Karen Harrington - Keeping Debbie Wasserman-Schultz Down To Size

Growing up in Cleveland I learned many various lessons, none more important than when I would come across a challenge or crossroads. Such was the case, in what may seem silly now, at a time when I was 4 and standing in my yard.

I was no bigger then 3 feet tall and I wanted to climb an extremely large oak tree. I would jump repeatedly up and down trying with every last ounce of my energy to catch the first branch.

Exhausted and frustrated I let out a high piercing scream that generated panic in my mother who heard the scream from inside the house. Racing to my aid and thoroughly giving me the once over for possible fever, lacerations, or broken bones, she was perplexed when she discovered nothing was wrong.

“Why on earth are you screaming?” she said looking at me with her enormous brown eyes.

“Because I can’t climb it,” I sniffed, pointing to the dreaded slender old oak tree.

Laughing and relieved I wasn’t in immediate danger, she brushed my hair back off my face, straightened the beige knit hat on my head and kissed my forehead. “Maybe you will one day, but until then you may just want to stick with something smaller like the swing set.”

Disappointed and having climbed the swing set before due in part to the fact that there was a ladder which made it easy for me to get up the slide, I dried my eyes and scampered up to the top of the swing set from the slide refusing to use the ladder and never letting the behemoth tree disappear from my sights.

Now I am a smart girl, or my grandparents lied to me. But I should have been able to achieve the desired goal of my preschool self, hence the ladder from the swing set. I couldn’t see it because I could never push past the fact it was a BIG tree.

We would eventually move from that house and I would never have the chance to climb the daunting oak. However, I would climb other oaks and maples just as big and metaphorically face challenges throughout my life that would require me to overcome the BIG thought process.

Still, I used to think of that dumb oak from time to time until one day on a visit home I decided to drive past the old house. I remember being excited about seeing the forty-year-old domicile and couldn’t wait to see the huge front yard loaded with trees and the giant hill the aged split-level sat on.

Driving down the street, I felt a nervous pang in my heart at the excitement of seeing the memories of my youth. Filled with hundreds of snippets racing in my blurred memory, I pulled up slowly to the address.

“Wait a minute,” I thought. “This can’t be the house.” Yet it was.

I was stunned, and as I rubbed my eyes in disbelief I thought, the hill I had taken my sled down had to have been MUCH bigger! The yard was not nearly as vast and wide, and the final blow, the scourge of my 4-year-old existence was not as tall. Adding to further my heartbreak, if I used my current adult height (nearly double that of my 4-year-old self), I could reach up and touch the first branch!

As I grew up I came to the understanding that nothing in life is ever as big as it appears: not a tree, a hill, or a challenge. Visiting the house simply cemented that theory.

I know I am being long-winded getting to my point, but look at the current situation the country is in. Is it really as big as one may think? If it is change we want-- is it just the President we have to vote out?

I ask this question in order to present a challenge.

The other night I was watching Huckabee having a Q & A session with the people of South Carolina who were asking questions directed at the five candidates. In Newt Gingrich’s session the question of change came up. His message (as I paraphrase) “As the President I can do nothing alone. We have to create change at all levels, by voting change in the House and the Senate then and only then we will be able to give Americans the change that is needed.”

I looked deeper and I recalled a Twitter conversation with a South Floridian friend. He was telling me about a candidate in Florida’s 20th district he liked and I knew nothing about. I literally gasped when I saw who held the current congressional seat.

Debbie Wasserman-Schultz.

My immediate response was “Whoa! Un-uh, this isn’t happening! She’s everywhere! Who would take on such an enigmatic figure?”

My answer would come in the form of a woman who has been a small business owner and had moved to South Florida as a child. Searching through Karen Harrington’s website (KarenHarringtonForCongress) and plowing through YouTube videos available on her (just by searching name), I became impressed by her accomplishments.

I was mostly taken in by the campaign motto “Fire Debbie”. “Wow! How big is that?” I thought.

Well….Not really. Just like climbing trees and facing challenges, nothing is as big as it appears to be. What once may have looked too big to tackle eventually comes into focus, allowing the learning and growth it takes to go after the goal head on.

If Karen thought something was too big, then she and her sisters wouldn’t have taken the humble family-run restaurant Ricky’s and expanded to three locations employing hundreds of employees. If she thought raising a family was tough, she wouldn’t have gotten married and had three children. If Karen thought she wouldn’t survive, she wouldn’t have beaten cancer.

