election

Letters to the editor have long been a means of expression for the average guy or gal who doesn't have have a bullhorn loud enough to get everybody's attention otherwise. Of course, much of that has changed owing to the ostensibly even playing field of Internet publishing. Still, though, many folks opt for the more conventional route of the op-ed page of their local rag, and aside from a few snips here and there, the letter writer's voice comes through relatively unscathed, literally for better or for worse.

Leave it to the political machines then to undermine the sanctity of even this bastion of individual expression by issuing cookie-cutter templates that authors are encouraged to pretty much just sign and send in to the newspaper as his or her own letter to the editor.

Leave it  to the political machines to squelch any vestige of individuality still left us, for we can't have too much of that running rampant in an election year. Folks may actually wake up to the reality that just about none of these candidates—whose own individuality has often been subsumed by the machine—really represent them and theirs.

Here's what I read in an editorial from the Democrat & Chronicle this morning:

Some candidates and their agents on the Web are urging their supporters to use their "guides" in writing letters to the editor. The guides are really form letters in another form. The practice is dishonest and unfair. The dishonesty is obvious — the "guided" letters in no way disclose that the content is largely the product of someone other than the writer. It's unfair, too, because legitimate letter writers who produce original material may lose their space on the page to a bogus submission.

As with so much else on the Web, common sense is the best guide. If an anti-John McCain or Barack Obama site tells you something is a "fact," confirm it with one or two other sources. Don't forward material to your buddy list without fact-checking. If you write anything on the Web, be sure the work is your own and that fact and opinion are clearly delineated.

The campaigns should put a stop to phony letters. But the best way to end this practice is for those asked to engage in these fake-outs to say no. Better Web practice begins with millions of daily users doing the right thing.

There are a few things at work here worth some conversation.

1. How does anonymously produced generic information effect the relativity of truth and individuality? Does it further obscurity or transparency?

2. What are we to make of the ever-broadening underhandedness of the political machines that seem to outpace at every turn any sense of what it means to do the right thing? (This would be the main question posed by the editorial.)

3. What has become of individual expression if the line between the individual and the machine has become so blurred that the former acts as no more than the ratifier of the latter's mass-produced misinformation?

Finally, what may be the most important question to ask here is: How do we navigate in such a sea of misinformation? The editorial suggests that the responsibility lies with each individual—make sure your own work is your own work. But isn't this getting ahead of ourselves when the real issue is that the individual has been so comprimised by such political tactics that he or she sometimes can't even be located?

Three weeks ago, we sent out three questions to the candidates running for congress and state senate in our local districts (the 26th and 61st, respectively). Our questions were simple, straightforward, and we hoped they would be enough to paint a bit more of a detailed picture of the candidates striving to represent the people of Genesee County.

Those questions went out to every candidate running in the Democratic primaries for those races, plus the Republican candidates. We forgot to send them out to the Independents, but we rectified that this morning and sent the questions out to Michael Ranzenhofer, candidate for the 61st Senate District.

One problem. No one wrote back.

We didn't get a response from a single campaign, until this weekend. It came from Republican Chris Lee who is trying to win the seat for the 26th Congressional District.

He got us these answers:

What is your favorite thing to do in Genesee County?

Taking my son Johnathan to the Genesee Country Village & Museum.

When you meet a person who has never been to Western New York, what is the first thing you tell him or her about the region?

I normally brag about what a wonderful place Western New York is to raise a family and how friendly the people and our warm winters.

What is your favorite book about Western New York?

Window on Congress: A Congressional Biography of Barber Conable. Conable was a Republican Congressman from Western New York and President of the World Bank. This book illustrates how Conable was able to bring people together to accomplish some great things for Western New York. The book served as an insight on how to be a leader in Congress who constituents trust and admire.

We've been trying since the results of the Democratic primary for the 26th Congressional District were announced Tuesday to get some questions answered by the campaign for Jon Powers. We have not received a response from the campaign, and no one else involved could answer our questions.

So we thought to post those questions here on the site and maybe get a response that way. Powers garnered a lot of support in Genesee County, and we thought folks would be interested to know what their candidate would do now that he lost the endorsement in this race.

Initially (Wednesday), these questions were sent to the campaign:

1. Following last night's defeat in the primary, what are Jon Powers' plans for the rest of the election season? Does he have any plans to enter any other races in the next few years? Try again for Congress? Run on another party's endorsement for this same seat?

