Together, we can change the 'same old,' dysfunctional ways of doing things in Washington and in South Carolina!
Let's cultivate a new type of leadership and citizenship that transcends party and politics as usual. With our state and nation at a crossroads, now more than ever, your mind, your heart and your participation in government are needed.
Your solutions and action are needed particularly in areas where South Carolina lags behind other states: education, employment, environment, small business, poverty, smart growth, health care, sensible taxation, transportation, regional planning, affordable housing, crime, domestic violence, women in politics, sexual orientation and gender equality, race relations, attracting growth industries. If you are weary of being at the top of the list for the bad - and the bottom for the good - use this site as your own to educate and organize South Carolinians for action.
Help spread the word that this is the place to look more deeply into issues, share thoughts, ideas, and action. This is the place to expose political corruption and waste. This is the place for information and resources. This is the place to begin to create a responsive and responsible government.
Very best,
welcome to:
LindaKetner.com Former Site of Ketner for Congress
I am deeply grateful to the hundreds of you who worked toward petitioning me as an Independent Candidate for U.S. Senate and to the thousands who have already signed the petition!
When asked to consider such a candidacy, I agreed to think about it because I understand and respect the frustration and disappointment of the Senate primary, and of the general sad-state of government. I share it. We deserve better.
A key reason we were able to run a competitive 2008 campaign for Congress in the First District was you, our caring and engaged supporters. You gave your time, talents and resources freely and enthusiastically as you are doing now in the petition drive.
Also essential to our 48% showing was that we had the time, team and money to run that race very well. During the weeks since the Petition Initiative was presented to me, I have exhaustively considered all the ways that we might mount a similarly strong campaign in the short 3 1/2 months left to us. Sadly, I have concluded that at this late date, it's just not possible to assemble the team and resources we need to mount the effective campaign we all want.
Bottom line: yes, we deserve - and desperately need - better government, but a last minute campaign without essential resources won't get us that outcome.
And so, with great appreciation and humility, I thank those who participated in this initiative, and announce I will not accept a petition candidacy. I have asked that the drive be stopped.
I know this is disheartening to those who worked so hard, but I hope you'll appreciate that you did something important.
At a time when people talk endlessly and seldom take action to right a political system that no longer operates in the best interest of the American people, you took action.
Our country needs you, our state needs you, to keep working for a more agile, more focused government led by elected representatives who are motivated to put Americans first, smart enough to find solutions, and who are not courtesans to special interests.
This election, I hope that you will find candidates for whom you have respect and help send them to Columbia or Washington. I, with you, will continue to work on behalf of a responsive and responsible government; and will hope for future opportunities to serve our state.
With gratitude and respect,
Linda
information from petition organizers at ketnerforsenate.com ------------------ 6/17/10 Hi folks,
With the announcement of the "Ketner Petition Campaign," my email, phone and Facebook messages have exploded. If you don't know what I'm referring to, it's at ketnerforsenate.com
With no staff, my response time to your questions and comments will be slow and I hope you'll understand
I didn't initiate or know anything about this petition campaign until Tuesday evening. As my friend and former Finance Director, Doug Warner, said in his quote from an article in Politico, "What we asked her is, 'Don't commit, start thinking about it, let us get the signatures and then we will decide.'" And that's where I am on it.
I appreciate what my friends and supporters are doing but I'm not going to comment on it right now.
I'm deeply appreciative of the interest, and if 10,000 or more registered voters sign a petition, it's something I would take very seriously.
Of this I am sure ... none of us have the luxury of giving up on good government. There's simply too much at stake.