With the ever-increasing torrent of lies, chaos, and corruption spewing out of Washington (wholeheartedly aided and abetted by “our” Representative, McKenzie), I felt compelled to abandon my usual state of political apathy this year and begin to fight back in concert with other like-minded citizens and neighbors.
One of my first moves was to attend a Summer Picnic hosted by the Carbon County Democrats this past July.
There are five highly qualified Democratic candidates running to replace Republican Ryan McKenzie as Representative for Pennsylvania’s PA-07 district in the 2026 mid-term elections and, to their credit, most of them thought enough of this event to attend personally and introduce themselves to their potential constituents.
I was pleasantly surprised and encouraged to learn first-hand that all of these individuals are honorable, well-respected, citizens seeking to gain and hold elected office for all the right reasons. In “ordinary” times, I would sleep very well at night with any of them as my representative in Congress.
In all honesty, though, if these were “ordinary” times, I would not even begin to take notice of the local political landscape until a few weeks before the general election.
Unfortunately for America, these are most definitely NOT “ordinary” times. With the constant, brutal attacks on the foundations of our Democracy emanating daily from the Oval Office, I have concluded that “business as usual” by those opposed to the Trump regime will amount to a death sentence for our Nation.
Under these dire circumstances, I was actively looking for a candidate who has demonstrated several qualities which I believe to be crucial if we are to succeed in our efforts to (first) stop and then begin to reverse the on-going assault on our Constitution and our liberties.
These are:
1.) A long record of Public Service;
2.) Strong leadership skills;
3.) The “Courage of his or her convictions” that have been tested under fire;
4.) A proven willingness to stand-up to Trump and his MAGA-ts in the defense of our Democracy;
5.) The ability to win a general election (NOT just the primary) in this red-leaning district by appealing to a wide cross-section of local electors, Republicans and Independents as well as Democrats.
Most of the candidates I listened to possess some of these characteristics. All of them are likable and worthy of our respect for taking a stand in defense of America.
Measured against the crucial yet impartial criteria listed above, however, one candidate immediately stands out as the one most likely to succeed in the decidedly UN-ordinary times before us:
Ryan Crosswell
If you are also concerned about the direction our country has taken and would like to make a real difference in the fight against tyranny, I invite you to do your own due diligence (you can start at http://www.RyanCrosswell.com) and then join us in electing:
Crosswell For Congress!
Sincerely,
James P. Shafer
Bridges-Not-Walls 