My loose cannon went off for the weekend but took the time to send me an email despairing of the lack of attention my campaign had gotten. Why I had just sent out a press release and he’d found no reference to it anywhere on a google search. He just found a couple old links to blogs that had dissed my campaign.
Mel,   I’m touched at the anxiety in your last email. You really want me elected to Congress. What do I want? I want you to have a good weekend. Remember that a week or two ago I told you that I can’t win. I also said that that’s not going to stop me from trying. If in the end I lose but I’ve tried my hardest that will satisfy me because its not up to me, its up to the voters, to choose a congressman.  “Working my hardest”…..I had a lousy boss once who gave me some good advice. Its better to work smart than to work hard. That’s how I’m trying to approach this campaign. I want to reach as many people as possible with the limited resources I have. I will also try to increase those resources but I think we can find ways around the liability of being relatively penniless. Keeping our focus will help. I find a good night’s sleep and a good swim are great places for me to go to do a “brain dump” clear my mind, and help me focus. I’ve had both in the last 24 hours. While I’m temporizing one more thing. Remember how Hemingway defined courage…..”Grace under pressure.” Let’s be graceful I’ve got between 500 and a 1000 people looking at my blog daily. Who knows if any of them live in the District?  At least Jim Oberstar has someone scanning it daily and Rod Grams too if he has any kind of a campaign. If these jokers are worried about what Wikipedia says about them they should be doubly concerned about what I say about them because I can be far more cutting. By the way. I’m going to write about you again today in the blog. As sports is soap opera for boys so too is politics soap opera for a more general audience. You’ll have to wait and see what I write. but , don’t worry, it won’t be slighting. This is my attempt to draw people into my campaign a la Pied Piper of Hamlin. Right now my campaign and the people in its cavalcade are just a little dust rising on the distant horizon. That horizon will be here in 80 plus days. I want my readers to keep scanning the sky for us as we approach. You will be in the lead…..unless you decide to bail… which is, of course, your right to do. And if you keep agonizing about our slow progress you will be more inclined to do so. I have a good letter outlined to pursue our being included in the upcoming debate. This will also occasion a press release. All next week I will keep working on ways to get more people to the welty4congress site.  I want us to meet on Sunday before I leave to clean up the details of running a campaign while the candidate is out of the country. I’m sure I’ll have more to report but my advice is put away your computer and enjoy the weekend. Harry P.S. Thanks for all you help and thanks for getting all worked up. No successful campaign could get along without people like you.Â