2. What happens with all of the funds raised by the Powers campaign? Will that money go to another campaign or to the Democrats in general? If not, where does it go?

UPDATE (By Howard):  What I want to know:

1. Will Powers still campaign as  Working Families candidate (even though WF has apparently endorsed Kryzan)?

2. Will Powers endorse Kryzan?

They're saying Sarah Palin stumbled, struggled, sidestepped, misstepped and was caught off guard in an interview with ABC's Charles Gibson that was aired in part last night. It should however be noted that none of the reports failed to note her confidence and poise on camera despite what her interviewer exasperatedly called her "blizzard of words."

From the New York Times:

Ms. Palin was clearly caught off guard when Mr. Gibson asked, “Do you agree with the Bush doctrine?” Seeking direction, and perhaps time to formulate an answer, Ms. Palin leaned back, smiled stiffly and said, “In what respect, Charlie?”

Initially unwilling to define the doctrine, Mr. Gibson said, “What do you interpret it to be?”

Ms. Palin asked, “His world view?”

Mr. Gibson said, “No, the Bush doctrine, enunciated September 2002, before the Iraq war.”

Ms. Palin responded: “I believe that what President Bush has attempted to do is rid this world of Islamic extremism, terrorists who are hell bent on destroying our nation.”

Mr. Gibson, finally defining the doctrine as “the right of anticipatory self-defense,” still struggled for a direct answer, asking twice more if she agreed with it before Ms. Palin answered: “Charlie, if there is a legitimate and enough intelligence that tells us that a strike is imminent against American people, we have every right to defend our country.”

From the Los Angeles Times:

By turns tense and combative, Palin, 44, used two interviews with ABC anchor Charles Gibson to display her grasp of issues central to the vice presidency.

She acknowledged that, other than a trip last year to see troops in Iraq, Kuwait and Germany, her only visits abroad were to Mexico and Canada. And she said that she had never met a head of state but that she did speak last week with President Mikheil Saakashvili of Georgia.

On the issues, Palin said that "we (as Americans) do not have to stand for" Iran's pursuit of nuclear weapons, Georgia and the Ukraine should be welcomed into a NATO alliance and "man's activities certainly can be contributing to the issue of global warming."

What do you think? Was Palin a bumbling boob, a confident rock, a candidate to be proud of or one to be feared? Where do you think she will go from here?

UPDATE (by Howard): Here's the interview:

Those who knew her and those who didn't have been hearing more and more about Alice Kryzan, the unexpected victor in the Democratic primary race for the 26th Congressional District. Jack Davis had the name recognition and the spending spree. Jon Powers had the adulation of party bigwigs and union bosses. But in the end, it was the semi-unknown who won over the hearts and minds... or at least she got the most lever pulls in the voting booths.

Since that victory, dubbed a "shocking upset" by more than one news affiliate, everyone has been racing to the press, the keyboard and the tube to get in their theories of how and why it happened, what it means for Kryzan and what it means for Powers and Davis. We ran a story earlier this morning that claimed not that Kryzan won because of this or that, but that Powers lost because of this or that.

A story that ran today in the Buffalo News pins the upset victory on the effect produced by a single television ad. Here's that ad:

What do you think? Is that enough to tip the scales?

Buffalo News reporter Robert J. McCarthy conjectures that "Alice who?" was "languishing" only a few weeks prior to the primary. Then magic happened...

That’s when the candidate — also known as Alice J. Kryzan— rolled out a television spot that just about everyone credits with capturing the Democratic nomination for the Amherst environmental attorney in the 26th Congressional District.

“It did the trick of bringing attention to the campaign,” said Kryzan campaign manager Anne Robinson Wadsworth.

Rarely has one political spot — produced by Adelstein & Liston of Chicago — made such an impression on local voters. But the scene of a boyish fellow resembling the 30-year-old Powers wrestling in the park with an old man who looks like the 75-year-old Davis seems to have resonated.

It all allowed Kryzan, 60, to appear on-screen and contend that “fighting will not create jobs, fix health care or change our energy policy.” That’s when she looks back at the scuffle actually filmed in a Chicago park and adds in a now-famous aside: “Boys, take it somewhere else.”

