Jones praises Chamber of Commerce political forum

Dear Wallace Chamber,

I just wanted to follow up on the Wallace Chamber of Commerce Candidate forum you held at the American Legion Post on Thursday, April 22, 2010. If you'll recall, my wife, Lenora, and I attended the event and I spoke as the only one in attendance who was running for U.S. Senate in the Republican Primary.
As I recall, you announced it was the first event of its kind you had conducted in Wallace. Now that the primary election cycle is complete, I want you to know that yours was by far the best of its kind that I attended throughout North Carolina this election cycle. This was the first time I (a non-politician) had routinely attended and spoke at such events, but I can assure you that the conduct of your event was stellar compared to all the others I attended!
I wish all of the events I have attended over the past few months could have been planned and conducted as well as yours. Sure, you had a few miscues and I'm confident you knew what they were and how to handle them in the future. Overall, though, you in Wallace should be proud of the fair hearing you gave to one and all during this election cycle.
The best benefit of your forum is that my wife and I now have a number of newfound Duplin County citizens as friends with whom we now communicate and plan to do so indefinitely. You, like we, are in a rural environment and we felt totally at home the moment we arrived and no one did anything that changed our favorable opinion.
Finally, as you may be aware I came in 2nd (to the incumbent) in the 4 candidate field. My overall state vote total was about 38,000 votes which was about 10% of the total. The 3rd and 4th place finishers were, unlike me, both politicians who had campaigned and held state offices in the past. Their COMBINED vote totals were about 1,000 votes FEWER than my total. In Duplin County I received 15% of the vote and the 3rd and 4th place candidates each received 3% (6% total). In Duplin and other counties where I received a fair hearing such as you provided, I see that my vote totals are routinely half again to double the statewide average. I know that my improved vote count is most often thanks to the established, community organizations such as yours who are providing ALL of the candidates access to the rank and file voters and I encourage you to continue your efforts. it can make a difference.
Based on my experiences during this primary election cycle, I believe that you established, local Chamber of Commerce groups provide a legitimate, long-term forum for candidates versus the "populist" groups such as the "Tea Party" and others like them. They may get the media attention, but you established folks truly have the power to make an impact. In short, you were in place long before the "Tea Party" came to be and you'll be there long after they're gone. Of course, I believe all of this to be true so long as the forums are conducted as you folks in Wallace did last April.
Thanks for giving me such a fair opportunity in 2010! It DID help my effort to bring change to Washington.

Sincerely,
Brad Jones