Chairman,
Guilderland Independence Party
March 13, 2002
Dear Fellow Independence Party
Leader,
As an Executive Board Member of the Independence Party and an
active citizen, I traditionally endorse third party candidates.
Like many of you, I am a strong supporter of our Party’s efforts to
identify and run our own candidates.
That’s
why what I’m about to tell you may come as a surprise:
I believe that George Pataki has proven to be one of the best Governors
we’ve ever had and deserves the support of all New Yorkers, most especially,
members of the Independence Party.
There is no need for our party to search for a candidate that
shares our convictions when we already have an independent-minded leader that is
fighting to make our convictions a reality. That leader is Governor Pataki.
Just yesterday, I stood with the Governor to announce his
proposal to amend our constitution to allow for citizen initiative and
referendum – giving people the right, through a petition process, to place
proposals on the general election ballot. Like
us, Governor Pataki believes that our forefathers wanted the people to have the
ability to petition the government and make changes.
And like us, the Governor believes initiative and referendum is a
fundamental right of American citizens.
Governor Pataki has shown us that he is an independent
thinker and an advocate of reform.
The Governor’s reform agenda includes meaningful and
comprehensive campaign finance reform to ensure every New York voice is heard.
He supports advancing reforms at the local government level and is
exploring new ideas to make government more efficient at the town, city and
county levels. He supports real
education reform that changes the way government funds, teaches and takes
responsibility for educating New York’s children.
The Governor has also taken the lead on an issue that is
important to me personally, renewable energy.
To lessen our dependence on foreign fuel and to protect our environment,
the Governor signed an executive order requiring that 10% of all state
facilities be run on renewable power sources, such as wind, solar and biomass,
by 2005.
I would be remiss not to mention Governor Pataki’s
extraordinary leadership on New York’s darkest day and in the days that
followed. On September 11th,
the Governor’s strong steady hand calmed the chaos and soothed a shocked and
saddened New York. In the days and
months that followed, he’s worked in a multi-partisan way to ensure New York
receives the federal funding it needs to rebuild and help the victim’s
families.
For
me to endorse a Republican is truly extraordinary. But I believe Governor Pataki is an extraordinary leader.
He has my personal endorsement. And
I respectfully ask you to join me in doing what’s right for our party and
what’s right for our State by making Governor Pataki the Independence
Party’s candidate of choice.
Sincerely,
Paul Caputo