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A FIGHT FOR AMERICA |
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Written by Doug Hoffman
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Sunday, 25 October 2009 |
At this time, three months ago, I was wrestling with a
decision. A decision as to whether or not to run in a special election to fill
the seat of New York's 23rd Congressional District vacated by the
new secretary of the Army, John McHugh.
If you had told me 90 days later I would be writing this, I
would have laughed in disbelief. I would have laughed even louder had you told
me that I would be receiving endorsement and support from political leaders
like Fred Thompson, former Majority Leader Dick Armey, or Sarah Palin.
Or appearing on broadcast media with national audiences, as
their hosts peppered me with questions about the future of the GOP and our
nation.
You see I'm not a professional politician; I've never sought
elected office. I grew up poor in Saranac
Lake, in the heart of the Adirondacks.
My siblings and I were raised in a single-parent household by our mother. We
worked to help her pay the mortgage.
But, like so many others in this great land, I worked hard,
got a good education, did a six-year stint in the military, married, landed a
good job with a "big eight" accounting firm and started living the American
dream.
It's funny what can happen in America,
when you are able to dream and have the courage to follow your dreams. At 27, I
was hired as controller of the organizing committee for the 1980 Winter
Olympics in Lake Placid. Three years later I bought the
accounting firm that employed my mother.
Now I have six offices spread across the northern reaches of
New York and a dozen other small
businesses in the Adirondacks that employ my wife,
children and hopefully someday, my grandchildren. I am living the American
Dream.
The reason I'm running for office is to ensure that others
share the same opportunities. Sadly,
that dream is quickly becoming a nightmare.
Unemployment grows, our economy is in crisis, and our
elected officials seem out of touch with reality. Government in Albany
is a disgrace; it's the most dysfunctional in the nation. New
York has six statewide elected officials, only two of
them have been elected by the people. Three of the remaining four hold office
as a result of the scandals, sexual and financial, that forced a governor and a
comptroller to resign.
It's just as bad in Washington.
The Obama administration suffers from the illusion that the way you solve
problems, both social and economic, is to throw money at them. In the meantime, Congress fiddles while our
economy burns. They lack common sense.
They don't seem to get it that increased spending leads to
higher taxes and fuels a projected $9 trillion deficit. That earmarks and
pork-barrel spending might be beneficial to their political careers, but are
devastating to the taxpayers who foot the bill.
They are oblivious to the fact that tort reform, cutting of
waste, and the introduction of free-market solutions are the ways to lower the
cost of health care. That Obama-care will only lead us down the slippery slope
to socialized medicine.
They are addicted to spending. When they run low on funds
they simply create a new tax or raise an old one.
Taxes, the deficit, red tape and regulation are breaking the
back of the nation, mortgaging the future of our children and grandchildren.
Americans have had enough and are vocalizing their anger in
town hall meetings and on the streets of Washington.
They are mad as hell and they're not going to take it anymore!
That's why I am running. I am one of them!
Freedom is what
Americans want. Economic freedom to reap the rewards of the free enterprise
system, personal freedom from the intrusion of big government in our lives,
freedom from the nanny state that is being forced upon us.
I'm a lifelong Republican running as the nominee of the New
York State Conservative Party. I didn't
leave the Republican Party, the party left me. The GOP bosses in New
York and Washington
felt the candidate needed to be as liberal as possible. They picked a
professional politician, with a voting record more liberal than 46 Democrats in
the New York state legislature.
They threw principles out the window. Their candidate has
voted for increased spending, higher taxes, gay marriage and abortion. She
supports "Card Check" (EFCA) and is supported by trial lawyers, gay activists
and Big Labor. In 2008 she ran on the line of the radical left Working Families
Party, ACORN's political party in New York.
The battle I wage is not a lonely one. Like-minded citizens
in the district, the state and the nation have joined me in this fight.
It is a battle that has been joined by current and former
elected Republican officials, conservative activists and members of the
ever-growing Tea Party and 9/12 movements.
And if the GOP picks
liberal candidates for the midterm congressional elections next year, they may
find that there are a lot more people out there like me who won't go along. We
are not going to win by becoming more like the Democrats. We're going to win by
standing up for our beliefs.
It's principle over party.
It's a fight for the heart and soul of the Republican Party.
It's a fight for fiscal responsibility and the return of common sense to those
who govern us.
This is a fight for our children's future. It's a fight for America.
Doug Hoffman's
campaign website is at http://www.doughoffmanforcongress.com/. You can help him fight for America by following Sarah Palin's advice to Donate to Doug.
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