And if she thought challenging Debbie Wasserman-Schultz was too huge, she wouldn’t be running for Congress in a democratically saturated area again even after losing to Wasserman-Schultz in 2010, not to mention garnering the endorsement of Mark Levin.

Karen is standing up and taking what she has already accomplished in life and adding the fight for change in this country. Just imagine, if Karen were to take this seat away from Wasserman-Schultz, the impact it would have if at the same time the President were voted out of office. The reverberation would be huge. Wasserman-Schultz and the Democratic Party would receive a crushing blow.

Karen is not spending her time looking up at a branch and trying to leap up to catch it. She is being smart by looking at the ground around her and then building a ladder to get to the next level. With each rung she places her foot on she is putting this race into focus and breaking down the unreachable branch of the behemoth in Debbie Wasserman-Schultz and slowly cutting her down to size.

Whether it is climbing trees or ladders of success, it is the steps we take to diminish the immense size of the desired outcome. Just like the tree I thought was too big, unseating Debbie Wasserman Schultz carried the same perception until I discovered a self-driven woman with love for God, family, friends, community and country. She is doing all this with little or no fanfare outside of the 20th district.

Karen, in her own way by taking on this challenge, is an inspiration that should cause us to look within ourselves and act as true patriots. This inspiration can inspire in us the courage to branch out and reclaim the country we so truly love. If she is not afraid to leap from branch to branch, then we shouldn’t be either.

Face it, the old adage is true. Perhaps that is why it is called old and not new. Nothing is ever really as big as it seems.

If you want to learn more about Karen Harrington, I suggested these websites:

http://www.publiusforum.com

http://dailycaller.com/2011/08/11/meet-the-woman-taking-on-debbie-wasserman-schultz/#ixzz1UjbCPXRo).

If you wish to support Karen Harrington:

http://www.karenforcongress.com/

http://www.FireDebbie.com/

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About the author: Beth Pepoy has written several published articles for Yahoo Voices and for Yahoo News. She has been featured on the website PolitiJim’s Rants for Reasonable People, and has been published on several on line newspapers including Redeye Daily.

She currently blogs on her own site: http://runinmystocking.wordpress.com and has been nominated for a Shorty Award.

Beth resides in Baton Rouge, Louisiana

You can follow Beth on twitter: https://twitter.com/Bpepoy

The author welcomes feedback and comments, and is not affiliated with Karen Harrington For Congress.

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Sandy Adams for Congress in Flordia's 24th

"I have devoted my life to my family, my profession, and a personal crusade on behalf of the citizens of Florida." - Sandy Adams

Sandy Adams is no stranger to serving her country or the people of Florida. As a deputy sheriff, member of the United States Air Force, and member of the Florida House of Representatives, Adams has been doing just that for years. In addition to taking care of her family, she sees it as a top priority and that's probably why she's decided to take her service to the United States Congress. Here is a look at a true Conservative, who is running for Congress in Florida's 24th Congressional District.

Sandy Adams was born in Wyandotte, Michigan in 1956 and moved to Florida eight years later. After serving in the United States Air Force, Adams became a Deputy Sheriff and Investigator for the Orange County Sheriff's Office. She worked in law enforcement for nearly two decades, dedicating her life to the people of Florida. During that time, she also served as the President of the Central Florida Chapter Concerns of Police Survivors Incorporated. According to her official website, Adams knows what it's like to struggle, as many Americans are now. As a young woman, she found herself a single mother of a daughter, attempting to finish college. Today, both she and her daughter are college graduates. She got her BA in Criminal Justice Administration from Columbia College in 2000.

In 2002, Adams decided to take a different route to serving the people of her state. She ran for office, hoping to become a member of the Florida House of Representatives. She was elected and has been serving ever since. Once she was elected, she was tapped to head the Homeland Security Workers’ Compensation work group and served as Chair of the Seminole County Legislative Delegation. She went on to serve as Chair of the Orange County Legislative Delegation and is currently the Chair of the Seminole County Legislative Delegation again. She also currently serves as Chair of the Criminal and Civil Justice Appropriations Committee, Vice-Chair of the Criminal and Civil Justice Policy Council, Vice-Chair of the Public Safety and Domestic Security Policy Committee and Vice-Chair of the Select Committee on Seminole Indian Compact Review, and is a member of the Full Appropriations Council on General Government and Health Care and the Rules and Calendar Council.

As chair of the House Domestic Security Committee, Adams was a strong voice for security. She passed legislation that promoted security at seaports, general aviation airports, and hurricane preparedness and recovery. She helped schools receive adequate funding, helped promote sales tax relief, worked on getting tougher sentences for sexual predators, protecting victims and protecting personal information for concealed weapon permit holders. She also worked to ensure services for seniors and stood up against eminent domain laws. Recently, Adams has filed Enforcement of Immigration Laws legislation.

