Scott Leahy
Dear Rachel,
A word of personal encouragement from me to you. Now that you have hit
the
Drudge Report I imagine a cascade of trouble for you. Fine, hang in
anyway.
You've got guts and I admire them. I found it a little difficult to
find
links on your site for what your actual program is -- what it is you
intend
to do differently in the courts than those you will replace. But I live
in
California and can vote neither for or against you so it doesn't matter
much. You might want to make it a bit easier for potential supporters
to get
to the meat of your campaign via a link that stands out, "what I stand
for"
or some such. I am sure this information is there, but I could not find
it
easily, and that is what I would look for if I were looking for a
candidate
to support.
I gather you are a former Republican. I was too. I am now a Democrat.
Welcome to the fold, with all the incumbent warts! Anyway, I am sending
this
to you as encouragement. I personally like candidates who are not
afraid to
call it tails when the the bird shows up on the toss. If I were to
offer any
advice, it would be to not spend so much time on your website outlining
the
injustices served you or the trevails you have enjoyed. Cut to the
chase. If
you said something, own up, in about two sentences, with two sentences
to
justify, then move on.
How do you move on? By leading. How do you lead? By telling people what
you
are going to do to fix the broken stuff. Pick examples of pain that are
happening every day in your state. Pick injustice out by the fucking
nose
and drag it out at your feet and point to it. Then tell your readers
what it
is you are going to do to get rid of it. People who are hurting listen
to
such things. The better your answers are, the less power the people IN
POWER
will have against you. Use specific examples of problems the citizens
face
that have been brought about by your opponents, rub their noses in it,
but
the BIG THING is to tell your potential constituents what you are going
to
do to fix it, plainly and clearly. For gods sake get positive, and
don't get
discouraged.
I wish you all the best, Rachel,
Scott Leahy
Dear Mr. Leahy:
You gave sound advice and I put it to work as soon as I found the right
opportunity. My latest statement is now up on my website and is an
expanded
version of what I said in a recent speech to the NC state bar about why
I am
running and what I want to accomplish.
I don’t want to criticize anyone on the court directly; if elected I
would
have to work with them and I don’t want to antagonize more than has
been
done already. However, opinions that I have read suggested that the
current
composition of the court leaves much to be desired.
I have seen errors, propagation of antiquated laws and judicial
activism
when the mood suits them. And this by so-called conservative
Republicans!
Were they all asleep at the switch such that none of them caught the
obvious
errors? One wonders but I touched on it in a nice way in my statement,
among other reasons.
Do not believe what is in said about me. The media flap was created
solely
to demonize me and reduce my chances with the electorate, especially
African
Americans. They were looking for an opportunity and I gave them one,
although it did generate a great deal of publicity and boosted name
recognition. None of the other candidates for any office have received
as
much press, albeit that much of it was unfavorable.
Best wishes,
Rachel
