To My Many Supporters

I want to take a minute to thank all of you that have in one   From moral support to advice, to holding signs, hosting signs and contributing finances, attending events or hosting events, in one way or another, and in many cases in many ways, you all have been so very encouraging. And for all the notes and messages offer support over the last few days, thank you.
way or another been so very supportive of my effort to run for State Representative.

While I knew all along I was a serious underdog, I never wavered in my belief that I  I had a shot at winning this!  Naïve maybe, but I suppose confidence in one’s chance of winning is not a bad thing.  Sure feeds the motivation to work long hours.  I met so many people along the way that served to bolster my confidence and give me energy to continue.  The 72 – 28 % gap hit me pretty hard but on reflection I realize the majority of people that voted for me had never heard of me a couple months ago so all in all I know I did well.  I spent yesterday licking my wounds but today I am back, trying to figure out where to go from here.

One of the many interesting lessons of this campaign is the number of people that told me their stories in the hopes that I would be able to help them.  I sincerely hope I can still find a way to do that.  I know I could keep doing what I’ve been doing and help individuals as I encounter them but I would very much like to find a systemic way to help.  Many of the issues stem from an overarching difficulty in accessing services for those in need.  Be it gaining access to Veteran’s services, to educational services, understanding how to comply with insurance requirements or applying for EBT cards (food stamps), the issues are similar.  The systems are just too complex.  It is not all that different from the difficulty we have faced over the last ten years accessing services for our children and our family.

People in stressful situations, as all of the above-mentioned are, have about all they can do just getting through the day, never mind trying to navigate the mine field of social services.   Wouldn’t it be lovely if we could find a way to ease the path to assistance on which so many of us wander?

Another avenue I would love to pursue is transparency in the state house.  This is something that has baffled me for a couple years but even more so since I ran for office. 

For some time I have struggled with how to follow a bill through the state house, or how to know what bills were being considered in regards to a specific topic and when they will be open for public comment and when they will be voted on.  It is possible but not easy to find that information.  And the discussions surrounding these pieces of legislation, I have yet to find a resource that documents the conversations for and against a bill.   There are several legislative committees but what do they talk about, what do they do?

And on a more personal level, where does Representative X or Senator Y stand on specific issues?  What, specifically, has he or she done to promote an issue or fight against anything.  What has he gone to bat for on Beacon Hill?  Other than putting her name on a bill as a sponsor, what has she done to move the bill forward?  I know I can find out what our legislators tell us and I can find out what I read in the paper, but is that all there is to know?  For some people that information is fairly scant, does that mean they don’t do much?

Seems to me it would be in the people of Massachusetts’ best interest to have access to this kind of information.  We vote these people into office, shouldn’t we know what we are getting for our vote?

These are some of the ‘great thoughts’ I am thinking.  Not sure where I will go from here but I am confident something useful will come of this adventure.

Many have asked if I will run again and if I will register as a democrat.  To both I can just say, “I don’t know”.  Running for office again depends on where my journey leads me.   I certainly do not rule it out but, ‘it depends’.  It would be nice after 10 years to get a job with an actual paycheck and this campaign took at a minimum 60 hours of my time each week.  At my advanced age, I don’t have the energy to hold down a ‘real’ job and run a campaign like this.  And whether or not I register as a democrat also ‘depends’.  I might.  I also plan to look into Evan Falchuk’s United Independent Party.  I don’t know much of anything about it right now but I like the concept.

In the short term, Bob and I are going to escape to Portland Maine for a couple days and catch up on some rest and maybe read a good book or two.  Open to suggestions for escapist reading.

Thank you to all of you.  You guys rock!