According to several observers, Kryzan’s campaign began to pick up after voters identified her as an alternative to her better- known opponents. Former Erie County Republican Chairman Robert E. Davis, who is now a political media consultant, said it ranks among the best he has ever seen because it offered “the ‘same old/same old’ or me.”

How much of a role can a single television ad play in an election? Were you convinced by it? Do you think most folks had already made up their mind by that point?

A win in the Democrat primary by Alice Kryzan yesterday played up across the media last night and this morning as a "shock" and an "upset victory" has hit especially hard here in Genesee County. Whatever reasons you want to give for the win—that people were just fed up with the tooth-and-nail battles between Jack Davis and Jon Powers is getting the most cred in the papers and blogs today—the end result is the same: voters said no to the bigger names and yes to the lesser known.

Buffalo Pundit has this to say:

Because Powers and Davis spent so much time bashing each other, 2/3 of Kryzan’s job was done for her without her having to spend a dime. She needed one thing to stand out, and the “boys, take it somewhere else” ad was just the ticket. She comes out of this relatively unscathed, so Republican Chris Lee doesn’t have a lot of negative ammunition to use against her. Hopefully Kryzan is able to capitalize on the desire for change in Washington and take the seat away from the Republicans.

Nor is the Pundit alone in finding solace in the loss of his favored candidate—Powers—in the train wreck conclusion to the political career of one of the Democrats least favorite representatives: Jack Davis. And least favorite representative is a euphemism wrapped in a pink bow compared to what I've heard from many Democrats about Davis. So many of them outright detest the man.

But what does it all mean for Genesee County? Jon Powers was the favored candidate here by nearly a hundred votes over Kryzan and another fifty over Davis. I haven't heard anything from the Powers crew since the loss, and I have to imagine that they are somewhere dark and cool nursing the shell shock of a campaign that went from the little engine that could to a primetime fight to: Hey, we've got a real chance to win this thing, only to crash and burn amidst the collateral damage of the negative campaigning.

So I turned to Charlie Mallow, who, for one more week anyway, is the chairman of the Genesee County Democrats. He put it pretty simply and straight out.

I think we have been left with a candidate that we know very little about. Alice’s win was surprising and not the will of the voters in our county. There is going to be a period were people will come to their own conclusions about who they will support in November. All of the active Democrats in our district were behind Powers and whole party infrastructure was setup to support him. It’s going to take a lot for Alice to turn the ship around and develop the support she is going to need in November. Alice has been to Genesee County, her record defending chemical companies in lawsuits against people who suffered due to their neglect of the environment isn’t sitting well with me and it didn’t sit well with the core of our committee when we were vetting candidates. District wid, it’s clear this vote was about supporting someone who wasn’t Jack Davis or Jon Powers. Jack Davis ran the most despicable campaign that I can ever remember. His baseless attacks on Jon Powers turned the voters off. I believe Powers was stuck in a tough a position defending himself from Davis and it was felt that he hit back too hard and dirtied himself.

Ouch. There's some real hurt in the county this morning. Charlie's right, if not a little bit exaggerated, in his statement that the endorsement of Alice by the Democrats was not the will of the voters in this county. Powers pulled 621 votes. Kryzan took in 524.

So what does it mean for the future of the party? What does it mean going into the general election in November? I asked Charlie what would happen and if Democrats in the county might turn away from Kryzan, for whatever reason.

He wrote back to me:

Some will seek other options but, the vast majority will sooner or later support her before Election Day. We are Democrats; we have an ideology that puts us more in line with Kryzan than Lee.

Lee is Chris Lee, the Republican that will be running against Kryzan in the 26th Congressional District. His television ads were already running as the primary results were coming in last night. I guess that's game on.

What are your thoughts, whether you're a Democrat or Republican? Will you support Kryzan? Were you a Powers supporter who will not back Kryzan? Why do you think she ended up getting the nod?

Joe Mesi got us his thoughts late last night on the impending victory in the Democratic run for endorsement in the 61st Senate District. Here's what he had to say:

"I knew it wouldn't be easy, but I've never been afraid of hard work. Tonight is about the future of Western New Yorkers, and I'm looking forward to continuing to run a campaign that is about the issues and my ideas. I know we've got a huge fight ahead of us, but the team of grassroots supporters has already been incredible, and I'm looking forward to focusing on the challenges that face our families. That's what this next election in November should be about."

