TN: Tea Party Republican Declares Independence

Donn Janes, a candidate for congress in Tennessee, has announced that he is withdrawing from the Republican primary to file as a "Tea Party" independent. The Nashville Post politics blog quotes from Janes' announcement:

This past Saturday, Donn Janes, a candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives in Tennessee’s 8th District spoke in Paris, TN, to an estimated 300 Tea Party activists from the West Tennessee area.

“As of today, I am no longer going to run for the U.S. House of Representatives as a Republican,” Janes announced. “We need to change the way we elect our representatives. We continue to rely on the two-party system to provide us with different choices; but thanks to this corrupt system, there is little difference between the two of them. Both parties voted to increase the size of our government; both parties voted to trade your freedoms for security; and both parties are responsible for our monstrous debt, our failing economy and the exporting of our jobs overseas. I will be running as an independent Tea Party Candidate, a candidate who doesn’t answer to or work for party leadership, but a candidate who will work for the people of West Tennessee.”

In the face of the duopolist charge that independent candidacies "split the vote," Janes turns the tables:

During the extended question and answer portion following his speech, Mr. Janes was asked if he thought his running as an independent would split the vote.

“I intend to. I will be asking for votes from both Democrats and Republicans, many who are fed up with their party’s refusal to adhere to their respective party platforms. Over the course of my traveling within the 8th District, I believe there are enough conservative Democrats and right-minded Republicans who will enable me to win.”