Be safe and enjoy this holiday weekend. We hope you are able to spend time with your family and friends attending barbecues and watching fireworks. Activities such as these have become important parts of the American tradition.
Today we remember that the Fourth of July celebrates our independence and the birth of democracy in this country. The right to vote is an important component upon which our country was founded and very much associated with this weekend's celebrations. We were troubled when we recently learned that our opponent did not exercise her right to vote until 2008, when she voted for herself as a Delegate in the Presidential Primary, according to records provided by the Alabama Secretary of State.
We must not wait until it is convenient or in our self-interest to become involved in the political process. Too much is at stake.
Our July 13th Democratic Party runoff for the Alabama 7th Congressional District highlights the differences in how my campaign views the role of politics from that of our opponent. Our opponent, a former Wall Street securities attorney, has been funded to the tune of one million dollars. She is being bankrolled by such interests as Wall Street lawyers and D.C. insiders. We have not even reached the 200k mark, although we remain competitive and poised to win this race in 9 days because of our strong grassroots support.
In the past few weeks we have picked up a number of labor endorsements from working people. Unions that have endorsed our campaign include the American Federation of Teachers, the Alabama Education Association, the State of Alabama AFL-CIO, The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen, The United Auto Workers, The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, The United Steel Workers and most recently this Friday : The United Food and Commercial Workers. We are so honored and humbled by this support. We are committed to fighting for the people that keep this country running on a daily basis. This election is about putting people over profit.
Yesterday we launched our new radio ads and were able to do so as a result of small contributions such as those received right here. These radio spots highlight the differences in the type of campaigns that my opponent has been running and how it is being funded.
You can listen to Let Them Eat Steak which talks about how my opponent left a Democratic event to attend an Alabama Federation of Republican Women event. This is one of the most Democratic seats in the country and we cannot afford to allow this seat to end up in the hands of the wrong person.
Some of our generous supporters have agreed to match donations, dollar for dollar, up to $1,000 made to our campaign this weekend. We would appreciate any help you can give us so that we can make a statement that the Alabama 7th Congressional District and our Democratic strongholds are not for sale.
Go to our Grassroots for Smoot Act Blue page and make a donation. We are only 20 new donors away from reaching our goal of 100 on this page.
Have a wonderful 4th of July holiday.