Some updates on the Congressional Race
Sunday, April 29th, 2012As you have probably noticed, this page does not have a lot of updated content. Sorry about that, but the fact of the matter is that I’ve been spending the vast majority of my time running for the US Congress. Right now is an important time. On May 18, delegates from town committees in my district will cast their votes in the state party convention. How many votes I get will determine if I am the candidate or if I can move onto a primary. As it stands now, I believe there will be enough votes for a primary but not enough for a win outright, so that means there will be a primary in August.
Each town in the district has a committee and those committees pick delegates to go to the convention. I have to get out to town committee meetings and speak to the members and delegates in order to secure their votes.
I have to admit that I don’t expect to do as well as I’d like in the convention for a number of reasons. One is that I started as a novice and really didn’t know how to go about the process for the first month or so. I’ve got it down now, but my opponent has a head start. He already managed to get a number of town committees to endorse him. In these late days my opponent has been on a blitz of events in many towns across the district. It’s important that I do the same.
After the May 18 convention, I should have a little bit more time to post, at least until we get closer to the primary, but I certainly won’t have as much time as I have in the past.
There are several things you can do if you support my candidacy:
- Contribute money - I cannot stress this enough. It’s critical. I’m not asking for a handout for nothing here, because I’ve already just about broke my bank account spending money on this. The money goes to a campaign committee and it’s not something I can use for just anything. Campaigning is VERY expensive and contrary to popular belief, I am not rolling in big corporate donations. If you donate $100, it will make a BIG difference right now. If you donate $50 it will make a significant difference. If you plan on contributing, please don’t hold off for some future date. I really need it now. Even if you can only contribute $10, it’s going to help.
- “Like” My Page on Facebook - You can do this regardless of whether you are a US citizen or not and it’s very important and very helpful, so please do so and ask your friends and family to do so. The page can be found at www.facebook.com/Packard2012. The reason this is important is that the convention and delegate votes are based heavily on a popularity contest. They want to vote for whomever they think has a greater base of support. A high number of likes on Facebook helps show that I do have that support.
- Volunteer – Really, I need people in Connecticut for this, but at this time, volunteers for events and other functions are very very important. Please contact me ASAP if you are in the area and can help out.
- Get the word out - Please, talk about this on Facebook, post about it in your blogs, link to my stuff on sites like Digg and Reddit. It helps get the profile up and, again, boosts the profile.
I’ve gotten a lot of contacts from people who live outside my area and want to help, but either don’t have any money to contribute or can’t contribute because they are not US citizens and who want to help out anyway. Unfortunately, while I really appreciate that sentiment, aside from liking the content on Facebook and helping get the word out, there’s not much in terms of volunteer activities I can offer to those who are not physically close by. As we move toward the general election, there might be more chances for those who want to contribute content or editing services to do so, but right now, that’s just not what we have to focus on.
For campaign-related contacts, please send email to Steve@packard2012.org

I just got back from the 
The implications of the disease are quite bad for society. The US alone spends over one hundred billion dollars a year caring for Alzheimers patients, many of whom need constant intensive care. There are ethical issues too, because it is difficult to draw the line at where a person is no longer capable of making their own decisions. When first diagnosed, many sufferers have enough mental capacity to understand the horrible implications of what is happening to them. It tears families apart and puts enormous burdens on care givers. Long term care in nursing homes is extremely expensive and those who have no relatives or other means to pay for such care may end up in public institutions, which are becoming increasingly burdened by Alzheimers patients. The problem will only grow as the population ages.










