Nov 3, 2010 - 6:00 pm
Good post-election day evening!

Thank you for everyone who turned out yesterday at polling stations and at our party at The Locker Room in Lee to celebrate our campaign to elect me as the State Representative for the 4th Berkshire District. The party lasted until 11:00 pm and we all felt great. Those who stayed until the end and weren’t camera shy are pictured here. Scroll down for more on my message to supporters and on my interview with the Berkshire Eagle reporter who stopped by to check out the mood. (He got some of it right.)

Here’s a rough transcription of the impromptu speech the I gave. Thanks, Eddie, for encouraging me and Mark Miller to get on the chair to talk to the group. We were starting to get tired after a series of grueling days, but the spirited and upbeat audience re-charged me rapidly. By transcribing it here and showing the pictures of the day, I hope I am able to express both my sincere appreciation and my optimism for our party to those who couldn’t make it or who had gone home before the speech.

“Welcome to the party everyone! Thank you thank you thank you! A little while ago a reporter from the Berkshire Eagle stopped by to ask me how I felt about the numbers that, according to him, ‘weren’t looking very good.’ I told him we’re feeling great and are very happy. He looked miffed. As I explained to him, we are not looking at these numbers as if they were a one-time sporting event. One look at the number of volunteers who turned out at polling stations today, one would think that the only race on the ballot was State Representative. [The news report today in the Eagle misunderstandlingly reported me claiming that we increased voter turnout. No, it was volunteer turnout from both sides of the race that turned the district’s polling stations into a celebration of democracy that we continued at the party late into the evening.] We are celebrating a campaign and a message that is earning growing support from pundits, editorial boards, community boards, and voters from across the ideological spectrum. We would rather accept an electoral defeat knowing that support for our ideas is growing than we would celebrate a win knowing that our support is waning. [The results bear out waning support for the Democratic Party side: the incumbent won his 5th term with fewer votes than in his previous three re-elections in uncontested (2) or in two-way (1) races.]

“The billboards, yard signs, radio ads were out there because of us. The volunteers standing at polling places from both campaigns were there because of us. Voters took notice of the Green-Rainbow Party. We received many votes in the 3rd and 4th Berkshire District from people voting Green for the first time. This is something to celebrate. Ballot question #4 for public health insurance (single payer health care) passed by 72% in the 4th Berkshire District. It was put on the ballot because of us! The incumbent doesn’t get it when he states that he is doing enough to deliver to us real health insurance reform. I call upon him to take more action to relieve businesses, towns, and individuals of the unfair expensive burden of Romney-care and Obama-care, which are inferior health care systems that voters in other countries would also reject by at least a 72% margin.

“The change that voters want will come from a party that does not accept the mandates of corporate officers and lobbyists, that advocates for direct infrastructure investments into public services that foster the development healthy, educated, trained, and solvent community members who are enterprising.

“It’s time to continue building support for strong popular ideas for tax fairness and tax value. The Berkshire Eagle enjoys calling me ‘feisty.’ [This description was again included in today’s news report.] With a persistent clear example that we present to voters as the party grows, we will build feistiness in the electorate that will hold some feet to the fire. There’s an appetite for this new diet that will make our democracy healthier. Our communities cannot continue on a diet of bacon and crumbs. Let’s move forward. Thank you for every dawn-to-midnight moment today. Let’s get some deserved rest and wake up looking towards the future.

There are a number of great photos from yesterday on the web site.

We received so many positive comments and gestures. It was interesting to watch my opponent’s volunteers very eagerly talking to Jill Stein (when my opponent was not present) and wishing us luck. Some Democrats are glad to see us opening up debate to real ideas, while others wish we would go away or participate in their primaries (we won’t). A glaring misrepresentation of my interview with the Berkshire Eagle reporter, as it was reported in this morning’s newspaper, was the prevalence of the singular pronoun ‘I’ rather than the plural pronoun ‘We.’ The campaign garnered endorsements, positive news reporting, encouraging words as a result of us: Mark (my husband), Jason, Judy, Patrick, Tony, Darlene, Nicole, Eddie, Tim, JD, Becky, Mike, Wanda, Jamie, Susan, Jeff, Mark (my fellow candidate who collected 45% of the vote in his district!), Dom, Paul, Michele, Winnie, Peter, Justin, another Peter, yet another Peter, and many more. We all earned this respect. It would not have been a 2010 election campaign in any other manner. The Berkshire Eagle editorial board wants me (us) to remain active in politics. We will.

Our campaign was never going to be a money competition with the opponent, so we never spent much time asking for money. I am very grateful for the donors who did send funds our way. It made possible the purchase of some great printed material and some effective advertising. There are about $300 in services that were rendered as in-kind contributions that the campaign will invoice and record. I would very much like to make payment for these services. So ... If you able to make any contribution now towards closing the books on this particular race, the contribution would be very appreciated. Any amount collected beyond the $300 will be applied towards future organizing and elections.

The party building continues. We’re off to a great start. Yes, we feel great. Thank you!