Dr. Coburn announces re-election bid

Monday, 01 June 2009
Dr. Tom Coburn announced today at the Tulsa Press Club that he will seek re-election in 2010 to a second term in the United States Senate.  With passionate finality, Dr. Coburn declared that if elected this will be his final term.

“This decision has been difficult for me, my wife and our family.  I don’t like being away from Oklahoma and my medical practice, nor do I like asking my loved ones to make sacrifices.  I also don’t particularly like Washington, DC.

“My decision to run again came down to a sober realization that our country’s future is at stake.  Very few leaders are talking honestly about the real causes of our challenges, much less the real solutions," Dr. Coburn said.

"I believe the decisions Washington makes today and in the near future will decide the fate of our republic.  We can do what we’ve been doing – borrow without limit and spend without restraint – and pass on crushing debt, a lower standard of living and less freedom to the next generation.  Or, we can restore the common sense principles that made our country – limited government, individual liberty and personal responsibility – and ensure that the beacon of liberty called America burns bright well into the future.

“I have with me today my wife and two of my three daughters, four of my grandchildren and a son-in-law here all of which I am immensely proud of and glad they could be with me today,” Dr. Coburn said.

“In short, I’m running again because I believe America, and future generations, are worth fighting for. Today, the very idea and identity of America is under attack from within. To our founders, America was, and is, an idea that trusts individuals more than the government, and it is an idea that trusts the competition of ideas and the entrepreneurial spirit to produce a more fair and just outcome than the cold calculations of governing elites. Some in Washington are claiming those ideas don't work anymore, and that after 230 years, politicians really do know best. I disagree.

“I first made the unlikely decision to seek public office because I was alarmed by Washington’s desire to impose collectivism and socialism on the public, particularly in the area of health care. Today, we face the same challenge. Many in Washington are claiming that all problems can be solved with more spending and less individual freedom. Those ideas have never worked and they never will. While I’m confident the wisdom of the American people will prevail, we won’t win without a fight.

“Five years ago when I entered the race for the U.S. Senate, one of my biggest concerns for the country was that we were on an unsustainable course.  If you will recall, one of the things we said during that campaign was that 2012 was going to be a difficult year for our country.  Unfortunately we were wrong.  It came much sooner and the problems are more severe and more difficult.  The real problem is that we don’t have leaders that will talk about what the real problems are with our country.  Instead, they average the political calculation to do what seems to be in their own personal best interest, but not in the long term best interest of the country.  

“The tension between liberty, freedom and personal responsibility versus government elites has worsened over the last four and a half years rather than improve.  We stand at a crossroads as a country today.  The decisions on what we [as a nation] will look like in the next ten years are being determined by the decisions made in the next two or three years.

“Our founders believed in the individual’s ability to make decisions for themselves.  They believed an individual, given free reign under the rule of law, could do much more than what a government elite controlled system could do.  Today, all we have to do is look at history to see that is true.  The danger in our country today is that we are abandoning the issues and type of government that made us the greatest nation on earth, gave us the most progress and greatest freedom of any nation on earth.  That should not be the case.  Today, we tend to see ourselves ruled out of fear rather than courage.

"The problems before us are all solvable, but only if we quit denying what the real problems are.  The real problems are that the government is outside of its bounds as outlined by the Constitution.  The enumerated powers of government were very specific as was the Tenth Amendment in that what is not within the purview of the Federal Government is reserved to the states and the people.  The idea of how we solve our problems is to go back to the basics,” Coburn said.

“If Oklahomans decide that I am the best person to carry this fight and represent their values in the United States Senate you have my word that I will be true to my oath and never back down, even if I must stand alone.”

Last Updated ( Monday, 01 June 2009 )