MORE LIGHT THAN HEAT—HOPE FOR AMERICA
“We are not here to curse the darkness, but to light the candle that can guide us thru that darkness to a safe and sane future.”
John F. Kennedy
Conversation
Replying to
The country is falling apart.
180,000 people will be dead from a virus we could have stopped, but refused to even see as real. Our President has undermined international partnerships, broken the law...
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...actively destroyed our land and air, and mimicked the bravado and racism of the world’s worst authoritarians.
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All of our institutions—even our Post Office and our very right to vote— are at threat. And there is a rage, from years of failed trickle down economics and legally enforced inequality, that is palpable in the smoke filled air.
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You can see that same rage within me too, that fire. I’ve fought for almost three years, losing by single digits—statiscally outperforming the most wild expectations...
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...and fighting for polices that I know will make life better for the people here—while snobbish pundits and “insiders” continued to thumb their nose at us.
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I cannot explain to you the frustration I feel as newspapers, even officials from my own party, make excuses for someone as entitled and aloof as Chris Jacobs—a man who has proudly stood by Trump’s racism, his hate—while nitpicking even my clothes or my hair.
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The knowledge that this kid glove treatment for Jacobs is not form merit, but from class, burns in my chest—the son of a widow, who had to fight poverty’s trap, fight to survive, fight these very people for my livelihood. You can undeniably see that fire rage.
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But rage won’t win. Hope will.
We cannot lose our fire. It’s a balance I struggle with everyday, because of the survival instincts I learned as a 12-year old, just trying to get to school.
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You need to be willing to punch. In other words, we cannot lose our willingness to speak out against injustice, no matter the source. I’m proud to have done it, even when it was so difficult.
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But I know, the reason so many people believed me for so long is that I offered more than fight. I offered hope, and we all need more hope now.
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I think the system is broken. Most of the politicians I’ve met are awful, ineffectual, and unwilling to work for change unless it’s easy or the battle is already won. I’ve proven I’m “not owned, not bought, not afraid.” I never will be.
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And that fire, still burning in my chest, will go with me to Washington. I just need to learn to harness it.
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Let me remind you of what we face in NY27. Chris Jacobs is one of the wealthiest people in America. He was a Democrat, who became a moderate, who became a Trumper to win office.
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He never stood up to Chris Collins. He voted agasint healthcare, again and again—just last week! He supports attacks on social security and Medicare.
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He’s not very smart, or charismatic, or well spoken, but his family has tentacles into every poltical, financial, and charitable (for their own self-interest) institution in Western New York.
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They raised millions for every poltiican you can think of—including Trump. Every time you go buy a beer at a Bills or a Sabres game, go to the airport, go to the Casino, go camping, you are giving them money.
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They are omnipresent, sucking, siphoning, getting paid on government sanctioned monopoly contracts.
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Yet, with volunteers and a few signs, we almost beat em.
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We are this close (thumb and index) to “breaking he machine,” and they are terrified. All of them. This was never supposed to happen. But as a sad reminder, throughout history, people who sought to “break the machine” faced opposition.
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People resist change, hate to see things that make them uncomfortable, even if true. Change agents of any kind, be it Martin Luther King or Martin Luther King Jr. (or even the person in your office who changed how your monthly birthday party is organized) gets hit. Sometimes hard
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But I am what I am. I want change. This isn’t good enough. Corporate politics isn’t good enough. Selling out isn’t good enough. And if I see you sell out to Jacobs or Trump or anyone else, I’m going to tell you. I don’t care how you are.
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Beating Trump, his acolytes, and Trumpism is my first goal. But to do that, I know that we need to focus on more than Trump, more than Jacobs, and more than those who make excuses for them, cozy up to them, or scurry around, avoiding controversy and conflict.
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For the next 80 days you will see a vision coming out of my campaign for the type of country we need to become. A better America. A more free America. An America where regular people have a chance again, where a guy like me can beat Chris Jacobs.
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LBJ had the New Deal. Kennedy had the New Frontier. Johnson had the Great Society. I don’t what Biden has yet, but he worked with Obama and I want him to offer the “New Hope.” Becuase that’s what I’ll be offering, and pressuring him to achieve.
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Medicare for All
UBI
Climate Change Reform
Labor Rights and opportunity
Racial Justice
Equality
Social security
Middle Class Rebirth
This fire within me, is ever burning, but its time to generate more light than heat. 🔥
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