In my own words

I have a mundane job, I punch a clock, and put in 45 plus hours a week. Three nights a week I voluntarily clean a barn that houses three Arabian horses. My daughter takes riding lessons there; and help was needed to clean the stalls, excersise the horses, and groom and give them love and attention....easy, horses are incredable animals. Hard work, but easy on the soul. A coworker asked me about the primary back in the spring of 2007, and Matt Mayberry got my coworker and me tickets to the debate at UNH. We got there to find that Matt had us sitting in the second row! I was right behind Mitt Romney's wife, and next to Ruth Griffin, former Executive Counsilor. She and I had a great chat as she knitted while we waited for the debate to start. Ruth was not too impressed with the power struggles of politics, more important to her was honesty and humility, someone who could look her in the eyes and say, "this is me." like me or dont, but "I wont compromise my core beliefs to get a vote." I believe that she has endorsed Mike Huckabee, but at the debate she spoke very highly of Senator McCain as well. She, along with the setting and the feel of that night, inspired me to become more active than I ever have been in politics before. I was hooked.I went to every town hall meeting that I could where John McCain was going to be, and at the very first one, where I met him for the first time, he veered away from the way he was walking out, towards where I was standing, alone, looked me right in the eyes and said "Good to see you my old friend, glad you could make it". Then as our handshake faded, he pulled me in closer to him, said "thanks for serving" in the Air force, and we embraced, as veterans often do. It was all I could do to stammer out"Senator, it's YOU who are the hero, YOU who has given most of your life in service to this country, and I want to thank YOU." Again, he looked me in the eye and smiled, then moved back into his pre-determined path, and continued out to the bus. The hook was now set! I helped out a little at setting up a few more town hall meeting places, have made it to several phone banks, have yard signs out front, and a big 4x8 sign in the back yard as I live on the commuter rail that runs between Dover and Portland. I have a few pictures that were taken with the Senator, and one of them he signed for me, at the leadership meeting in concord. I stood outside the polls when the local towns had their elections, passing out invitations to another town hall meeting, sent out more emails than I can remember, and all this time I have watched our favorite canidate gain momentum and support from the great people of New Hampshire. I met Mehgan McCain at one town hall meeting, a very friendly and polite young lady. Three weeks later, I ran into her again, at the leadership meeting in Concord. Do you think she'd remember me? I looked like a long haired hippy vet the first time we met, and was in a suit with my hair pulled back and clean shaven when we saw each other in Concord. She came right up to me and said "Hi! We met at the town hall meeting three weeks ago, remember?" I was shocked and amazed. With all the hustle and bustle of life on the campaign trail, she and her friends remembered me! John McCain had my vote back at the VFW when we embraced, but I learned even more about the man in how Mehgan represented herself. A man can be sized up by his family; John McCain is a winner. We need John McCain as the next president of the United States of America. I will continue to do all that I can to help make that happen, God help us all if it doesnt happen.