Thanks for the support

Friends,

Thank you for your support during the long eight months I was running for Congress. We ran an issues-oriented, positive campaign. Your help kept our spirits high despite the crowded field and related stresses.

Our campaign made very creative use of online media, including YouTube, blogs, and the Internet to introduce the campaign to Cleveland and the 10th District. I think the methods we used will become more and more vital to political campaigns as the world moves online.

Because we were outspent by our opponents almost 12 to 1, we had to use both new and old methods of reaching the voters. We launched the HopeMobile (For Sale, cheap!) as a traveling billboard, worked hard on door-to-door campaigning, made targeted personal telephone calls and mailings, used personal notes from friends outside the district, and made appearances at fish fries, grocery stores, and mass transit. Despite all this, it was not enough to overcome the natural advantage of sitting politicians and perennial candidates.

We appreciate every dollar, every minute of time our supporters and volunteers gave the campaign. I also appreciate bloggers’ willingness to give us a chance to get out our message. As the lines between traditional and emerging media blur, they will continue to have a greater role in campaigns and political coverage.

Will I run for political office again? Your guess is as good as mine. In the short term, I’ll stay involved while I consider what I want to do when I grow up.

Now that voters have chosen Dennis Kucinich to be the Democratic nominee, we need to put aside our differences and work together to keep his progressive voice in Washington. We need to keep our Democratic majority in the House and elect a Democratic President.

We’ll all be busy! See you on the campaign trail.

Thanks again,
Rosemary