We just received the full vote results for Genesee County for the primary elections. Click here to download the file.

UPDATE (by Howard): Here's the D&C story on Kryzan's win, which characterizes her as "surprised" by the victory.

We just now received this statement from Alice Kryzan:

“I am honored that the Democrats of this District have chosen me to represent them in the upcoming general election to be their next representative in Congress. From day one this campaign has been about you and the serious issues facing the 26th District and the country. Today, you sent a clear message: You want an independent voice in Washington, one that will focus on the issues, one that will put you before the Washington special interests and tired old-establishment politics.

As we look towards November, I am excited by the promise in our District. We have so many wonderful assets in our community, the most important being our hardworking men and women who have persevered through good times and bad, never losing sight of the core values we share.

As I’ve said many times in the past, I pledge that as your Congresswoman, every morning I will look at my schedule and ask, “Is what I’m doing today going to benefit the people of the 26th District?” If the answer is no, then it’s coming off my agenda. I look forward to ensuring in November that the men and women of this District finally have a representative they can be proud of.”

Alice also congratulated her opponents, Jon Powers and Jack Davis on a hard fought race and is looking forward to working with them to ensure this District has the representation it deserves.

Alice Kryzan is an environmental attorney and lifelong Democrat who has lived and worked in Amherst for more than 30 years. She has been in the forefront of change for her entire career, becoming the first woman partner at what was then Buffalo’s largest law firm. She is a long-time community volunteer who has been involved in environmental, energy and women’s issues. She currently lives with her husband of thirty-five years, Bob Berger. They have one son Sam, who is a law student.

It's still unofficial, but it looks like Alice Kryzan will take home the party nod for the Democrats in the 26th Congressional District and face off against Republican Chris Lee in the general election this November. We have not received notice from the Genesee County Board of Elections, but culling the numbers from Niagara and Monroe counties, we show Kryzan with between a four and six percentage point lead over Jon Powers. Jack Davis trails in a distant third.

Fellow bloggers WNYMedia in Buffalo are hosting a live blog tonight with real-time video feed and chat. Until we hear back from the campaigns about their thoughts on the race turnout, the bloggers may be a good source for info and perspective.

Erie County's Board of Elections is showing Joe Mesi with a commanding lead and a likely vitory in the race for the 61st Senate. mesi is holding strong with 52 percent of the vote. Michele Iannello is in second place with 35 percent. Dan Ward is in third with 13 percent.

Locally, the Republican primary for Batavia town justice was not much of a contest, according to figures posted on WBTA by Dan Fischer (no source cited). The final results are in and Thomas Williams is the winner with a total of 318 votes. Dennis Rider pulled in 62 votes.

Dan Fischer also posted the results specific to Genesee County in the races for the 26th Congress and the 61st Senate. Powers led with 621 to Kryzan's 524 votes in the 26th. Mesi commanded with 1,042 votes.

Other races...

61st Senate (Independent):

• Michael Ranzenhofer: 70 percent
• William Walters: 30 percent

We're still waiting on messages to the campaigns. Some we have just had no luck in reaching. We'll do our best to post more perspectives, reactions and statements as they come in. For more in the meantime check out some of our other area blogs: the Fighting 29th, Buffalo Pundit, WNYMedia and the Albany Project.

Alice Kryzan is leading right now in the Democratic primary race for the 26th Congressional District with just shy of 40 percent of the vote. That's according to the Niagara County Board of Elections which shows 67 of 80 machines reporting. Jon Powers is in a not too distant second place with just over 32 percent. Davis trails in last lace with nearly 28 percent, dropping further from contention than only an hour ago, when he was not even two percentage points behind Powers.

Area bloggers have converged at the WNYMedia site for a round of live blogging, led by a real-time video feed coming out of Buffalo (I believe). It's a must for political junkies looking to get in on the immediate conversation. We hope to hear some substantial commentary once the results solidify in the hour or so—right now it's more about the price of beer and the dysfunction of portable hardware.

As for the Democratic primary for the 61st Senate, Joe Mesi is commanding a comfortable lead with about 52 percent of the vote and more than 80 percent of the districts reporting. Those numbers are coming from the Erie County Board of Elections, where you can track other races, as well. Michele Iannello is in second with 35 percent, followed by Dan Ward who has about 13 percent of the vote.

