Actress and environmentalist Park Overall is set to challenge Bob Corker for his Senate seat. Although Corker will have her over-matched financially as yet another of Wall Street's Favorite Senators, Overall will give him a run for his money. What was initially dismissed as a 'novelty candidate' run looks to be anything but. Here is an excerpt of her speaking a few nights ago in Nashville. The full speech (18 min) is well worth watching at YouTube, here.
via The Tennessean:
Overall, who spoke at the Tennessee Democratic Party’s Jackson Day dinner on Saturday, was “very well received” there and decided to take on Corker, who is nearing the end of his first Senate term, party spokesman Brandon Puttbrese said.
Overall said she was driven to run by “an East Tennessee fire in my belly.”
“It was the Blunt amendment that put me over the top,” she said. “That’s where they were going to decide if they would give me medical care or give me birth control depending on how they morally believed.”
The Blunt amendment was proposed earlier this year to be added to a highway funding bill. In her speech at the Jackson Day dinner, Overall asked, “Why is my womb attached to a transportation bill?”
Overall may be best known for her role on the sitcom Empty Nest. She also appeared in the 1990 movie Kindergarten Cop.
Scott Wooledge over at Daily Kos watched her full speech and gave her two thumbs up, way up:
Ok, I wasn't going to watch the entire 18 minutes. But then I got sucked in and the time flew. This woman is fierce and fabulous. She's hilarious and she's simultaneously earthy and smart. I honestly can't believe she's a candidate in Tennessee. Good luck to her.
