That’s the message Johnson City mayor and congressional candidate Phil Roe (R) delivered Thursday as he met with health care workers while on a tour of hospitals across the
region.

“These are difficult times – some of the most difficult I have seen in my lifetime – and people are hurting,” Roe said.  “If we don’t start looking out for the people and not the special interests who write big campaign checks, we’ll never achieve the change we so desperately need in Congress.”

When he announced his bid for the First District Congressional seat in January, Roe pledged to refuse all money from political action committees, lobbyists and other special interests.  “Not one dime!” he declared.

Roe was quick to point out Thursday that his position is in stark contrast to that of his opponent, Rep. David Davis.

“David Davis has never met a PAC dollar he won’t chase,” said Roe.  “It’s sad, really, because it goes to the heart and soul of what you’re about as a servant of the people.”

One of Davis’s largest funding sources has been the pharmaceutical industry – often dubbed “Big Pharma” in the media.

“Anyone who has ever had to forgo other basic necessities just to afford medicine knows that we can’t allow these guys (Big Pharma) to buy Congress,” said Roe.

Roe’s emphasis on putting people over politics may seem unusual for a campaign, but not to those who accompanied him on the hospital tour Thursday.  Roe, a physician who retired from his Johnson City medical practice after 31 years in January, seemed right at home visiting with, and showing concern for, patients he met along the way who were waiting to receive care.

Meanwhile, Democrats announced on Thursday a policy against accepting donations from federal lobbyists or political action committees at the Democratic National Committee.

“We cannot allow Democrats to own this issue in 2008,” Roe said.  “The Republican Party is truly the party of the people, and we need to put our money where our mouth is.”

Davis was elected to Congress in 2006 after a crowded primary in which he received just 22 percent of the vote.  Washington-based daily The Hill reported in April, “Johnson City Mayor Phil Roe…has quietly become one of the few challengers in the country this year to out-raise an incumbent.”