To Senator Charles Schumer,

To Senator Harry Reid,                                                           February 14, 2006

Having just read where Paul Hackett dropped out of the senate race in Ohio due to pressure placed upon him by the both of you that is one of the many reasons why I resigned my position as committee member for the Democratic Party and left the party itself.  From where I see it, we let the people decide and not the party power brokers.  If this race were to make it to the primary, the people decide and not the party power brokers.  This is after all a government for, of and by the people.  Isn’t it?

Quite frankly, I cheered when Paul Hackett said: “their party had been hijacked by religious extremists who he said "aren't a whole lot different than Osama bin Laden." I was thrilled when he refused to apologize when he said: "I said it. I meant it. I stand behind it." I am of the opinion that his remark shows leadership and something we are all craving right now.  It is taking an argument right to the opposition and where one does not back down.  We are tired of hearing of any opposition leader apologize to the Republican Party and its leader George W. Bush.

While he has made his decision to leave politics all together and quite frankly who can blame him when he has people stopping him.  I will leave you both with a passage from the Declaration of Independence which cites: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.–That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed,–That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.”

Perhaps through his out spoken nature, that is what Paul Hackett was fighting for and that was to remind people that they have the power and must wrest it back from party power brokers.

Sincerely,

Mary MacElveen

I will be circulating this letter around to various political lists on the Internet and will place it on my blog at RadioLeft.com

Article: Popular Ohio Democrat Drops Out of Race, and Perhaps Politics

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/14/politics/14ohio.html?_r=1&oref=slogin