Please note that all of these figures are unofficial and incomplete. We will report later with the more complete yet still unofficial results, which should be coming in from the Genesee County Board of Elections. We also hope to get some commentary from the Democrats, and hopefully a statement from the projected winners.

Be sure to visit The Batavian tonight for election results and news from the campaigns.

Stacey Kratz got us this info about the Champmobile that's set up right now at Washington Towers on State Street in Batavia until 3:00pm this afternoon.

What’s big and purple and coming to Batavia?

Find out when AARP and Divided We Fail unveil the “Champmobile,” a sprawling 56-foot-long interactive educational vehicle designed to engage voters in the 2008 Election.  Wrapped in purple glazed photos of Washington, D.C. monuments and pulled by a muscular F-350 Ford Super Duty pick-up, the Champmobile will stop in Syracuse as it makes it way through upstate New York and the rest of the country.

Media and the general public are invited for a hands-on tour of the Champmobile, which features wireless internet and satellite feeds allowing voters to e-mail a candidate, a camera station to record a YouTube message for the next president, and a podium where they can give their own mock presidential address.

“New Yorkers want our lawmakers in Washington to know that they are tired of partisan gridlock and they want substantial changes on the issues of health and lifetime financial security,” said Lois Aronstein, AARP New York State Director.  “We’re excited about the opportunity to engage voters of all ages in the election process and give them a chance
to let their voices be heard.”

Background:  The Champmobile is named after Divided We Fail’s mascot, Champ, who represents the bipartisan effort of the nationwide effort (www.dividedwefail.org) designed to engage the American people, elected officials and the business community to find broad-based, bi-partisan solutions to the most compelling domestic issues facing the nation – health care and the long-term financial security of Americans.

This is the fifth post in our series about the two heated Democrat primary battles that will be decided at the polls Tuesday. Read our earlier post for the full details.

In anticipation of these races, we sent out the same question to all six candidates and asked each to please respond by the end of the day today. We've heard from three so far. We'll publish those and add the others as they come in. We asked the candidates a pretty open-ended two-part question: What are your final thoughts heading into the primary? What would you want the voter to have in mind about you as he or she heads to the polls?

We will publish each one in the order that we received it.

Fifth is Michele Iannello, candidate for the 61st Senate District. Iannello had this to say:

Unfortunately this primary has been plagued by outsiders slinging mud and trying to tell real Western New Yorkers who to vote for. I am proud to have stayed out of the muck despite the barrage of slime slung at me. Through out this campaign I am the only candidate who has been talking about real ideas to get Western New York back on the right track. With my 40 ideas in 40 days blog on my website, I have talked about specific, real proposals to change Albany. I would like voters to remember when they vote that actions speak louder than words. While some candidates talk about change I have been on the front lines fighting for it. I have a proven record of change that voters can trust to send to Albany.

We have not yet received a response from Jack Davis. He is the only candidate yet to respond.

Be sure to check with The Batavian Tuesday night. We will be posting election results as they are announced.

This is the fourth post in our series about the two heated Democrat primary battles that will be decided at the polls Tuesday. Read our earlier post for the full details.

In anticipation of these races, we sent out the same question to all six candidates and asked each to please respond by the end of the day today. We've heard from three so far. We'll publish those and add the others as they come in. We asked the candidates a pretty open-ended two-part question: What are your final thoughts heading into the primary? What would you want the voter to have in mind about you as he or she heads to the polls?

We will publish each one in the order that we received it.

Fourth is Joe Mesi, candidate for the 61st Senate District. Mesi had this to say:

What would you want the voter to have in mind about you as he or she heads to the polls?

Over the last several months, I have had the privilege of talking to thousands of voters about the challenges facing our region. Lower property taxes, job growth, higher education funding, sensible energy alternatives – these are the things that really matter.

From the start, I have run a positive campaign on the issues and my ideas. I have laid out a detailed jobs plan that starts with targeting investments to build on our local strengths and holding IDAs accountable.  It’s time to cut taxes for middle-class families by putting a ceiling on tax rates according to income—because rising property values should not penalize hard-working families. I have talked about the need to invest more in higher education—and the need to stand up to the Republicans and take partisan politics out of issues like stem cell research.

My heart is in Western New York. I grew up here, graduated from college here, and built my career and small business right here. I am running for State Senate because Albany is broken and it is time for new leadership and new energy to turn the state around.