The Orlando Sentinel endorsed her runs for the Florida House and has called her, "an expert on public-safety issues and committed to the thankless but essential task of juvenile-justice reform." In 2006, the Sentinel printed, “Her success in that area and others, coupled with her ability to work across party lines, makes Ms. Adams the best…Her leadership skills are reflected in her ability to push successfully…Ms. Adams ‘ passion for public safety is understandable…But she’s branched beyond that expertise."

So, where does she stand on the issues? Adams has said that small businesses are what drives the Florida economy and believes the best thing the government can do for entrepreneurs is offer incentives for new technology and to attract businesses to areas where they are needed, not offer regulation and higher taxes that often drive small businesses away. She believes the tax code should be made simpler and people should not be penalized because they are married or own businesses. She has also proposed we remove the death tax.

Adams believes the nation should become energy independent. From her website,

"We need an energy policy that encourages all forms of energy including nuclear, clean coal, natural gas, wind, solar, geothermal, hydro power, and safe off shore oil drilling. I am opposed to the Cap and Trade legislation that would place a national energy tax on all American families and small businesses. If Cap and Trade passes, our local economy---more so than other states---will suffer. Families will pay higher utility rates and thousands will lose their jobs. We need an energy bill that saves jobs, improves our economy and promotes technology and innovation while moving our country towards energy independence."

Sandy Adams and her husband, John, live in Orlando. The couple has three children.

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Patricia Sullivan, a Mom on a Mission in Florida's 8th

It's no secret Sarah Palin has inspired thousands of Americans since becoming a part of the national political stage in 2008, but this year, it's becoming more apparent, as Conservative women across the nation are stepping up to the plate and speaking up for their values and political beliefs. Some are even taking things to the next level and running for political office. One such candidate is Patricia Sullivan, a self-described "Domestic Engineer," who is running for Congress in Florida 8th Congressional District.

In a November interview with Fox News' Gretchen Carlson, Sullivan said she is running for Congress because her children's futures have already been "mortgaged away" and because the current person representing Florida's 8th District, Congressman Alan Grayson, is not representing the people like he should. Sullivan, who had the opportunity to meet Governor Palin at a book signing before the interview, told Carlson that Palin is an inspiration because, "she's a real person, a mom who has a family, but she works hard for effective change."

According to Sullivan's website, she is campaigning on four main principal issues: fiscal responsibility, limited government, strong national defense, and free markets, but there are a number of other issues close to the Conservative's heart. She is a strong proponent of the 10th Amendment and states' rights and she believes that the current "spend the country into prosperity" politicians need to be replaced with a more responsible group of legislators. She believes energy solutions should be dictated by free markets and that regulatory policy that is meant to help the environment should be based only on proven sciences and even then should be monitored so that it does not burden people. In addition, Sullivan is pro-gun and Second Amendment, pro-life, pro-stronger border security and pro-educational choice.

Sullivan may not have a resume full of fancy positions or an extensive political background, but what she does have is passion and common sense. She calls herself a patriot, not a politician, and says she has a passion for people, not programs. Sullivan wants to take the government back and put it in the hands of the people and took her first step towards that goal last year on April 15th. Inspired by the passing of the Stimulus bill, Sullivan organized the North Lake Tea Party. She hoped at least 50 people would show up and was shocked when over 1,000 attended. Her second North Lake Tea Party, on July 4th, saw a similar turnout. Sullivan currently maintains the website for the North Lake Tea Party and continues in the movement with a leadership role.

In addition to being a longtime homeschooler, Sullivan is an active member in her church. She is a Precept Bible study leader, a 4-H leader at both the local and state level, and was named "Volunteer of the Year" in 2007 by the Florida State 4-H Youth Development Program. She even founded the Lake County 4-H Foundation and currently serves as President.

On a personal note, Sullivan was born in Alabama but her family moved to Seminole County, Florida in 1973. She received an Associate of Arts degree from Seminole Community College and has been married to her husband, Scott for eighteen years. They have four children, Jennifer, Danny, Ben and Emily, and currently reside in Lake County.

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One of the First Female Senators, Paula Hawkins, Dies at 82

Paula Hawkins, the first female to be elected to the United States Senate in her own right, died on Friday. She was 82 years old. Hawkins was also the first and only female elected to the Senate from Florida and according to the Orlando Sentinel, she fought hard to get through the "good ol' boys" club."

