Campaign Talk vs. Committee Votes: Brandon’s Brain – Issue #1

Image Credit: Public Domain

By Brandon Lewis –

I am not a writer by trade. I’m not a journalist either.

To be frank, I never wanted to get into media – and I still wish I didn’t have to.

In fact, I’d prefer to spend my time in blissful, detached ignorance. It’s in my best interest personally on many levels – most levels in fact. 

However, it’s not what’s best for my kids and future grandkids… or yours for that matter.

It’s not what’s best for Tennessee or the Conservative movement. 

Life will put you in strange places. Places you never thought you would be and often in places you’d prefer not to go. Uncomfortable places. 

I’ll bet our nation’s Founders felt the same way, though no one is currently looking to hang me for treason. At least not yet…

Starting today, and to the degree time will allow, I’m going to start giving you a “sneak peek” behind the scenes of what I do. 

Consider this a sort of “diary entry.” We’ll just call it “Brandon’s Brain” for now. This is the first edition. Years later, if we’re still around, you can say you were the first to read it… before it became the cool thing to do as a Conservative in Tennessee.

This will not be anything “comprehensive.” It can’t be considering your time and mine is limited. However, what I hope I can do is cut through all the main-stream-media lies and tell you like it is.

So, what’s on my mind? Here we go…

Some Good News

Right now, I’m working hard on a few issues. One of them is social media censorship. We have a good bill being carried by Senator Bo Watson and Representative Dennis Powers. Next week, we’ll be interviewing James Taylor from the Heartland Institute about it.

In essence, it would define social media companies as common carriers – much like the phone company. This means they cannot regulate what you say about election-related items and that they cannot infringe upon your freedom of speech.

It has a good chance of passing. I recommend you reach out to the House Business & Utilities Subcommittee and ask them to pass it. CLICK HERE to Find Their Contact Information. It’s House Bill 2369. 

If you are ever censored on social media, yet did not take the time to take this action step, please do not write me to complain about it. Conservatives get the kind of government they deserve…

Some Bad News

RINOs are killing good legislation, as predicted, on illegal immigration and critical race theory. Why is that? Well, I have a good idea…

You see, we recently ran a story shining light on the fact that roughly $60 Million dollars a year are spent on lobbying lawmakers in Nashville. The vast majority of that money comes from left-leaning, globalist corporations.

Guess what? There are only 132 lawmakers. That comes out to about $451,000 spent per member. Now, why on earth would corporations and tax-payer-funded lobbyists spend so much time and effort doing this?

Apparently, they do it because it works. Amazingly, it’s legal.

Right now, there is a HUGE conflict of interest in Tennessee’s Republican party between primary voters and the leftist corporations that hate our politics, policy, candidates and way of life.

As far as I can tell, the left-leaning corporations largely get what they want when push comes to shove.

This is why it is so important to field Conservative candidates in Republican primaries.

If you want to read two hair-raising articles on this, I’d recommend checking out how the E-Verify bill got killed followed by this beauty where Rep. Jeremy Faison defends having employees endure critical race theory training as a condition of employment.

I’m sorry, Tennesseans who want to do data entry, make sales calls, drive a truck or create software should not have to sit in a room and be told they are racist because of the color of their skin. That’s just my opinion, yours may vary. 

This is simply modern-day racism. The devil is neither lazy nor stupid. He’s been trotting this stuff out in various forms since the dawn of time. Why all Republicans can’t recognize this and commit to rooting it out is baffling to me.

Republicans Are Addicted to PAC Welfare

Raising money in your home district is hard work. It is not fun. Most politicians hate it. I know, I wrote the book How to Raise Money for Political Office.

Here’s what happens… When you are running for office, you scratch and beg until you have enough to do what it takes to run an effective campaign. Typically, the amount of special interest or PAC money you get is very, very low.

However, once you are elected, they wine and dine you in Nashville in an extravagant manner. For many politicians, this is the first time they’ve ever been treated like royalty. It is addictive. 

I’ve been in these situations on campaigns and it has always made me feel uncomfortable. I knew, “something just isn’t right here…”

They then begin filling your campaign coffers with loads of PAC money. In turn, this means you no longer have to work very hard – if at all – raising money back home.

However, all that money comes with a price – your vote.

So, when a piece of legislation comes along that might give people medical freedom, protect them from CRT or give their kids school choice, a lobbyist shows up to your door a few days before your committee meeting.

