Dear editor:
I wish to thank you for your support in our recent campaign for Congress. Though we lost the election, over 100,000 people, 37 percent of the electorate, pulled the lever for Dumas and showed their support for our President. We visited every one of the sixteen counties many times and made good friends and colleagues in each. We made sure that the issues in this election were clear. We held a referendum on the incumbent's record and we engaged him in dialogue about the problems in our communities.
But, the process of Democracy does not stop with casting your vote. After the 2008 victory in the general election most Democrats disengaged with politics. The Republicans did not. They put together a strategy, which won the 2010 elections and captured a majority of seats in the House. In Pennsylvania they won control of the Legislature and Governor's mansion (which drew up the redistricting plans which lost us seats in both Congress and the Legislature.)
We must not make that mistake again. We must keep supporting the issues, which matter to us. Write letters to the editor. Write letters to Rep. Thompson. Support groups which deal constructively with supporting education, the environment, the economy, health care, voter suppression, women's reproductive rights, working people. Right now taxes are in the spotlight. The President would like the one percenters, those who make over 250,000 a year, to start paying their fair share. Make sure that our elected officials know how you feel about this issue.
We have the right to celebrate. But, that being done it is time to roll up our sleeves and continue to struggle to bring our vision of America to fruition. Our President cannot do it alone. Don't Quit!
Charles Dumas