By the time President Bush left town on Monday, I knew that we had changed the way politics works. For that, I thank you.
First, the netroots parried the advantage that Republicans get when bringing the President to town for a fundraiser: more than 3200 people chipped in to raise more than $120,000 for my campaign. (Wow.)
One of the recent contributions was $5 from an 87-year-old woman who lives in my district, with a note saying that it was all she could afford but that she wanted me to "Give ‘em hell!" I know many of you were struggling to figure out how much you could afford, and sacrificed to help me. Thank you. For her, and for you, I promise I’ll give you everything I’ve got.
The second revolutionary thing was the online town hall we hosted on Iraq that drew participants from all over the country, including many people from my district who would never have been able to make such an event in person. I had an amazing set of panelists (including McJoan moderating), we answered real questions submitted by real people, we had a substantive discussion of our policies and the realties on the ground, and started to look at where we can go from here. I think we created a model for how these can work, both on this issue and on others.
In particular, I was proud of the exchanges between Jon Soltz of VoteVets, retired Navy Captain Larry Seaquist (former commander of the U.S.S. Iowa), and Professor Clark Lombardi (a specialist in comparative law who just got back from Iraq) about some of the military and political realities. We’ll have the video of the town hall up on our website sometime next week, for those of you who would like to watch.
And third, well, third is a big one. One of the biggest problems we have in applying the political pressure necessary to bring our troops home from Iraq is that there isn’t a plan we can point to and say, "THIS is what I support as a responsible plan for ending the war." Certainly the Bush administration has done their utmost to stifle the creation or release of such a plan from our current military planners. The leadership in Congress hasn’t given us one to rally around, either. So I decided it was time to simply find the resources and political courage to make it happen, rather than waiting for it to happen. On Monday morning before the town hall, I asked retired Major General Paul Eaton, who was in charge of rebuilding the Iraqi Army and security forces in Iraq from 2003-2004, if he would chair a group to create a responsible exit plan for Iraq, and he agreed.
Let me repeat: we will be creating a plan to end the war and bring our troops home. It’s long past time.
People-powered politics is exactly what this country needs right now. The American people are the most innovative population in the world. We wield an enormous amount of influence and power globally. We are a nation of problem-solvers who have a set of enormous problems we have to solve. And it’s time we harnessed the talents of the entire community to solve them.
Your participation in democracy is what gives me hope.
We will build a fairer, more just country, where everybody is truly created equal, where every hardworking person will have a real opportunity to succeed and thrive, and where the fundamental liberties that turn us from servants of government to its masters are defended even in the face of fear. That is what we’re doing.
And for that, I thank you.