On September 20th, I addressed the following letter to the newspapers serving the communities of Plymouth and Sheboygan Falls.
Dear citizens of Plymouth, Sheboygan Falls and outlying areas,
Dear citizens of Plymouth, Sheboygan Falls and outlying areas,
My name is Jack Lechler. I am from Kiel, Wisconsin. I am running as an Independent candidate for the 27th Assembly District. For the last 8 weeks I have written opinion letters to the Kiel area newspaper. Beginning this week, since the Primary Election is over, I would like to share some of my observations with you and request your consideration on November 2nd.
IT IS ALL ABOUT THE PARTY
Each day and each week as I partake in the “candidate for state assembly office” process, I am becoming more and more aware how this process has become an entangled web. As students, we read the words of Abraham Lincoln, who in his Gettysburg address said, “that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain – that this nation under God shall have a new birth of freedom and that government of the people, by the people and for the people shall not perish from the earth.”
Well, my dear friends, neighbors and fellow citizens, each day as I learn more about the “political” process, it has become very evident to me that the intent for a government of the people, by the people and for the people has evolved and turned into a process and government of the Party, by the Party and for the Party. I have observed this happening increasingly over the past decades as I have seen government activities, action and common sense polarized by PARTY. It has become like two bully kids on the playground. The Democrats and the Republicans – serving themselves and each other to maintain the power of their party and their own position. They are serving themselves and not the will or the good of the people.
Now as I have become a candidate, this has become more obvious. The Party bands together like a “good old boys club”. It is full of cronyism and it promotes the incumbents and tries to convince the public that Party strength and the length of time a candidate serves will promote better government.
This observation was strongly reinforced as I observed how differently a Party embraces a new candidate if that candidate is the only opponent to the opposing Party versus if the new candidate is running in the same Party opposing a current incumbent. This became most evident as I watched the build-up to the Primary Election in the 27th Assembly District election.
You might recall that on July 21st, 2010, there was an article in the Sheboygan Press entitled Assembly Candidates Spar Over Debate Issue. Mr. Kestell, who did not appear to want to have a candidate forum when approached by Randy Meyer, was recorded in the press as stating - the debate flap was “an old campaign trick”. To the contrary, I doubt that Randy Meyer was employing an old campaign trick since he was merely attempting to publicly discuss issues. Further, Mr. Meyer was new to the campaign circuit and probably was not aware of “old” political tricks. Only an incumbent seeking re-election is probably familiar with “old” political tricks. Contrarily, Mr. Kestell in one of his mailings that was intended to be warm and fuzzy, appealed to the emotions and showed a baby and a teddy bear. It stated Steve’s primary opponent “refused to respond to the Wisconsin Right to Life questionnaire”. Now if he was addressing this to me, it would be accurate, because as you will recall, I stated that I did not plan to send back questionnaires from any of the special interest, PAC or lobby groups. I believe, however, that this was an attempt by the incumbent to employ “an old campaign trick” against his prominent opposition. I question how accurate his accusation was that his opponent, Mr. Meyer, “refused” to respond.
I am a positive person and I do not want to have anyone misconstrue the foregoing as negative comments. Besides being positive, I am also a realist and I am just sharing some of my observations about the campaign prior to the Primary Election. There were a number of other events that indicated to me that the Republican Party did not want to have another Republican candidate playing in the pool. Randy Meyer would have been a refreshing change and brought new vision and leadership to Assembly District 27.
Since the primary turned out as it did, it becomes imperative for me to work harder and diligently to become elected. As you may already know, I believe in term limits. When I have discussed this over the years with Mr. Kestell, he advised he would not be willing to introduce legislation for term limits and stated that term limits can be decided in elections. That is why we have career politicians, who rely on a complacent public and brand recognition.
On November 2nd it will be up to you – vote independent and get new representation or vote for the incumbent career politician and keep getting more of the same from the good old boys.
Please feel free to call me, and thanks for listening.
Sincerely,
Jack Lechler
1334 1st Street
Kiel, WI 53042
jacklechler@charter.net
