There was political excitement in the air Saturday in a crowded room in Fairless Hills, Pennsylvania. The room was packed shoulder-to-shoulder with almost 100 volunteers who wanted to spread the word to voters about two great Democratic candidates: Ashley Ehasz and Anna Payne. Swing Left Organizing Director Matt Caffrey kicked off the meeting and noted the enthusiasm. Ashley and Anna had just won their primary races four days ago, but they were already here in Fairless Hills to begin work to win the general election in November. Swing Left had helped advertise this event and their success was evident: a crowd of almost 100 volunteers had appeared, willing to sacrifice their Saturday to knock on the doors of voters to spread the news about two great candidates.
Anna was the first to speak as she outlined her reasons why she is seeking to win the Pennsylvania State Representative seat in PA-HD-142. Anna has overcome lifelong medical challenges, including cystic fibrosis and more recently colon cancer. She is a fighter and knows firsthand the necessity of providing high quality healthcare to all Pennsylvanians. She noted that because of her father’s good union job, she was able to get the excellent health care that she needed as a child. She has had experience as a township supervisor and has used her organizational skills in creating the Bucks County Cystic Fibrosis non-profit where she has already raised over $70,000 to help those in need. As a State Representative, she will fight for health care for those in need. She is also quite concerned about our democracy and especially about the GOP attacks on women’s reproductive freedom. She then turned to Ashley, thanked her for her military service, and heard the crowd roar.
Ashley did not waste time after her primary victory. As any good military commander would, she immediately proceeded to the next objective: winning the general election. That’s why four days later she was here, marshaling a force of 93 soldiers to spread the word about the critical need for her to become PA-01’s next Congressperson. Ashley will fight to restore women’s reproductive freedom which is under attack by the backward GOP and Brian Fitzpatrick. Ashley will help flip the House to Democratic control and restore order and purpose to the House which under the broken GOP has presided over the least productive Congress in decades. The chaotic MAGA GOP and Brian Fitzpatrick couldn’t even agree on their own leader for weeks and pointlessly delayed critical military aid to our allies for six months. Ashley knows what it is firsthand to fight for our democracy: send her to Congress and our democratic allies will be supported, not ignored. She will also fight to restore the possibility of the American Dream for all Americans and not waste time like Brian Fitzpatrick on frivolous legislation.
The crowd applauded and received their instructions on how best to meet the voters at their homes. There was energy in the crowd filled with both young and old volunteers who were eager to help elect women who would fight to restore women’s freedom that old male legislators had taken away. They were eager to support strong candidates who fought battles on the real battlefield or tough battles with deadly diseases. They were eager to bring to victory candidates who loved our democracy and wanted to solve real problems for their future constituents so that the American dream and vital healthcare would be within reach of all the Americans they would serve.
The doors opened and an army of volunteers proceeded to meet the People in their quest to provide them with two better leaders in November. The battle for our democracy has begun.