She was working as a Republican committeewoman when she decided to run for the Public Service Commission in 1972. She campaigned as a populist and a consumer advocate, and won a second term in 1976. In 1974 she ran unsuccessfully for the United States Senate -the seat was won by Jack Eckerd- and in 1978, Eckerd ran unsuccessfully for governor, with Hawkins under him as Lieutenant Governor on the Republican ticket. In 1980, she beat out Democrat Bill Gunter with 52% of the vote, finally earning herself a spot in the United States Senate. She served only one term.

"Senator Paula Hawkins broke the glass ceiling for women like me to be able to pursue public service at the highest levels. She blazed a trail by winning statewide office at a time when being an elected Republican woman wasn't very common in the Sunshine State, needless to say in the United States Senate," Florida State Senator and gubernatorial candidate Paula Dockery told the Orlando Sentinel.

While Senator Hawkins didn't enjoy being called a feminist, she considered herself a champion of children's and women's rights. She backed legislation that would help homemakers get jobs upon becoming widowed or divorced and wanted to equalize pension benefits for women by considering the years they spent raising children. She fought for tax breaks on child care expenses and to get day care for children of Senate employees. She also fought hard against drugs and child abuse, disclosing that she had been molested as a child, while speaking at the Third National Conference on Sexual Victimization. This led to her penning a book in 1986, Children at Risk, My Fight Against Child Abuse: A Personal Story and a Public Plea.

She was pro-life and opposed abortion-on-demand, as well as the Equal Rights Amendment. She also refused to join the Congressional Woman's Caucus because she thought women's issues were "family issues" and concerned more than just women. She as quoted as saying, ""I did not like the Equal Rights Amendment. I predicted that it would bring about the downfall of the father's responsibility to support the family."

Hawkins also served as the Vice President of Air Florida from 1979-1980 and director of the Rural Telephone Bank Board from 1972-1978. In 1988, she was named the director of Philip Crosby Associates, a consulting company started by Winter Park businessman and author, Philip B. Crosby. In 1997, she joined the board of Nu Skin Enterprises. Nu Skin Enterprises is a direct selling company that sells cosmetics, nutritional supplements and technology services.

Hawkins was born on January 24, 1927 in Salt Lake City, Utah, and grew up in Utah and Georgia. She was married to Gene Hawkins and they had three children, Genean, Kevin, and Kelly Ann. She attended Utah State University and was a member of the Church of Latter Day Saints.

It is reported that Hawkins died in her home in Winter Park, Florida, after complications from a fall. She had also recently suffered a stroke. Florida Governor Charlie Crist ordered all flags lowered to half-staff and Dean Cannon, Florida House Speaker-designate, held a moment of silence on Friday.

Ileana Ros-Lehtinen: The First Hispanic Woman in Congress

When it comes to Republican Congresswomen in the news, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen isn't a name you hear often, but she has definitely made an impact on the party and the country. Not only is she the most senior ranking Republican female in Congress, but she's the first Republican female to represent the state of Florida in Congress, as well. A Cuban immigrant who has truly paved her own way to live the American dream, she is also the first Hispanic woman elected to Congress. Throughout the twenty years she's spent representing Florida's Eighteenth Congressional District, she has been a driving force for a number of issues and like any prominent politician, has not been without controversy. Here is a look at the life and career of Ileana Ros-Lehtinen:

Ileana Ros-Lehtinen was born July 15, 1952 in Havana Cuba to businessman, activist and author Enrique Ros and his wife Amanda Adato. At the age of eight, her family was forced to flee Cuba and they moved to Miami, Florida. Ros-Lehtinen received an Associates Degree from Miami-Dade Community College, both her Bachelors and Masters Degrees from Florida International University, and her Doctorate Degree in education from the University of Miami. She eventually took her passion for education to a new level and started and ran Eastern Academy, a private elementary school in south Florida.

According to her website, in 1982, after listening to many of her friends and neighbors complain about the issues facing their lives, she decided to run for the Florida House of Representatives. Her bid for a seat was successful and she went on to serve a second term in 1986. One of her most notable achievements during that time was the creation of the Florida Pre-paid College program which allows parents to lock in college tuition rates.

In 1989, Ros-Lehtinen ran successfully for her current seat in Congress. Even though she is a Republican and holds a number of strong Conservative stances, she often sides with Democrats on the issues of gay rights. She is currently the only Republican member of the LGBT Equality Caucus and believes gays should be allowed to serve openly in the military. She also voted against the Federal Marriage Amendment which would have restricted marriage to be only between a man and a woman. She has also fought to keep oil drilling off the Florida coast (though she does support drilling in ANWR), co-sponsored the Coral Reef Preservation Act, and co-founded the National Marine Sanctuary Caucus.

