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Dear Friends,
After moving to our new home in Portsmouth, New Hampshire in September of 2006, we got involved in the mid-term elections. We did our small part to help bring about an historic victory in November for New Hampshire’s Democrats.
We focused our energy on the campaign of Carol Shea-Porter, candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives. She won a stunning upset against the Republican incumbent, Jeb Bradley. Completely under the radar of all the national pundits, her victory was powered by a veritable army of committed and passionate volunteers inspired by her strong opposition to the Bush Administration and the Iraq war.
Since arriving in Congress, Carol has kept her campaign promises. She has worked tirelessly to bring our brave troops home from Iraq as well as to help the “bottom 99% of Americans” who have been hurt by Bush’s policies. The first woman from New Hampshire elected to Congress, she has sponsored or co-sponsored dozens of bills to help workers, teachers, veterans, senior citizens, the disabled, and the environment. She is pro-choice, pro-worker, pro-union and a good friend of Federal employees and retirees. We are proud to call her our Congresswoman.
No good deed goes unpunished, of course, and the Republicans have targeted Carol for defeat in November 2008. It’s understandable: they thought they owned this Congressional seat—the last time a Democrat won it was in 1982. So they are going after Carol with a vengeance. They have even set up a web site specifically aimed at her and the other freshman Democrats. Locally, they are carrying out a vicious smear campaign, with scurrilous letters to the editor in the region’s newspapers. Republican dead-enders attack her mercilessly, labeling her efforts to bring the troops home from Iraq as helping Al Qaeda.
We’ve gotten to know Carol personally. She is very straightforward, hard working, caring, and conscientious. She is 54 years old and married with two children. Her husband served in the military during the Vietnam era and is now a civilian Federal employee. Carol graduated from the University of New Hampshire with a bachelor’s and master’s degree, and worked as a social worker and college teacher. In short, she’s the real deal.
Maintaining Democratic control of the Congress in the 2008 elections is absolutely critical if we are going to turn our country around.
Seeing our nation heading in a dangerous direction, Carol had the guts and tenacity to wage a long-shot campaign that succeeded. We the people also need to do our part. Contributing money to Carol’s campaign is an important way to do that. Please be generous.
Warm regards,
Joan and Larry
