It’s not every day that your wife announces that she’s running for President of the United States. But on that snowy February day in Minneapolis at Boom Island Park with the temperature hovering around 16 degrees, Amy did just that.
It was an incredible speech and a wonderful day, with a crowd of 9,000 people (some arriving on skis or, in the case of some particularly hardy kids, by sled) gathered for the campaign’s big launch — one put together by Amy’s amazing campaign team and committed volunteers. As thousands of Amy’s supporters, sporting winter hats and wearing gloves or mittens, waved American flags and a snow-covered sea of red, white and blue “Amy for America” signs, Amy spoke these words:
“So today, on an island in the middle of the mighty Mississippi, in our nation’s heartland, at a time when we must heal the heart of our democracy and renew our commitment to the common good, I stand before you as the granddaughter of an iron ore miner, as the daughter of a teacher and a newspaperman, as the first woman elected to the United States Senate from the State of Minnesota, to announce my candidacy for President of the United States.”
As the first woman ever elected to two major Minnesota offices, including to the U.S. Senate, Amy fights every day to make progress for the people of our country. And following in the footsteps of Minnesota’s legendary senators, men like Hubert Humphrey, Eugene McCarthy, Walter Mondale and Paul Wellstone, she knows a little something about making history. She’s done it before, and I firmly believe that — with your help — she can do it again. As Amy’s husband of more than 25 years, I know better than anyone how hard Amy works, and I can tell you first hand — because I’ve seen her in action — that she knows how to get things done for the American people.
In case you missed it, a recent study by a Vanderbilt University professor found that Amy was the “most effective” Democratic Senator in the 115th Congress. In fact, getting things done — as more than one study has shown — is what Amy does. In the 114th Congress, according to a Medill News Service analysis, Amy was ranked first among all Senators in terms of the number of bills signed into law.
Amy has already done a lot for her country, but she’s not someone who likes to stand still. Amy wants to do even more for her country and that’s why she’s running to be our nation’s next commander in chief. That’s also why she’s been crisscrossing the country to spread her message of an optimistic economic agenda for this nation — one focused on protecting America’s democracy, getting to universal health care, lowering the prices of prescription drugs, tackling climate change and gun violence, enacting comprehensive immigration reform, strengthening our infrastructure and our urban and rural communities, passing a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United to get the dark money out of our politics and educating and training the students and workers of today for the jobs of tomorrow.
Now, like never before, Amy needs your help. Running for president is hard work and it takes a tremendous amount of resources. Amy has already built an amazing team as she’s traveled throughout the country, but there’s still a lot more that needs to be done in the months ahead. Today, I’m asking that you make a campaign contribution — of $5, $10, $25 or whatever you can afford — to make the dream of America’s first woman president a reality.
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Amy has already been campaigning around the country and she’s got a battle-tested strategy to renew the heart of America. In Minnesota, she has won every single congressional district in the state all three times she’s been on the ballot statewide, winning in urban, suburban and rural districts alike. She will beat Donald Trump the same way she’s won every election she’s ever run before: with determination and hard work, by listening to people and understanding what they need and by getting things done for them.
Amy is now attempting to do what no woman has, in all of American history, been able to do before. Amy and I both grew up in middle-class households, and our daughter, Abigail, who believes that her mom can do whatever she sets out to do, learned the same values of hard work and truth-telling that we learned growing up. I believe it’s past time to restore civility and common sense — and decency and sanity — to our nation’s politics. And that’s where Amy comes in.
Amy and I come from a state that is known for its grassroots politics. Our friend, the late Sen. Paul Wellstone, had it exactly right when he said that “politics is about the improvement of people’s lives.” Amy has always followed that guiding North Star — seeking the improvement of people’s lives — as she’s gone about her work in the U.S. Senate, and she’ll make an amazing president if she gets that chance. While Donald Trump appeals to people’s fears and continually tries to divide us, Amy knows how to bring people together — for the common good and for the good of our country.
Please show your support for Amy by contributing to her campaign today. Amy is not taking any corporate PAC contributions or money from federal lobbyists, so every dollar that you can afford will be much appreciated. Your support will make a real difference.
With appreciation,
John Bessler
Amy’s Husband
