What are we doing here? It’s less than 5 months to Election Day and people are wondering what to believe. My perspective comes from the inside of a very active Congressional campaign and of being at the front watching people, hearing opinions and seeing the political climate in Indiana is truly a privilege. I’ve been introduced to an amazing variety of people and places.
There seems to be a very big question mark floating above people’s heads like cartoon bubbles, wondering what to believe and hardly believing what they see and hear. It’s so obvious when listening to others and what their concerns are that people are really asking questions about what effects them with an earnestness that I don’t think I’ve seen before.
From what I’ve observed, there are more and more people asking questions, a lot of them for the first time. They are vocal and growing in numbers and first timers, newbies in fact to the topic of Politics.
I think it’s the real happenings that are making people question, “What is going on?” Illegal wiretapping, the government checking out people’s bank records for the past 5 years without anyone’s knowledge. Cuts in essential funding to things like, I don’t know…MEDICARE?? Cuts to Student grants while Colleges and Universities are raising their tuitions. Basic fundamentals like public education (elementary schools for one example) not being able to meet their basic obligations like employing teachers, lunch programs for the disadvantaged and forget about frivolous things like Music class or Art classes. There are so many lay offs of teachers and outsourcing of jobs in many industries and I mean OUTSOURCING like our Prisons, Hospitals and Roadways. The funny thing is, there was an announcement this morning that Honda is building a plant in Greensburg, IN and will employ 1500 people, while the opportunity of employment is a great thing, however, the economic climate in this area as well as surrounding states are in such a weak and critically poor condition that they are expecting people from Louisville, KY, Cincinnati and Dayton, OH and parts of Michigan or Illinois. 1500 jobs when you think of it, yes are a great thing especially in our district but when there have been upwards of 7,000 more FAMILIES living UNDER the poverty level since 2000 in our District alone doesn’t seem to be that big of a number. The fact that people are willing to drive 4 hours to get a factory job in another state is the reality of our world. It’s like this all over not just in our district; people are worried for their kids, their grandchildren, and their own future. Many, I suspect, are not just doing a lot of questioning this election cycle but really questioning the “deal” that the current administration has been giving them and a great many are realizing they have a HUGE case of buyer’s remorse.
I’ve been learning a lot about what people are looking for in their elected officials and I say keep at it, make them accountable and never let them become complacent. They are supposed to represent us, serve our best interests as constituents. My husband Barry Welsh is the Congressional Candidate in Indiana’s 6th District and I’m very proud to be his wife. I don’t think I would have been so aware if it had not been for Barry running his campaign, the more I learn the more I can help. Barry learned this long ago; I’m just beginning to figure it out.
This is my diary and it is not vetted through the Campaign, but just a perspective of what I’ve been able to observe close up in an active Congressional Campaign.
Thank you for taking the time to read this diary.
Sincerely,
Sherri Welsh