After watching the U.S. Senate debate on Monday night, I came away with two varying perspectives from the candidates.

Lamar Alexander spent most of the debate trying to paint Bob Clement as a liberal moving Fred Thompson’s desk across the aisle beside Ted Kennedy and Hillary Clinton.

Meanwhile, Bob Clement spoke about the issues that affect Tennesseans: Social Security, pension security, medical security, family security, and homeland security.

Sen. Clement is known on Capitol Hill as a maverick that will vote for the people of his state rather than with the party line.

He voted for the Homeland Security Act and the Bush Tax Cut of 2001. In addition, he has sided with Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) with the McCain-Feingold Bill (Campaign Finance Reform) and on the issue of prescription drugs. Bob is more concerned with the issues at hand than Alexander, who seems to have forgetten about this election’s issues; prescription drugs and the economy.

While Lamar has put out fluffy ads with him talking about a “Real Prescription Drug Plan” with Bill Frist, take this information with a grain of salt. Sen. Frist has made between $5 million and $25 million with Columbia/HCA, one of the very medical companies that would be affected under “a real prescription drug plan.” Sounds like a conflict of interest to me.

In contrast, Bob has recently conducted a prescription drug study that's resulted in a two-prong plan for meaningful prescription drug benefits.

First of all, drug companies are gouging U.S. citizens at the cash register, while you can buy the exact same drugs across the border in Canada for pennies on the dollar. THAT’S WRONG.

Bob Clement will fight to change this double standard, to reduce prices. Also, prescription drugs should be covered under Medicare so more citizens can get the drugs they need without sacrificing basic needs like putting food on the table.

Finally, let’s talk about the economy. Lamar has continued making money during these hard times through sweetheart deals with his buddy, Governor Sundquist. ENA, a firm which names Lamar as being on its board of directors, signed a $102 million government contract with the state this summer. Yet, many working Americans lost their jobs during this time.

Corporate accountability is something that Bob Clement has fought for, and he will continue to fight for this issue until justice is served and corruption is stopped within business.

Lamar said, “I'll vote with George W. Bush ninety-nine percent of the time.”

Since Bush has been in office, the Dow Jones has dropped nearly 4,000 points and boundless surpluses in the government have quickly turned into deficits. IT’S THE ECONOMY STUPID!

When you go to vote for U.S. Senator, I want you to answer these prime questions:

1. Do you want a senator that will fight for issues that affect Tennesseans, or someone who will be a rubber stamp for President Bush? 2) Do you want real prescription drug benefits or another bill that will only help the loopholes for medical companies? And finally, 3) Check your current retirement and 401K accounts and determine if it was better before Bush took office, or today.

I believe that after you answer those questions, you will come to one firm conclusion. Bob Clement will fight for Tennesseans 100 percent of the time; and, to answer Lamar, “It's not where you sit, but where you stand.”

John Lankford is a Junior Political Science major.