3/17/10: Our message is being picked up by others!

When I entered the race for Congress on November 7, 2009 I pledged to be a Representative who would be bold and specific and would challenge all of my competitors to do the same going forward. On that day, I pledged to not only vote for term limits, but would ’self term limit’ myself in order to lead by example promising to serve no more than six years in the House. I planned on putting pressure on all other members of Congress to do the same, but especially on those in my own party who say they are for term limits, but refuse to term limit themselves and lead by example. We need a turnover in our elected officials in order to reduce the number of career politicians and the corrupting influences that come along with them! I also refuse to believe that once elected, I am the only member of the GOP in the district who can represent the people here. The way party politics work currently, anybody who challenges a sitting member of Congress in their own party is ignored at best or possibly destroyed in some instances. (It happens in both parties as is evidenced by today’s articles regarding Merrick Alpert!)

I also pledged on that day to forego many of the perks given to members of Congress and asked others to do the same. While many people have told me that they have been frustrated at times with the lack of coverage our campaign has received considering our popular message, I have assured them that behind the scenes, things are happening and our voices are being heard. I know that many candidates are taking up our fight in other races as well and today I was alerted to a post on the website of Bo ItsHaky mentioning our efforts directly. He correctly points out that all of the five candidates have pledged to not accept a Congressional Pension in our primary race, which I think is a first for any district in our country! I also believe that the five candidates pledging to abide by specific term limits they will live by if elected, resulted in what I believe is the first case of ‘Self term limits’ in the country. His website post can be found at this link: http://www.boforcongress.com/?p=3003

I congratulate Mr. ItsHaky on ‘The buck stops here!’ approach to government and hope others in his race will follow despite the tough race the GOP will find themselves in against career politician Rosa DeLauro. I also thank Rick Torres and Will Gregory for their bold promises on how they personally can change the way business is done in DC, without a single vote being cast on the floor!

While many doubters have told me that one person can’t make a difference in a chamber of 435 members, I disagree. Our race in the 5th district of CT has shown that by having competing candidates, we are able to put our pledges out there, and then ask the others to agree or disagree and let the voters decide. Even if one of the candidates in our primary had believed that he should be allowed to serve in Congress for life, it would be difficult to make the case to primary voters, considering all of the other candidates were committing to term limits! Thus, he would be forced to live by his promise or be called upon for breaking his pledge at a later date.

This is how change happens and I encourage all candidates to make bold, and more importantly, specific promises to their voters. I also encourage voters to ask…no…demand that the people asking for their votes make specific pledges on term limits, pensions, perks, etc.

I thank everybody who has believed and helped in what we are trying to accomplish in order to get our country back on track. I believe that we can bring our message of ‘Common Sense For Connecticut’ to Washington, DC come November and I will continue to be your voice at every event I attend until then. I could not do this alone and will always remember that this was a team effort of average people, and not insiders, once I am elected!

Bill