JRE Steps Offstage, Phil Keeps On

I thought about you today, Phil, as I dropped my husband off at his school and saw a dad walking his two kids through the terrible wind to their school. I hadn't heard of Edward's announcement, but I had a suspicion that it was going to happen, actually from the time you posted about starting a progressive blog for the Western parts of MI.

I want you to know that I appreciate all you did for this campaign. There's no other Michigander, other than John Boniors, who did as much for Edwards, in my opinion. I'm glad that you're staying active in democratic/progressive politics in Michigan - following JRE's older message "I choose to be inspired". It is a choice, if hard at the present moment.

Thanks for the blog, for helping draw attention to our execrable state "leadership" in the primary travesty, for getting out the "uncommitted" word, and very importantly, for keeping many of us in the state feel a connection to progressive ideals against the political currents of this day.

I hope that someday, you will run for office, if your family is willing. I don't know what kind of a speaker you are - historians have a bad rep as speakers that is mostly undeserved - but you have good insight into campaigning, courage to say the hard things, and a fine understanding of what's important in life. You persevered for JRE's campaign, in spite of pressure to stop. You took on Tracy Russo's incompetence directly, and you were dead on about that. Your concern for young families, too often unmentioned in today's political currents, shows personal and political values essential to our country's future.

Paul Wellstone, my prof in college, is my all-time model for a progressive pol. You have good deal of those same qualities.

Don't lose them.


Kidspeak


If you do run for office some day, I might even donate some money to your campaign.