They encourage you to vote against the wishes of the Republican Primary voters back in your district. The threat, whether spoken or implied, is that they will turn off the money spigot. 

This is enough, in most cases, to make someone of weak moral convictions to do something that’s not in the best interests of those they represent.

Because the main-stream-liberal-media in Tennessee will not report on these committee meetings, people back home are largely kept in the dark.

Yep, that’s how the sausage is made. 

And that’s why we tell you the truth about what’s going on in Nashville – because no one else will.

I Still Can’t Believe It…

Maybe there is something wrong with me – maybe God put it there.

I still can’t believe Americans – and especially Tennesseans – gave up so many of their rights and freedoms during the “scamdemic” without much, if any, of a fight.

Recent, in-depth, comprehensive studies show that we “might” have saved a whopping… drum roll please… 0.2% of lives. Maybe. If you squint real hard and stand on your head.

The argument I hear as I still rail against Gov. Bill Lee for all the businesses shuttered, anxiety endured, education lost, pre-cancer screenings missed and freedoms trampled is the same as it has always been… well what if it had saved lives?

It didn’t. That’s the point. It only made a bad situation worse.

We are still suffering the effects and will continue to do so for some time.

Leadership is about making tough decisions. Not about doing what everyone else is doing. Could he have done worse? 

Yes. The best I can say is: He’s not as bad as a democrat. But, that’s about it.

Lest you think I am arm-chair quarterbacking here, even my wife thought I was out over my skis when I led a protest on the Market Street bridge in Chattanooga with about 300 other people who could tell this was the wrong way to go.

This was in March of 2020. 

Call me Nostradamus. 

I endured massive push-back for months as I took that stance.

The pressure intensified as I later railed against the General Assembly for failing to restrain the executive overreach. 

Here is my sincere hope: I hope our endurance of this tyranny has inoculated us against tyranny – not conditioned us for more should the time come again.

And. It. Will.

What Was On The Menu Over The Weekend (As If You Care)

I’m penning this on Friday afternoon. As soon as I queue this up and hit “send,” I’m heading to the gym – my mental and physical respite from working a “paying job”, as business coach, and my “charity job”, this one.

We are going to watch “Death on the Nile.” My wife and I are HUGE Agatha Christie fans. While I prefer the Poirot of Robert Suchet, this new guy is passable. 

Saturday, we have a birthday party to attend for a dear friend’s daughter followed by a celebration of my wife’s birthday with her family – which I was very lucky to marry into.

Wish her well as she is the patron saint of The Tennessee Conservative. Most wives would kill their husbands in their sleep before letting them spend what I have spent keeping this old, leaky ship afloat. 

Best we do not give her any ideas 😉

Sunday, we’ll hit the early church service, check out the progress on the new house we are building and then go to a debate of sorts for Hamilton County Mayor.

So, light work for the Lewis family.

Did I tell you we just got a new puppy? Well, maybe more on that next week.

Making Your Candidates Do What They Hate

One of the things I had to regretfully do as a Finance Manager was force political candidates to ask for money – they hate it. They procrastinate about it and even feel bad about it. 

I’ll not tell you his name, but I often had to trick one very well-known official into getting into a truck for a “political event”… only to hand him a list of names to call.

We’d drive for hours on back roads until the work was done. Since I had the keys, there was nowhere he could run.

Admittedly, I hate fundraising too. Very often, I have to say, “Consultant, fundraise thyself!”

I used to ask, as you undoubtedly do, why there aren’t more Conservative media outlets that focus on state and local news.

It’s because there’s no money in it. 

The large corporations that bank-roll the left-leaning media in Tennessee hope that we will fail – dead in the journalistic crib. Stillborn before we ever really reach our true potential.

Let’s not give the bastards the satisfaction.

If you are so inclined, throw a little change in my tip jar by clicking HERE.

If not, that’s ok.

I can always wash the dishes in the kitchen and thumb my way back home from this gig.

Beating Rush Hour

Traffic is horrific leaving my office and heading up the ridge-cut in Chattanooga. Bumper to bumper. It’s too late to beat the traffic unless I do something irresponsible.

Like not proofread this piece.

So, that’s what I’m going to do… 

My sincere apologies to all the grammar fanatics out there 😉

Like I said, I’m not a writer!

Love ya – mean it.

Thanks for spending a little bit of time in “Brandon’s Brain.”

It ain’t much, but it’s home.

Your Lil Buddy,

Brandon Lewis 

Founder, The Tennessee Conservative