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Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has." Margaret Mead
My name is Syndi White. I am a candidate for State Representative in New Hampshire. I am writing to give the Democratic Underground community a big THANK YOU. It is amazing what thoughtful, committed people can do. You have changed my world and I believe the effect of your actions will go way beyond my own campaign. Before your donations, I had used the $300 in my Actblue account, together with some other donations, to buy my signs. I had very little money left in my campaign fund. In the span of a little over 24 hours, you donated a total of $710 through Actblue! Wow, you have no idea how grateful I am. This sends a clear message to the people who tried to destroy my signs and intimidate me. You have made me a stronger person and a stronger candidate.
I will spread the word and let everyone know about the support and encouragement I have received from this group. I have received donations from all over the country, from people of widely different backgrounds and financial situations. I am thankful for each and every one. At the beginning of this week, I was feeling discouraged, defeated, and just plain sad that someone (or some group) would target me for such an attack. You see, I am a relatively unknown candidate with no previous political experience that would put me in a position of controversy. I don’t have any personal enemies either (that I know of anyway). So this was a shock. Today I am feeling very optimistic and full of positive energy. It is all due to people I don’t know, but who cared enough to try and make a difference.
Another reason I am writing to this community is to tell you my story. The original poster, who got this whole national movement started, got the gist of the story correct, but there were a few inaccuracies that I wanted to clarify. Also, as the story moved along in the different threads, it became bigger and bigger. Some of you have also expressed a desire to find out about me. So here you have it!
First of all, I am not a politician. I am a Mom of 3 from a working class family.
Professionally, I have been in the Human Service and Special Ed field. After spending 2 years as a stay-at-home mom, I started my own business as a Special Education Advocate. Several factors led me to the decision to throw my hat into the political ring. First was my children. My husband and I have always tried to instill in them the importance of thinking independently, being kind and respectful to all people, and doing things that make a positive difference in the lives of others. My oldest son is very liberal and progressive in his thinking (he’s a junior in high school), but has become so jaded by the current state of politics and poor federal administration in this country, that he had been talking a lot about how one person (or a small group) cannot make a difference in the world. That bothered me. Around the same time, I met Michelle Obama. She was talking to a small group of people in our local coffee shop (one of the great things about living in NH is we get to meet presidential candidates and their spouses up close and personal). She talked about her kids and family, her background and why she felt it was important to live a life of service to others. She also talked about how entering politics was a risk and the importance of being able to take risks in life in order to move forward and make a difference. That resonated with me. I knew at that moment that I also needed to take a risk and move beyond my own little world in order to make a difference.
I knew that I had a lot to offer at the state level and I could be an effective representative for my community. So the first step I took was to join the Carroll County Democratic Committee. I was nominated as a delegate to our state convention. I was energized by the Party’s positive direction and commitment to progressive ideals. It took a few more weeks and encouragement from the incumbent State Reps before I made the decision to become a candidate. Being an unknown, and not savvy to the system, I was having a hard time getting started. I was late ordering my signs due to lack of funds, then UPS lost the signs (delivered them to the wrong person in the wrong state) and I didn’t have any visibility and name recognition in the primary (except for my own homemade signs that I held in the July 4 parade and at the polls!). Finally I received them and started to place them around my section of town last week. I had about 15 signs placed last weekend. In the middle of the night someone drove around and searched out every one of the signs and yanked them out of the ground. This was not an easy task. Some of the signs were on streets off the beaten path, so they really had to search. They tried to destroy all the signs and some of the stakes, but fortunately corrugated plastic is nearly impossible to rip with your hands, so the best they could do is to fold, crush and scratch. I was able to straighten some of them out and put them back up (though they look a little battered). The scary thing about this incident is that it was a targeted, personal attack. It wasn’t just a spontaneous ‘drive by, pull up a sign and toss it’. This was a planned, thorough assault.
They took the signs and stakes to my house and dumped them in a pile in my driveway. I went to a house party for our Congresswoman Carol Shea-Porter a few hours later and told people there what happened. Apparently someone at the house party was also upset and outraged. She happened to be a member of your DU community. To her I am especially grateful. The rest is history.
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