Thank you to those who supported me in November...

Thank you to every voter who entrusted me with your vote for state representative in November. It was a very exciting and humbling experience running for public office. As a new session of the General Assembly starts this Wednesday, I ask that all of my supporters join me in supporting and praying for Mr. Cherry as he represents our district. With the current economic crisis I feel it is more important than ever for all of us to be involved and educated about our political system. Both Bob Cherry and our Senator Beverly Gard do their very best to be responsive to our needs as constituents and deserve our support and our input. Indiana’s state government website ( www.in.gov ) is a very valuable resource for information about current issues, bills, etc. I encourage everyone to start watching what goes on in the General Assembly. Be educated and informed. Be a part of the solution to the problems our state faces. Email our legislators with your thoughts, ideas, and opinions… They actually do read these emails and respond to them. As for those of you who wander if I will be running for representative again in 2010… I am going to reserve judgement at this time. I ran as an independent for a number of reasons. The chief reason was that I felt that the Republican Party had become exactly what the critics were saying it had become… The “old white guy’s party”. I feel that the party establishment passed up a very good opportunity to win the Presidency last November by pushing John McCain merely because it was “his turn”. I feel we missed a huge opportunity in Mike Huckabee of Arkansas. Mike Huckabee represented a shift in the party. He had the ability to bring along the younger voter. He had appeal across all age groups. Mike Huckabee could communicate to the people like no one has since Ronald Reagan’s time. He was pidgeon holed by the national party as only appealing to evangelicals which was simply not the case. Anyway, a young, vibrant, talented speaker like President-Elect Obama had a field day with Mr. McCain. I hope that this election cycle has helped the national party see that it is time to adjust. I believe it has seen just that. I have always identified myself as a Republican and I believe in what the Republican Party stands for. For that reason, I am committing myself to the Republican Party and any future runs I make for any office will be on the Republican ticket and not as an Independent. Throughout my campaign, I met a lot of people from the local parties. I believe that the members of each party are sincere in their beliefs and their efforts to support their party’s platforms. I see now that the opportunity to affect change lies in involvement in my local party and not as a lone Independent. To those who supported me only because of my Independent status, I sincerely hope that your opinion of me does not change, because my beliefs and politics have not changed.