Now that I’ve taken some time off to unwind, I’m writing to thank all of you who supported my campaign over the past fourteen months or so. I am honored to have had the opportunity to run to represent Illinois’ 14th District in Congress, and am humbled and gratified for the support that I received. I appreciate having had the opportunity to hear from you at fairs and festivals, at parades, at house parties and coffees, and during my series of Town Hall meetings. I can’t tell you how much I enjoyed meeting so many of you. Please know that your input was vital to creating a campaign that reflected your concerns. Thank you if you made phone calls, knocked on doors, put out signs, attended one of my Town Hall meetings, hosted or attended a coffee or house party, or contributed financially. I thank you if you took the time to discuss the issues with me, or simply to offer words of encouragement. I thank you for your votes. Our campaign was a small grassroots effort, and it would not have been possible without your participation. I entered this campaign because of my concern that average, mainstream voices are not being heard in Washington. I ran because of the fact that many millions of Americans live in poverty, because millions of our children are hungry, because the middle class is struggling in this economy that is booming for those at the top, because we are facing environmental catastrophe that too many choose to deny out of ignorance or indifference. Remember that the majority of our fellow Americans are with us on such issues as raising the minimum wage and ensuring pay equity, protecting access to health and reproductive care, protecting the environment, enacting common sense gun control measures, marriage equality, comprehensive immigration reform, and preserving Social Security, Medicare and the social safety net. It is in a Republican-controlled Congress that these issues face resistance or indifference, and it is only we who can make our Representatives attend to them. As great as this Nation is, we will never achieve our full potential so long as we tolerate injustice, so long as we turn our backs on those who struggle every day just to hold their lives together. I leave you with the words that Ted Kennedy spoke at the 1980 Democratic Convention, words just as vital and representative of who we are today as they were 34 years ago: “For all those whose cares have been our concern, the work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives, and the dream shall never die.” Thank you all once again.
Posted on: Thu, 20 Nov 2014 22:39:30 +0000
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