Pete Ashdown

A few months ago, I got an email from the Pete Ashdown campaign, asking for people to write endorsements. I typed one on my laptop while teaching one day, and I've refined it over time, but it's never gotten posted.

Until now. Here it is, of all it's glory. Put first, I want to make a plug for Bloggers for Pete Ashdown. Visit this page and donate to Pete's Campaign. In fact, lets, as a group, try and raise $756 by the end of this week on the page. that's $4 for every day left before election day. It seems like a resonable goal. That's above the $137.57 I've already raised. OK, now on to the endorsement.

I am pleased to endorse Pete Ashdown in his race for United States Senate for several reasons. Pete believes that having an honorable and just government starts with electing honorable and just men. He believes that a government that is for, of, and by the people should be open to and honest with those same people who elected them. Government should be a tool of the people, not the people being a tool of the government.

As a native of Utah, Pete knows that we are home to a wide variety of resources and beauty, and that we must be wise stewards of these resources. As a successful businessman, he knows the struggles of small business. As a father, he wants to leave this country in a better place for his children.

As a professional in the field of technology, he knows how to make us honestly secure in the 21st Century.

-Bob Aagard
Holladay, UT

Other blogs of note on the topic:

Dee's 'Dotes may not support Pete, but supports the blogswarm
Gary Tornock says "The barriers to public participation are coming down."
Jen's Green Journal doesn't officially endorse Pete, but does remind us that "Pete, of course, has a great reputation in Salt Lake as a generous and ethical businessman."
Jeremy's Jeremaid says "Orrin Hatch is a Grade A wiener who doesn’t belong in a Senate seat representing Utah."
Leap Into the Void has an interesting thought: "One wonders who would have been our current president if one quarter of those who despise Bush sent twenty bucks to an opposition candidate's campaign."
furiousBlog who is a Mormon from outside Utah who says Orrin Hatch has gone "stark-raving mad. And I don't mean a little mentally divergent; I mean frothing-at-the-mouth, rocking-back-and-forth-on-the-floor-muttering insane."
The Utah Amicus says "Please, lets not let another election season go by and realize tto late that we had an opportunity for change, but missed it due to apathy."
SLCSpin says "This year is a rare moment when the right person and the right opportunity intersect in such an important way."
Bloglet says, in a very funny post, "I'm not just advocating Petey because he's not Orrin Hatch. Pete has issues!"
Forma Line declares "I'm with Pete"
Foxy Starbuck: "We need new blood in the Senate seat. Someone that is looking out for us and not blinded by their set ways."
Innisfree (from NYC!) encourages people to add Pete as a friend on MySpace.
Jeremy's Jeremiad (again): "Ashdown wants to represent Utahns because he is one…he is a successful business man who built his dream in Utah in service to Utahns."
One Utah: "We don’t have the luxury of another six years of Orrin Hatch, and we DO have the opportunity to elect and earnest, honest, and bright young man named Pete Ashdown."
Signifying nothing: "I prefer a governemnt of interested citizens than a government of political hacks"
The Third Avenue: "I hope and dream that he [Ashdown] will replace my current hack senator, Orrin Hatch."
Utah Democrats: "Pete will not do, is incapable of doing, rubber stamp politics. He will always do what he believes is the most responsible, most beneficial thing for the people of Utah and the United States of America."