Heading into the primary, what are your final thoughts?

Today is just like any other day—I continue to focus on the challenges facing our families.

It has been a real honor to work alongside hundreds of supporters from all walks of life who keep coming out rain or shine to knock on doors, make phone calls, and write letters to their neighbors.   For these folks in the 61st Senate District, working on this election is about the immense challenges we need to take on – it’s not about politicking or money or patronage jobs.  As we get ready for tomorrow when voters will make their final decisions and head to the polls, the incredible dedication of these Western New Yorkers is certainly on my mind.

Our next post will be from Michele Iannello, candidate for the 61st Senate District.

This is the second post in our series about the two heated Democrat primary battles that will be decided at the polls Tuesday. Read our earlier post for the full details.

In anticipation of these races, we sent out the same question to all six candidates and asked each to please respond by the end of the day today. We've heard from three so far. We'll publish those and add the others as they come in. We asked the candidates a pretty open-ended two-part question: What are your final thoughts heading into the primary? What would you want the voter to have in mind about you as he or she heads to the polls?

We will publish each one in the order that we received it.

Second is Dan Ward, candidate for the 61st Senate District. Ward had this to say:

Heading into the primary, what are your final thoughts?

Well, I've been roasted and I've been soaked. I ridden over a hundred miles on my bicycle visiting Democratic voters across Northern Erie County and Genesee County. I am invigorated by the reception I've been given by the voters I have had the opportunity to meet all the way from the Niagara River inland to LeRoy.

What would you want the voter to have in mind about you as he or she heads to the polls?

First off, I have 3 times as much education as my two opponents combined. Neither of whom have a four year college degree.

I have a greater amount of work experience in the actual "world of work" and I far surpass both in knowledge of government and its workings.

I don't sloganeer that I am going to fight for anybody, my constituents know I do that every day. I do what is right for them and no one else.

When I go to Albany I'm not going to represent a Republican  Rochester Billionaire and his  Democratic New York City special interest allies, both have each supplied thousands of dollars to the campaign of one opponent. Nor am I going to represent the local political and special interest groups that support the other.  

The only special interest group I support is the resident of this community. History is my proof.

Our next post will be from Alice Kryzan, candidate for the 26th Congressional District.

Genesee County Democrats will head to the polls tomorrow to help decide a pair of important primary races for the region. Three contenders square off in the race for the 26th Congressional District: Alice Kryzan, Jack Davis and Jon Powers. Three more take up the fight for the 61st Senate District: Michele Iannello, Joe Mesi and Dan Ward.

In anticipation of the two races, we sent out the same question to all six candidates and asked each to please respond by the end of the day today. We've heard from three so far. We'll publish those and add the others as they come in. We asked the candidates a pretty open-ended two-part question: What are your final thoughts heading into the primary? What would you want the voter to have in mind about you as he or she heads to the polls?

We will publish each one in the order that we received it.

First is Jon Powers, candidate for the 26th Congressional District. Powers had this to say:

I am running for Congress because the America you and I grew up believing in and the America I went to war for had lost its voice in Washington. The America we believe in would not have sent my fellow soldiers and me to war without a plan or the proper equipment, the America we believe in would not allow gas to reach $4 a gallon without a path to secure our energy independence, the America we believe in would not our best and brightest leave Western New York because of a lack of opportunity.

So my family and I decided to run for Congress to change that, and built a grassroots campaign that is based the voices of our friends and neighbors. We started this year holding 30 house parties in 30 days and spent last week visiting all 7 counties in 7 days.

Your neighbors in Orleans, Wyoming and Livingston Counties will tell you that they see me more than anyone else asking for your vote. I’m pleased to spend so much time talking to voters in every county of this district.

We have hosted roundtables talking with farmers about agriculture, small business owners about the rising cost of health care and students about the rising costs of education.

We held a series of teacher roundtables that we kicked off at Main Street Coffee in Bataiva last month. We talked with educators from LeRoy, Batavia, Rochester and Albion. Here is what Russ Stressing of The Batavian wrote.

These conversations have earned the endorsements of all 7 county parties and I am proud that Genesee County was the first Democratic County Party to join our campaign.

I ask for your vote tomorrow. If you believe that together we have the power to change Washington, this campaign is about you.

Our next post will be from Dan Ward, candidate for the 61st Senate.

(via Rochester Turning)