An Open Letter to Illinois State Senator Bill Brady on the Topic of His Candidacy for Governor of Illinois

By -
Dear Senator Brady,

I am a lifelong resident of central Illinois, having grown up in Washington and moving to Champaign in 2001. As a result of my location, I have been long accustomed to the different political climate that exists in the southern half of the state and the climate that exists in the Chicago area. Most notably, I have often felt that Chicago politicians are much more ruthless, while I have always felt our downstate politicians have been more honest and authentic.

I first learned about you in 2006, when you began your first campaign for governor.  I was immediately impressed by your background, your message, and your dedication to helping Illinois get out of its ongoing financial crisis through improving the business climate, reducing expenses, and increasing revenue. I am proud to say that I voted for you in the 2006 Primary election. Then you ran again in 2010, and I again voted for you in the Primary election. Then I voted for you in the General election. I have been a strong supporter, encouraging others to learn about you and your positions on the issues that are most important to me and those I spoke with.

You are an awesome individual. Everyone who has met you knows this. But when you ran for office, you ran against well-known politicians from Chicago. The voters of Chicago did not know you. Even if they didn't like your opponent, many chose to vote for the candidate they knew over the candidate they didn't. Here's the problem, Senator Brady: neither of your gubernatorial campaigns have been very successful in introducing the people of Illinois, especially the people of the greater Chicago metropolitan area, to you. I was saddened when your campaigns resorted to the type of politicking I've come to expect from Chicago: negative ads, attack ads, repeated statements about why your opponent is the wrong person for the job, but very little to convince the voters that you are the right person.

Please, Senator Brady, run a clean campaign! Let the people of Illinois meet you and get to know you! Don't waste your time, your money, and the money of your campaign contributors on negativity and talking about the other candidate. Focus on you and your message. I plan on voting for you again. I will do my best to convince friends and family across the state to do the same. But we need you to do your part.

Thank you,
~Alex T. Valencic

Comments

Gramazetta said…
I assume you wrote this letter, Alex, since Gretchen was not born in Washington.
Well written letter and your thoughts. I'm always glad to hear that there are some people trying to pay attention to our potential government leaders.
Thanks, Gramazetta
June 25, 2013 at 5:00 PM
Alex T. Valencic said…
You are correct. Gretch had logged into her Google account on my computer and didn't tell me, so when I put up the post, it listed her as the author.
June 25, 2013 at 5:17 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Who Am I? On Iconography, Faith, and Self-Identity

By -
Image
In one of the great classic works of French literature, the author Victor Hugo tells the story of Jean Valjean, a man who spent nineteen years in prison, growing angrier and more filled with hate toward the world with each passing day. The first five years were for stealing a loaf of bread to feed his sister’s starving family, but then he suffered for fourteen additional years for attempting to run away. The story of Les Misérables follows his journey from his release from prison on parole to a life of service, sacrifice, love, mercy, grace, and, ultimately, redemption. In the musical adaptation of this story, a pivotal moment takes place early in the story when Jean Valjean, who had been gifted a meal and safe shelter for the night from a kindly bishop, gives in to temptation, steals the bishop’s silverware and runs off, only to be captured by the local constables. Valjean claims that the silver was given as a gift from the bishop but the police, not believing the words of a cri...
Read more

Make A Joyful Noise

By -
My father-in-law recently blogged about music, and lamented that Western society does not produce music except for the purpose of providing entertaining diversions. While I am sorely tempted to link to his blog, I will refrain. Rather, I wish to simply present my own thoughts on why I consume music. And consume it I do. I love music. I devour it. It is a part of my being. Gretch and I almost always have music playing in our home, in the car, and when we are working (and can get away with it). I do not know when my love of music first emerged, but I would argue that it has always been with me. My own father is a talented musician, although I fear there are times when this talent has been hidden from the world. Yet some of my earliest recollections of my childhood include Dad breaking out his amazingly awesome Martin D35 acoustic guitar and playing songs like "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" by The Tokens, "Boogie" by John Hartford, and various songs from the world of classi...
Read more

Who Are You?

By -
A thought has been running through my mind this morning and it doesn't seem to be planning on leaving any time soon. I have things I need to get done (such as applying for more jobs for the coming school year), so I am hoping that this may help me at least share the thought well enough that I can worry about other things. The thought is really more of a question. Who am I? Who are you? How do I define myself? How do you define yourself? So often in our lives, we have opportunities to introduce ourselves to new people. I've mentioned before how I have this habit of introducing myself as Alex Valencic but, if I am writing my name, it is always Alex T. Valencic. After sharing my name, it is inevitable that someone will want to know more about me, and the first thing they ask is what I do. How we respond to this question says a lot about what we think of ourselves, I think. When someone asks me what I do, I respond by either saying I am a teacher or I am a professional educat...
Read more