Thank You

I am very grateful for the support of so many Vermonters throughout this campaign. I'm honored to have your confidence and support. I am also appreciative of the coaching and support of the staff and volunteers who worked for the Vermont Democratic Party and the Symington For Governor campaign.

Six months ago we set out to offer Vermonters a choice for new leadership. We presented a different vision for our state -- one based on building on our strengths, investing in our people and seizing the opportunities before us to get our economy moving again. We offered leadership based on straight talk, concrete action and long-term thinking. We put new ideas on the table to grow jobs, build a clean and reliable energy future and provide young Vermonters with a path to higher education and good jobs.

Our campaign came up short, but it is hard to feel disappointed on such an historic night for change across our state and nation. What a relief to wake up this morning knowing that our country is back on track, with an eloquent leader who will pull us together to face our challenges and restore international respect for the United States.

I'd like to say this to my friends who are concerned that I may be feeling hurt this morning. My ninth grader is on the starting defensive line-up of the varsity Mt Mansfield Union High School football team and he gets exasperated when I constantly ask whether he's been hurt during a game. He reminds me, "Mom, I want to be here, I'm strong enough and I worked hard to get here. It's not about whether I get hurt, it's about making the team and playing to win." And that's how I feel about having taken on this race.

I knew that taking on an incumbent governor would be a challenge. It was. But, I chose to enter the race. I wasn't roped into it. I belonged in the race and I was ready for the challenge. Whether it hurts to fall short of the goal line is not the point.

It is striking that a three term incumbent governor would find it necessary to spend such a high proportion of his million dollar campaign on distorting the record and words of his opponents in order to pull out a majority vote, rather than on focusing on his own record. It is also striking that, despite throwing tens of thousands of dollars into tv ads and distorting attack mailings, at last count the Republicans failed to pick up any seats in the Vermont House.

I hope that Jim Douglas will use this opportunity to recommit to working more constructively with the Democratic legislature going forward. The work of our campaign will make it easier for the Legislature to demand that Jim Douglas puts Vermonters first as we face critical choices about our state budget, our energy future, the workforce that supports our economy and as we work together to build a stronger, better state for your children and mine.

Running for statewide office is probably not on the to-do list of many of you. I can understand that -- for 54 years it wasn't on mine. So, I'd like to share with you some of what I encountered over the past six months that reinforced my respect and love for this state:

• Milo, a home schooled fifth grader who designed and built a solar powered popcorn maker.
• Whitney and Jesse who are inventing a sport, not just a sled, from their tiny office at the Mad River Rocket Sled Company.
• Ethan, a senior at Peoples Academy in Morrisville, who has designed a wood pellet furnace that burns green wood chips.
• The staff and Vista volunteers who work at our homeless and crisis centers and see most directly the fall-out from our "tough budget decisions."
• The women and men who staff our corrections facilities, supervising, counseling, disciplining, and maintaining respectful interactions with those incarcerated there.
• The entrepreneurs, senior staff and line workers of the companies I have toured who are making everything from water purifiers using nanotechnology to wheat free baked goods to specialty beers to custom milled brass nuts & bolts.
• And the 9 year old boy I introduced myself to at the Race for the Cure in Manchester. He was visiting from Connecticut, a state whose Governor is Jody Rell. He turned to his mom and asked whether boys were allowed to run for Governor too.

I'm here to say to every little boy and every little girl that you can run for Governor. It's not easy to put yourself out there; it's scary and sometimes you have to say what people are not yet ready to hear. Democracy is messy and noisy and frustrating. But it matters that you participate fully.

Running for office and serving your community, especially when you have a team behind you like I've had, is an important way to strengthen and serve your community. At some point or you are going to see something that needs to be changed or made more fair. At some point someone may ask you to run for office. And I hope that when that opportunity comes you will put your voice forward for others to rally around and support as you have done for me for the past six months.

Please, do not wait to run for office until you can give your voice perfectly. Take the risk of being imperfect. As long as you speak with a voice that is from your heart, as long as you listen and think before you speak, and as long as you remember to speak not just for yourself but also for those who don't have the opportunity to speak as loudly as you do, I hope you will give your voice to the public debate by running for office.

You will make a difference.

Thank you very much.

- Gaye Symington