nomination for Treasurer fair and square, defeating Frank Roche, who outspent him by several orders of magnitude, the NCGOP flatly refused to lift a finger to help him aside from giving his campaign all of $300 ON ELECTION DAY.
Meanwhile, they had something like $800,000 to give to Chad Barefoot to run in one State Senate district (as opposed to a statewide race like Treasurer), and I’m sure that had nothing to do with the fact that Barefoot was Skip Stam’s former legislative aid.
Try again, Dave.
Adam you have got to stop spreading misinformation. steve royal wouldnt even fundraise for himself, and its not the parties job to bankroll a candidate. period. royal had a long list of people that he would not take money from, including lobbyists, lawyers, or anyone affiliated with a lawyer.
and as i understand it, the barefoot race was money spent through the CAUCUS group. if im not mistaken, the cooperation of the Republican Senate Majority raises money as its own entity then spends it on targets. this has been widely reported on by mcclatchy and co.
Many of the Council of State candidates weren’t solidly funded by the NCGOP, John Tedesco comes to mind. Are we really faulting Royal for being ethical? For that matter, are we now crediting McClatchy for setting the record straight?
missing the point- since when did it become the party’s job to bankroll these guys? what does that say about them if they cant raise their own money? it is not the republican party’s job to “solidly fund” any candidate.
@brant, how do you not know this???? Barefoot was actually one of the senate’s most active fundraisers himself, when any of those candidates gets $ it goes under the ‘NCGOP’. the caucuses both are extremely active fundraising bodies and they raise and spend their own money. the dem party does the exact same thing i am really surprised you all missed this stuff
How do I know this? I read Chad’s report. Are you suggesting that Chad made misleading statements on his campaign report? Last I checked — you’re supposed to ID ALL donors above a certain individual donation amount. If he laundered a bunch of contributions under the label “NCGOP” THAT might be a bit of a problem.
I don’t believe that kid went out and RAISED $800,000-plus ALL BY HIMSELF. I don’t believe the Senate caucus dumped $800 K on this guy in a very-gerrymandered, very GOP district. If they did, it was a foolish waste of money.
Enough about Chad. This thread is about Brannnon and the Senate race.
Barefoot’s campaign report said it came from NCGOP.
Mr. Brannon supported more libertarian views, and passionately supported Ron Paul through out the last election cycle. He spoke out against Republican voters and Mitt Romney. Why would he seek their support now? How can he be trusted when it comes to a strong defense?
By “strong” defense, you mean you want even more than the 45% of the current global military spending we do? How much is enough? All libertarians want a strong national defense, but they are not big fans of being the policemen of the world. I think that’s a good position to hold from a fiscal perspective, even if you are not convinced that it’s a good moral and national security position too (Google “blowback”).
You also speak of libertarians as an outside entity. If you haven’t noticed, libertarians are a sizable chunk of the party now. All the Republicans on the national stage who are standing up to Obama are all libertarian-leaning – Rand Paul, Ted Cruz and Mike Lee. Given that, what’s so terribly wrong with libertarians?
As well as backed by the Tea Party
Having 600+ bases in 134 countries is not defensive, it’s Imperialistic. Some of the reasons we sought to break free from England:
He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.
He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.
He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:
For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us.
We are branded the nuts for trying to conserve what the Founders set up. If that’s the case what exactly would that make you?
I think Dave would prefer someone like Rick Santorum who would wax eloquent about the grave dangers of birth control, condoms, female hygiene pads & tampons. Debt? Constitution? Liberty? Bah, who cares about those silly things?
Mr. Farris,
Who is HE?
I’m liking what I hear from Brannon and God knows we HAVE to relieve ourselves from the incompetent Kaye Hagan. She is such a big disappointment for our once great state.
I like Dr. Greg Brannon but I will not vote in the Primary for him. The reason I will not is because he wrote in Ron Paul’s name instead of voting for Mitt Romney. What Dr. Brannon did was, in essence, vote for Obama! He was asked who he voted for in the Presidential race at a speaking event I was at. He said he did not vote for Mitt Romney but that he wrote in Ron Paul’s name. Almost everyone in attendance -had the same feeling I did -this is not our guy!