On many other issues, Congresswoman Ros-Lehtinen is a staunch Conservative. She was a strong supporter of the war and subsequently the surge in Iraq. Ros-Lehtinen, whose maternal grandparents were Jewish and very active in Cuba's Jewish community, is also a strong supporter of Israel. She supported President Bush's tax cuts, supports free trade, voted against the estate tax, and signed the Taxpayer Protection Pledge. She has also voted against stem cell research.

Ros-Lehtinen is perhaps one of the most prominent members of the Cuban-American lobby and is a member of the Congressional Cuba Democracy Caucus. Her strong views have led her to lobby against ending the United States embargo against Cuba and she has worked to prevent United States banks from doing business with the Cuban government. She has referred to the country as "that system of godless communism," was instrumental in the failed attempt at allowing Elian Gonzalez to stay in the United States and even attempted to block Jimmy Carter's visit to the country in 2002.

Ros-Lehtinen's humanitarian work doesn't just stop in Cuba. As the ranking member of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, she has worked on behalf of human rights in a number of other places including Tibet, Iran, Haiti and Darfur, and she has been a loud voice for free trade with Columbia, as well as an advocate for democracy in Iran and Venezuela. She is currently traveling to Honduras, in an effort to convince her colleagues that they must restore aid to the nation.

Upon being re-elected in 2008, she made headlines after hanging up on both President Barack Obama and his chief o staff, Rahm Emanuel who were calling to congratulate her. She has also been accused of wishing for the assassination of Fidel Castro, something she strongly denies. Ros-Lehtinen was recently inducted to the Florida Women's Hall of Fame.

Ros-Lehtinen is married to Dexter Lehtinen. She two daughters, Amanda and Patricia, and two stepchildren, Douglas and Catherine.

The Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy

"The home is the child's first school, the parent is the child's first teacher,and reading is the child's first subject." - Barbara Bush

Last month, in our profile of former first lady Barbara Bush, we mentioned that she is currently serving as head of the The Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy. The Foundation has been going strong for twenty years, helping families realize the importance of literacy and helping parents and children learn to read together by supporting the development and expansions of family literacy programs across the country. They award competitive grants to nonprofit organizations, correctional institutions, homeless shelters, schools, school districts, libraries, and community and faith-based agencies. Since 1989, they have awarded over $32 million to 723 family literacy programs in all 50 states and Washington D.C.

The Barbara Bush Foundation began awarding grants in 1990, receiving applications from all over the country. In September of that year, they awarded eleven different grants totaling over $500,000. By September 2007, the foundation had benefited over 650 programs, many of which still serve their communities today. In January 1996, the Foundation began launching statewide literacy grant programs. The first state to receive the grants was Maine. Partnering with the Maine Department of Education, the Foundation has awarded grants to 166 family literacy programs in schools and community organizations.

In February 1996, the Foundation launched another statewide program entitled "The First Lady's Family Literacy Initiative for Texas" which has awarded 118 grants to programs in over 65 Texas cities. Mrs. Bush's daughter-in-law, former first Lady Laura Bush is the Honorary Chair of this initiative. The grants from this program have been given to community-based organizations, libraries, charter schools, pediatric medical clinics, Head Start and Even Start programs, as well as many others. Because of this initiative, more adults are learning English and getting their GEDs, obtaining better jobs, reading to their children, and becoming more involved in their children's school and home lives.

In 1999, the Foundation's efforts move to Florida with the "Governor's Family Literacy Initiative for Florida." Mrs. Bush's son, former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, serves as Honorary Chair of this program which has awarded grants to over 151 programs throughout Florida.

In addition to the grants and statewide programs, in 1995, the Foundation started "A Celebration of Reading." The annual fundraiser, which began in Houston and is now held each year in Texas, Maryland, and Florida, features readings from best-selling authors and members of the Bush family. Proceeds benefit the foundation. Participants in the fundraiser have included Mary Higgins Clark, James Patterson, Reba McEntire, Patricia Cornwell, and Mary Tyler Moore among dozens of other authors.

Mrs. Bush has called literacy "the most important issue we have" and has worked tirelessly to promote the importance of not just reading, but reading as a family, during and even after her very public life. She has accredited her own family for her love of reading, saying that some of her fondest memories are of her family gathered around each other during the evenings, engrossed in their own reading.