CHARLESTON, SC. Linda Ketner today announced her candidacy for congress in South Carolina’s first congressional district. Nearly 200 supporters gathered in the rain to hear Ketner’s remarks. Ketner said: “We’ve been on the same old path, with the same old people, and forgotten that our strength as South Carolinians and as Americans is in our unity and not in the things that divide us,” Charleston Mayor Joe Riley was among the supporters. He told the crowd: “ Linda is the reason South Carolina has a Housing Trust Fund. When I first met Linda, I knew she would work to change our community, but I had no idea she would be a human dynamo. It is her compassion, her intellect and her spirit that drives her to fix problems. She is an exceptional person, she is an exceptional leader, and she will be an exceptional Member of the United States Congress. Linda Ketner is the greatest gift to the community in 25years.” Tracy Doran, President of the Humanities Foundation said: “You may forget what someone does, you may forget what someone says, but you will never forget how someone makes you feel. Linda Ketner made me feel like I could accomplish anything. She made me feel like I could change the world.” Ketner will spend the rest of the day traveling across the district, with stops in Pawley’s Island, Georgetown, Conway and Myrtle Beach.

FULL TEXT OF KETNER’S REMARKS

As I look out on this crowd, I see so many wonderful parts of my past. I see friends who worked with me: at the YWCA, the YMCA, at the Mayors Council On Homelessness and Housing, the Center for Women, the Community Foundation, the School System, friends from the tri-county Hugo Relief committee, friends from AFFA, friends from Charleston Interfaith Crisis Ministries, SC Housing Trust. I see friends who went to Mississippi with me after Katrina, friends from my church, the College of Charleston, Republican friends, Democratic friends, independents and non-political friends, friends from my business life and friends from all over the District … I look out on you and see a blessed life. My life is filled with people who have spent their lives giving back. A blessed life indeed.

Thank you for being with me as I announce my candidacy for the Congress of the United States.

Since, late summer I’ve run up and down the district, meeting people and connecting with them. It’s a wonderful part of running for office: listening to people’s aspirations for their life, the lives of their children, for South Carolina and for this country. I’ve met good, good people, all over this District … people like Mayor Greg Martin, who has spent 20 years making Conway one of the most beautiful little cities I’ve ever seen. I’ve talked with homeless vets who protected us, served us, kept us safe … and who are lost. They need us now to protect, serve and keep them safe.

I’ve talked with an elderly man in a Horry County parking lot who is voting for his first Democrat in 30 years this November – and I’m proud to say it’s me! I’ve listened to folks who said “what are you going to do for me” and folks who said “I’ve only got five dollars, but it’s yours … how can I help you.” Folks who are so angry at politicians, so distrustful of them, that they feel hopeless that things will ever get better.

I’ve listened to and learned from people --- and they’ve confirmed what I believed. We’re at a crossroads here in South Carolina and in America. A fork in the road, if you will. And, we can take the same old path, with the same old people, but if we do, then we can expect only the same old results. Results such as: huge hikes in what it takes to fill up our gas tanks and our grocery carts; what it takes to keep our homes warm or cool and our families in good health; the same old path with the same old people – leading to foreclosures on homes, lost jobs and an economy which is dangerously unstable and leaves seniors wondering if their fixed incomes will stretch far enough; an old path with a lack of decent, affordable housing, up and down the district; where healthcare is so expensive that many businesses can’t afford to offer it, and the middle class can’t afford to buy it; that same old path – which has led to jobs going overseas and jobs getting scarcer every day; where people are justifiably worried about crime and drugs and the children they lose to them; the same old path and the same old people - that have broken promises to soldiers & veterans; and dishonored them with situations like Walter Reed; the same old path, with the same old people - who spend and waste billions on a war that politicians can’t seem to end; the same old path, and the same old people who have done nothing to improve our schools, or the literacy rate, and then wonder why we can’t attract high paying jobs; the same old path, with the same old people, the same old unsatisfactory results .

What we need is to forge a new path. A new path forward. And I want you to hire me to take us there.

To the path forward where every child, all children, get an exceptional education that prepares them for lifelong learning. And, every child, all children, leave 3rd grade knowing how to read. A path forward where healthcare is affordable and available to all working people. A path where seniors and veterans are priorities. Where those who have worn our country’s uniform receive all benefits (no deductions), first class medical treatment, immediate disability pay and a full GI Bill allowing them to attend college. We need a new path forward with growth industries like renewable energy and advanced manufacturing competing to move into the District because they’ve not only heard of our charm, but also they will have heard of our excellent schools, safe streets, smart growth communities, our commuter rail systems, and they appreciate that we’ve protected our land, water, air, wetlands, wildlife, hunting, fishing, our culture and each other.

We need that path forward where lower taxes aren’t just for the super rich - and sound fiscal policy isn’t just a slogan, it’s a reality! We balance our budgets, protect homeowners from deception, and pay as we go. The path forward understands you need to be more than strong to be great; and collaboration and diplomacy will once again be America’s first choice in conflict. The path forward re-builds our alliances and shares responsibility with the entire world for a stable Middle East. The path forward knows that Homeland Security is more than taking shoes off in airports and throwing away our shampoo. The path forward understands that that the next Congress must operate not as partisans but as Americans first and foremost.

We’ve been on the same old path, with the same old people, and forgotten that our strength as South Carolinians and as Americans is in our unity and not in the things that divide us.

This is the greatest country in the world and I love it with my whole heart, as do most of us blessed to live in America. We will get “back to ourselves” again and be even better. We will get back to a nation of principles, not politics. We will if each of us works for it and we all work together.

People of the first district, this is the time for strength, for courage, for intelligence, for honesty, for action, for working together across all artificial barriers.

It’s a time to believe in ourselves and our decency and ingenuity as a people capable of performing extraordinary deeds.

It’s a time, when - as Ma says - there’s a lot “needs doin’!” Let’s “get at it!”