I know a little about what Cindy S. is going through....

[WCGreen]

About 15 years ago, I decided to run for Congress...

I had been involved on and off with politics since 1976 when I was the campus co-coordinator for Carter's presidential campaign...

This was 1992, the year of the outsider...

I ran against Mary Rose Oakar, a very decent congressperson who got herself all entangled in the bounce check scandal...

There were five others in the race, including a former County Commissioner and a personal friend of the Kennedy Clan...

Well, I had separated myself from the fringe candidates and then the Plain Dealer decided to endorse me over the incumbent and the County Commissioner...

Suddenly, my phone was ringing, people recognized me in restaurants, Indian baseball games, I was on TV almost every night...

I actually started to believe I was on to something...

And then, election day...

I came in a distant fifth...

Suddenly, I was a nobody again....

It took some getting use to and I'll admit, I missed the attention...

Also the ten grand I spent after I got the endorsement, but that's another story...

Anyway, I brooded for a while and then I sucked it up and went out and campaigned for Mary Rose...

The only candidate from the primary who did...

That was the start of 10 more years as a local political figure who was interviewed from time to time and even had a seat on a local cable gab fest...

The point of all this is that it is awful hard to give up that fame once you have had a taste...

I was lucky, I didn't piss anyone off too bad...

I worked myself almost to death, but I left on my terms...

I didn't lose a son...

I didn't become, in the span of about five months, a poster child for the left and then the right...

But I still feel for Cindy...

I really do...

[razors edge]

1. She is doing

what she feels she needs to do, nothing wrong with that.

How many people who would trash her have also said that if you want to change something then run for office?

[countmyvote4real]

2. ditto that

And thanks for a graceful response that was not in me to post. I'll just do with this.

[John Q. Citizen]

9. I think she wants Pelosi to put impeachment back on the table. She also

knows that the district is very upset that Pelosi ignores the fact that they vote 60% to 40% back in November for impeachment.

If Pelosi wants to turn her back on her voters, she needs to know that someone may call her on that. Accountability isn't only for Republicans, after all.

[illinoisprogressive]

3. She has made many questionable choices. I think she needs an anchor

someone she totally trusts who is grounded and realistic. someone to guide her away when she is veering off and making bad choices and someone who can help her to stay with her original purpose and make wise choices.

[John Q. Citizen]

10. You mean Pelosi, right? I agree. Ignoring the voters in her district is a mistake.

They voted 60% to 40 for impeachment in November. I think Nancy is getting very bad advice and has been making some very questionable decisions.

The public approval of the Dem controlled congress has plummeted for 46% to 23% in just a few months time. Nancy must love the attention she's getting as Speaker, but I hope it hasn't gone to her head. She seems to be ignoring the very people who put her there.

[KittyWampus]

4. what a beautiful post. IMO, Sheehan's current actions aren't "authentic". Not like Camp Casey

which came from her soul.

It seems very likely that she is being influenced by others around her.

Her true friends would help her get off the merry-go-round for a spell.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

5. Chris, this is a beautiful and heartbreaking story...

Thank you for sharing it ....

Cindy has also been through the wringer, though differently than you ....

But still the losses are enormous, aren't they?

Sometimes it takes someone who has seen what you have seen to help the rest of us understand it...

Thank you...

On edit: K&R

[enigmatic]

6. I remember Mary Rose Oakar

She was a great Congressperson, one who I admired. I wish I was still living in Clevo back then Chris, I would have worked for you most likely.

Cindy's getting some extremely bad advice right now from those who have no doubt attached themselves to her fame to furthur their own causes. Her original message was pure, and it was the best one for her. She needs to go back to it.

[WCGreen]

7. Mary Rose ran for Mayor in 2001 and I worked for her...

Did a lot of data base work for her...

She would have been a good Mayor...

People are playing her...

I saw it a lot in politics...

People will glom onto anyone they think can help their cause...

It really is hard to walk away from all of that...

It must be increadably hard for her to see what is real and what isn't...

You would have fit right in, we had about 50 youngsters running all over the west side of Cleveland...

[Vidar]

8. Nice, thoughtful post. Thank you.