[1]Charles Booker
Last week, I wrote an op-ed about the devastation I saw in western
Kentucky, and why we deserve leaders who will show up for us in moments of
crisis with love and compassion.
I’m sharing it below in case you haven’t read it yet so you understand why
the stakes are so high this election:
[ [link removed] ]I hope that after you’re done reading, you’ll chip
in $5 or anything you can to help raise the resources our
campaign critically needs to transform the way we do politics.
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[ [link removed] ][IMG]Dec. 21, 2021, 2:31 AM MST
By Charles Booker, Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate for the state
Kentucky
When I say the people of Kentucky are my family, that sometimes draws a
confused look.
I am a young Black man from the hood in a state that is nearly 90 percent
white, vastly rural, and that has been criticized in the media for years
as being backward and operating against its own self-interests.
We are one of the poorest states in the nation, and if I had a dollar for
every story written blaming Kentuckians for the choices of our
politicians, I would be a rich man. What these writers so often don’t know
or realize is that our leaders so often fail to show up for us — even in
times of crisis. This is one of the many reasons why I’m running for U.S.
Senate against Rand Paul.
What I love most about this commonwealth is our grit, our resilience, our
ability to come together during times of tragedy — linking arms and doing
what needs to be done, with no question about politics or partisanship as
we lean on the humanity that truly unites us all. We’ve seen this in real
time over the past several days since historic tornadoes ripped through
our state, leveling towns and taking more than 70 of our loved ones.
In times of crisis, our leaders must be present. They must provide
compassion and hope, leading with integrity and open arms. Gov. Andy
Beshear and President Joe Biden have both exemplified that this week — but
Paul, whose own hometown was ravaged by tornadoes, has done the bare
minimum.
While many Kentuckians mourn their loved ones and start to try to put
their lives back together, Paul has had to defend his record of trying to
block disaster relief. His votes against providing relief for Hurricane
Sandy in 2012, Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria in 2017, and even voting
against aid for first-responders who answered the call on 9/11 shows that
he cares more about ideology than saving peoples’ lives and helping
rebuild following devastation.
Indeed, throughout his entire time in office, Paul has consistently voted
against disaster relief, even opposing urgently needed aid for Kentucky
itself in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic. At the same time, he’s sought
tax breaks for the ultra-wealthy and handouts to big corporations — who of
course fund his campaign. At last, he sharply pivoted to request aid
following the devastation of the recent tornadoes, but it merely exposes
his hypocrisy.
This is why I’m challenging Paul and fighting to give my state and the
people in it a voice at the federal level that we have long needed. We
deserve leadership that cares about our lives, that shows up for us, that
leads by example amid a crisis.
As soon as we learned about the developing storm, our campaign made plans
to provide support in case the worst happened. When our fears were
realized, I made the call to temporarily halt political activities and
focus our entire campaign on relief efforts.
We have been coordinating with organizations across Kentucky to provide
food, water, clothing, and other essential items, and shifted all of our
campaign fundraising to grassroots organizations and partners on the
ground to quickly help Kentuckians. We reached out to our volunteer
network of over 10,000 Kentuckians to coordinate actions, and updated our
website to further that effort.
We have also been engaging our national audience and supporters to help
with relief efforts and donations. For the remainder of my campaign, we
will continue to lead volunteer actions and provide fundraising support
for the people fighting to rebuild.
This is what being a Kentuckian is really about. Pulling together in the
face of tragedy no matter what and helping one another get back on our
feet. For so long, we have been the only ones out here helping each other
— left behind by the likes of Paul — and we deserve better.
My campaign is a testament to the forgotten people, communities like my
own that have been ignored and abandoned for too long. Many of us were
struggling to survive before this storm. Kentucky needs a new deal after
decades of failed leadership from Paul and Sen. Mitch McConnell — a
Kentucky New Deal that will boldly transform our state well into the
future.
No matter your party, it is essential we have someone in office who will
actually work for all of us, not mock, disrespect and disappoint us like
Paul continues to do. I am committed to that work, and my team is already
doing it. We’re not waiting for our politicians to “save” us when so often
they don’t even see us.
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