A message from Don Reed, stem cell activist extraordinaire, and ordinary American. - www.stemcellbattles.com - Please send this to any disability advocate and senior advocate you know, whether or not they live in Missouri! Ask them to send Don's plea to those who can reach seniors and the disabled-voices too long ignored and left out of our democratic process. Here is Don's message -
Imagine the struggle a paralyzed person has to go through, just to get out of bed. My son Roman Reed is paralyzed, a quadriplegic. And maybe he can't close his fingers, and maybe his legs don't work.
But nothing on earth will stop him from voting tomorrow.
And if he lived in Missouri, he would be bringing every wheelchair-driving friend who could fit into his van.
I propose that THIS Monday, November 6, be called "MISSOURI MONDAY," dedicated to citizens with disabilities all across America, but particularly in the "Show Me" state of Missouri, where disability advocate Claire McCaskill is fighting the most uphill battle in America.
Against her is a campaign with a mountain of money to spend, a budget described as "limitless", someone who is flooding the state's airwaves with expensive cunning ads.
President Bush wants to defeat Claire McCaskill so badly he has come himself to Missouri five times in the campaign--he did not have time to visit much before then, but during election season he comes so often he seems to considering a change in address!
The last I heard, the opposition had $4,200,000--4.2 million cash on hand--and McCaskill's campaign had about 1/32 that much. (Literally, only about $225,000!) They can afford to send limousines to pick up voters and transport them to the polls.
And on Claire's side?
If a person is judged by the company she keeps, look at McCaskill's campaign workers.
Almost entirely volunteers, McCaskill's people work for free because they care about Claire, enduring sleepless nights, earaches from too many hours on the phone, and stomachs aching with junk food shoved down hurriedly. Their feet are blistered from walking door to door, and it is an act of will just to put one foot in front of the other.
But they know who Claire McCaskill is, and why her election matters, to Missouri, and to America.
Her candidacy itself is excellent beyond question. She is strong on health care, and on issues of poverty, unemployment, insurance, and wheelchair access. She knows that many Missourians require better care right now.
She is also not afraid to look ahead, toward the future of cure. She has supported stem cell research from the very beginning--unlike her opponent, "Mr. Timidity" Jim Talent, who ducked and dodged and hid from revealing his position publicly-- while behind the scenes he voted against it again and again.
In a straight-up fight between her and her Republican opponent, there would be no contest.
But that mountain of campaign cash--all those ads! Surely that is an insurmountable advantage?
But Claire McCaskill has 900,000 friends whom money cannot buy: Missouri citizens with disabilities. If they make it to the polls, a huge upset is in the making.
They know Claire McCaskill supports the legitimate concerns of the disabled community.
As the father of a paralyzed son, I urge every Missourian with a disability to regard the voting booths as your personal source of political power.
My son Roman drives a wheelchair. He cannot close his fingers, or move his legs.
But he will vote tomorrow.
And so, I hope, will every one of Missouri's 900,000 voters with a disability.
I suggest we give America an early Christmas present, and elect a Senator from the great state of Missouri, who is not afraid to take a stand.
As Roman puts it, "take a stand with us--take a stand--so one day, everybody can."
And as literature's most famous citizen with a disability, Tiny Tim in Dickens' Christmas Carol, once observed: "God bless us, every one!"
P.S.- If you want to know where Claire McCaskill stands on disability issues, here she is -
http://www.claireonline.com/...