Barack Rocks!

I'm so excited! I've got my eTicket for Wednesday--Michelle Obama will be in Evansville!

Rock on!

We had a good campaign meeting today. We met two Obama National organizers who will help our endeavors.

Saturday I received an email from a local democrat party leader... he mass emailed (blind copy) a bunch of local dems. This is what he said:

"You go into these small towns in Pennsylvania and, like a lot of small
towns in the Midwest, the jobs have been gone now for 25 years and
nothing's replaced them," Obama said. "And they fell through the Clinton
Administration, and the Bush Administration, and each successive
administration has said that somehow these communities are gonna
regenerate and they have not. And it's not surprising then they get
bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't
like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way
to explain their frustrations."

I live in a small town in Indiana and I take offense to this attack on
small towns through out the Midwest.

I DO BELIVE IN GOD VERY DEEPLY!!!!!!!!

I AM NOT A RACIST NOR AM I ANTI IMIGRATION!!!!!!

I DO OWN GUNS AS THE CONSITUTION OF THIS GREAT UNITED STATES ALLOWS!!!!!

If you agree with me please pass this along to your family and friends.

I wasn't too happy to say the least, so rather than hit delete like I usually do with these types of messages, I sent this:

I disagree.

I think Obama's remarks cut straight to the core with Midwest Americans living in towns very much like our very own. How many times have we seen factories shut down, move out or leave? It wasn't my mother's choice when her last four jobs (within the past 15 years) have ended with the company shutting down (3 of the 4), and the last one a layoff because of the weak economy.--and yes, these were all Perry County businesses. Have those factories been replaced? Not really. Sure we've had a few new factories in town, but its not like it used to be. Have our communities been "regenerated"? No. Every year the hot election topic for local races is Perry County population decline, why is it happening, what can we do about it. Is there ever a real answer to either of those questions? No. Our youth are not coming back after college, our population mean is getting older, and our poverty rate is going up.

Yes I'm bitter. Take a look around at our dying downtowns and our vacant houses and name me a person who believes our community is thriving. Especially with the dark clouds of a slow economy and increasing energy costs looming over our heads. Do I know people who are against immigration? Yes. Do I know people who are racist? Absolutely. And I don't have to go very far in our neighborhoods to find people like this. I've known people who have lived here longer than I've been alive who say they STILL feel like an outsider to our community because they weren't born here or because their family lineage isn't traced back a couple generations in our county. I think Barack Obama hit the nail on the head and it's unfortunate the opposing candidates are spinning his words in an effort to make themselves look more patriotic to us small town folk.

If you want to know more about Obama's message and what he was really talking about please check out this video State Representative Russ Stilwell sent me: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sc9PepjyDow

Brandi Hess


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I don't mean to sound so negative when describing our county. I truly love Perry County and plan to live here the rest of my life--but sometimes you have to take a look around and see things as they really are before you can make a CHANGE. "A change we can believe in."