Jack and Kathie Hendricks, and Tony Barr: GrassRoots at its Best

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For OpEdNews: Jack and Kathie Hendricks - Writer

Friends Old and New, Brothers, Sisters, Sweethearts,

You might be as astonished at the nerve of the NeoCons running not only the country, but the Republican Party as well...right into the ground. If so, you might be heartened to know that the two of us, Jack and Kathie, took it upon ourselves to straighten this mess out,.....and we have been doing pretty well.

We helped organize a group of local progressive activists, got in touch with other groups like ours here and there all over this Congressional District, found an energetic and enthusiastic young man to run for Congress, got him on the ballot for the election, and he has done the job....campaigned all over the 9,536 square miles of the 9th, marched in parades, knocked on doors, spoke at hundreds of dinners, breakfasts, luncheons...every day, day after day, week after week.....all while holding down his day job teaching Special Education at Everett High School in Bedford County. He needs to feed his family, so he works. His name is Tony Barr.

"Hi, I'm Tony Barr", he says, holding out his hand..."I want to be your next congressman..I am running against Bill Shuster...."

By that time the citizen is shaking his hand, and at the sound of "running against Bill Shuster" they become attentive. Who is Bill Shuster? One of the worst congressmen to grace a district since Bob Ney and Tom Delay, but dumber. He got the job by appointment when his father "retired", actually ducked out of a lobby money scandal a few years back and has since won reelection just because most locals are registered Republicans...that's not a bad thing, but it makes for poor representation if the Democrats don't put up a good fight.

Which they didn't. Until Jack and Kathie Hendricks and their allies decided it wasn't enough to just show up and vote anymore. If there is to be anything to representative government, this corporate licking rubber stamping bamboozler has got to go and the messenger is....Tony Barr.

So we are out there full time for Tony Barr for Congress. We raised $40,000 and spent it on what is needed to run a campaign. Gas. Yard Signs. Pamphlets. The usual. Not much on media advertising. Kathie and Jack are the media people as well as the communication organizers for the local Fulton/Franklin Democratic Club. We try to get as much nearly free "earned media" as we can through press releases and advisories, Letters to the Editor, press endorsements, and it's been win some, lose some. We have done well.

Our Opponent, remember him, Bill Shuster. The boot licking corporations and rich influence buyers have contributed a million bucks to his campaign. That's the ratio. We got $40,000, he got 25 times as much. $1,000,000. OK, we can't match that, but here we go!

There is evidence that $800,000 of the dark side money just got spent on something. What could it be......Hmmmmmm....... Ready to guess? Our guess is: Dirt TV Advertising. Here come da Blitz! At least we got the bugger's attention! Now Tony's reputation will be unjustly dragged out and shot in public, just in time for the election, we figure.

Not to worry. We have a nice ad that politely points out in some detail what Bill Shuster has been up to in the way of failing the people of the 9th and could put it on TV if we had $10,000, which we don't. We figure it would do the trick. It would fire back at good old Bill just in time so folks would know for sure what kind of guy he is, and it will remind them of how much they dislike his way of "governing." Running the place with his big pals, Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld.

So, how about it...we've already spent ourselves silly, and we know many of you contribute to big name things like DCCC etc that aren't helping us because we are beneath their radar, so we are doing a little fundraising on the side, going out to folks like you who might be interested in helping save a country that is about to go off the rails for good as a Democracy. We gotta act fast!

> Send your contribution, make the check out to Tony Barr for Congress and send it to PO Box 306, Hollidaysburg PA 16648, and write "TV ad" on the line. Include your address and occupation (retired) for the accountants. And let us know, but do it now.

Even easier, whip out a credit card and aim your browser to www.tonybarr2006.com and hit the "donate" button there. Put 35 in the number of dollars window. Or whatever! 5. 100. And tell us you did it! Our goal: $10,000 in by Friday.

Thanks,

Jack and Kathie Hendricks

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Jack and Kathie Hendricks are retired schoolteachers living in a rural Republican-dominated district who had the good fortune to meet some local Democrats with whom they started a grassroots club. Now they work with campaigns for progressive (more...)

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