We also know all residents deserve representation that will speak loudly on their behalf around matters like affordable housing, education, healthcare, jobs, and ending the war in Iraq. And we know these residents deserve representation that does not campaign for just the last few days of a campaign cycle. And we know that all the voter intimidation, manipulation, and suddenly broken voter machines were not mere coincidence. Nor were the attacks on my character that appeared in certain newspapers and websites. Nor is it a coincidence that Mr. Towns refused to debate one single time, in spite of repeated calls for a public hearing about the issues. Elected officials like Congressman Ed Towns do not believe in democracy. They believe in maintaining their power and privilege, at the expense of the American people, by any means necessary. So we will never know, for sure, what the real vote count was, because this was never a fair campaign from the very beginning.
That is why I am proud to say I will be a candidate for Congress again in 2010. The campaign has already begun because of you.
It has begun because of all the outpouring of love and encouragement I have received from you, the people, here in Brooklyn, in other parts of New York City, and from across the country. All the phone calls, emails, text messages, and snail mail has been so incredibly humbling and gratifying. Sometimes when you are in the middle of a very serious campaign for political office, you have no idea how many people care, how many people want you to win, how many people believe in you and your team and the desire to see a movement for change across America. And I am especially grateful to the multicultural army of younger people who worked on our campaign, who voted, who told me this is the first time they actually took politics seriously. I say to the young people, in particular, do not give up, and do not forget that it has always been younger people, in America, and around the world, who make change happen. Together, we will win in 2010.
We the people are the leadership we are waiting for in Brooklyn, in America, and we are not going to let anyone turn us around. I have learned so much from this experience, am so grateful for the amazing people I have met, and I don't care if I am running against Mr. Towns in 2010 or his son, Assemblyman Darryl Towns. We are going to end the business and cycle of family politics and shameless nepotism in Brooklyn once and for all.
Just as Abraham Lincoln lost nearly a dozen political campaigns before becoming president of the United States, just as Barack Obama lost a Congressional campaign in 2000 before becoming the Barack Obama of today, we are going to take this 2008 campaign as a necessary step toward victory in 2010.
I sure hope he learned some stuff about campaigns and campaigning this year.
