Look behind the message

From now until election day, you'll see some of the incumbents campaign "for the future", "leaving the past behind", in essence telling the citizens of Ohio, "our record for the past (fill in the blank) years doesn't matter, let's focus on the future." In other words they are saying, "don't concern yourself with the condition of our state under our leadership and with what we have or haven't done , because now we have a plan to do better."

I believe it is most important to focus on our future. We can move Ohio forward by fostering an environment in which the economy can grow and our people can prosper and provide for their families. We can move Ohio forward by working to solve our public school funding crisis which has been virtually ignored for most of a decade. We can move Ohio forward by prioritizing our state budget to focus on higher education, thereby ensuring that our citizens are educated for the jobs of the future, by making our state universities affordable for ordinary folks in our state. We can also move Ohio forward by restoring confidence that our elected officials are serving all of our citizens and not just a favored few special interests, by demanding high ethical standards, so we can get past our sorry recent past which is littered with numerous violations of the public trust.

Yes, it is safe to say that we'll see some of the current office holders "bash the messenger" for simply pointing out some of the shortcomings we've seen in Ohio as maybe they believe that simply not talking about our problems will make them disappear. Be wary of the fancy advertising and "endorsements" from past elected officials who also protected the status quo. Look behind these campaigns to see who is funding them. Real change can be seen in Ohio, but only if we face our problems and situations head on, and in doing so uncover opportunities for a fresh start and a turnaround in Ohio.

I'm optimistic that we can affect positive change in Ohio. Every day I speak with more Ohioans who are fed up with the "business as usual" policies that have negatively affected our hard working men and women. I sense a resolve that we need to take back our state from the special interests that have dominated the governmental landscape in our great state in the recent past. I just want to say "thank you" for the support and encouragement you have given me over the past few months and I look forward to meeting with many more of you in District 46 and sharing your concerns.

Thank you and good evening.

Mark