1. If you want someone who isn’t a career politician, and isn’t beholden to large corporations and special interest groups.

I will try my best to earn my paycheck and represent the PEOPLE of the San Joaquin Valley and the United States of America.

2. If you are tired of politics as usual in Washington.

You can send a message to both the Republican and Democratic Parties that you are through with their lies and corruption. I will always be honest with you.

3. If you want see a better, healthier future for our children.

Clean air, water and healthy food can be achieved by setting spending priorities. We need to put America first. That means investing in better schools, health care, transportation, environmental protection and affordable housing.

4. If you wish to see an effective war on terror.

The war in Iraq has cost more than $300,000,000,000, taken the lives of more than 2,500 brave American soldiers, killed scores of Iraqi civilians, wounded over 20,000 of our fellow countrymen and women, and global terrorism has only increased. The reasons to go to war were based on lies, and I will vote to hold the liars accountable.

5. If you want to end to the assaults on our civil and constitutional rights.

We need to stop a runaway Executive Branch and Justice Department that lumps grassroots, peace activists in the same league as terrorists.

6. I am an environmentalist and I am proud to be called a conservationist.

I believe that we must take care of our land in order to take care of our people. Those currently in power are not addressing issues like global warming, climate change, extinction, deforestation and pollution. Also, we must be better prepared to deal with natural disasters like Katrina, so that our citizens don’t have to suffer like that again.

7. Are you are tired of paying over $3.00 a gallon for gasoline? I am too.

I don’t believe nuclear power and drilling for oil in national parks and preserves is the answer. We need to invest in alternative energies and break our oil addiction. I will support funding for solar, wind, methane, bio-diesel and other energies that hold real promise for the future.

8. I served honorably for ten years in the National Guard and Reserves.

Like you, I am a patriot who loves our country and what our country stands for. Certainly it doesn’t stand for the torture and abuse that has been going on in places like Guantanamo, Abu Ghraib and Haditha. I am asking the 25 million veterans across this country to say enough is enough and throw out the incumbents of both political parties who have compromised our security and brought dishonor to the military.

9. I am a public school teacher, and I know that we need true educational reform.

The No Child Left Behind program is a burdensome mess. I will vote to dismantle these regulations, especially the punitive provisions. Also, I will push for increased funding in vocational education, charter schools, school gardens, and multilingual education.

10. If you want to have meaningful immigration reform.

I have lived and worked in Michoacan, Mexico and have seen conditions there firsthand. Until the economy improves in Mexico, people will continue coming to the United States to improve their lives. I do not blame these individuals, but I do blame the governments of the U.S.A. and Mexico. We need to humanely deal with the immigrants who are already here, and come to grips with the demands that immigration puts on our communities and society. That can only be done through honest cooperation between both countries.

Please take the time to vote in this election, it is one of our most precious rights. It is also our duty to help make this country a better place, and to keep our democracy alive and meaningful.