Jon Powers announces his plans
Jon Powers sent a letter to his supporters announcing his plans. He has moved out of State, clearing the way, pending legal GOP challenges, for Alice Kryzan to receive the WFP ballot line. Jon is working with the Eleison Group (hope that is the web site) to develop Veteran Advisory Councils for Congressional campaigns across the country. He also officially suspended his campaign.
Here is a letter from Powers to his supporters below the fold.
Friends,
I hope this email finds you well. We have talked a great deal over this last year about how incredibly important this election is to the future of our country. New leadership in Washington will be responsible for navigating us through these challenging economic times, implementing an energy policy that will break our nation’s addiction to foreign oil, and bring our troops home safely, securely, and
soon.As you know, my family and I have been highly invested in this year’s election and believe that each of us has a responsibility to serve this nation in a fashion that can help play a role in the change we need. Each of us is responsible for being part of the solution that will help get our nation back on our feet.
Erin and I know that we still have a role to play in this year’s election. We have decided to take a job opportunity in Washington, DC that will allow us to make an impact on a national level.
I will be working with the Eleison Group to develop Veteran Advisory Councils for Congressional campaigns across the country. This will allow me to help candidates not only understand the issues around the Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan but put together policies to ensure we are taking care of those who served us. The Veteran Advisory Council provides me an opportunity to engage veterans in Western New York and across the nation to make sure they are working with their local campaigns to provide the critical first hand knowledge that someone who has been in combat brings to the conversation.
We have decided to stop our campaign and I am no longer running for Congress.
We want to thank each of you for your hard work and dedication. Please continue to serve in your community and find a way to get involved in this year’s elections.
This campaign was never about an individual, it was about this community. If you believe that together we have the power to change Washington, then please continue to work toward the dramatic change our country needs.
Sincerely,
Jon
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Wow.. I’m glad Massa and Maffei didn’t leave us after their last elections. Hey Jon..here’s a novel idea..Why not help Alice Kryzan get elected? Maybe I’m being too critical, but this seems like a cop out to the people of WNY. This is typical. WNY doesn’t have anything offer me, so I’ll go elsewhere. You ever hear of the phrase, “You have to give a little to get a little?” I once had a lucrative offer with a company I was working with to move from southern NY to Wilmington, NC. Having spent 4 years going to school at SUNY Fredonia, a warmer climate seemed nice. But that would have been the easy way out. I chose to move the company’s office in Rochester (to honest, partly to stay close to family in southern NY and NJ) and made a commitment to live in the same community where I worked. In a few years, I got involved and tried to make a difference. Who knows where I’ll end up but at least I can sleep at night knowing I wasn’t party to any brain drain. People bemoan that young people leave WNY because we cannot offer them jobs. You know what? Young people are not owed anything. You have to work hard and make sacrifices and conscious decisions. There are jobs… you just need to look. It’s a mindset, a determination and a sense of commitment to a community that has educated you, provided services and values that will benefit you a whole lifetime.
Great points and Powers made a campaign issue out of bringing green jobs here and keeping the young generation from leaving, but his leaving might seem hypocritical on the surface, I would never say he took the easy way.
I disagree with you on two major points: 1) that “There are jobs… you just need to look.” and 2) the implication that Jon Powers didn’t make sacrifices and took the easy way out.
1) We are bleeding jobs. Kodak imploded their vacant buildings that once were occupied by workers .. with jobs. There are jobs, yes, but there are more people looking for jobs than there are jobs. It’s the law of supply and demand… and don’t tell me that someone needs to take a job that barely pays the bills or take three jobs when they could go elsewhere and make a living at one job.
2) I’m not even going to expand on the fact that Mr. Powers served in Iran and has sacrificed plenty for his country. I don’t know Jon Powers personally, but I know people who have run for public office and have worked on campaigns. Running for office is a sacrifice that people do most often with no reward. As a former supporter of Mr. Powers, I admit that I feel slightedam not, but there is no way his moving to DC to better his life and work for VETERANS is a cop out.
So much for commitment. Jon Powers is a such a huge disappointment. Taking a job with DCCC and DSCC insiders is a naked move that puts his ambition before those who put so much stock in him being something more than a total hack . NOTE how he’s still acting like a bitter jerk and failing to embrace, endorse or support Alice Kryzan. Good riddance.