Ok, this will likely end up being a very very odd post in the sense that it will address several unrelated points in a fashion that unfortunately, but unavoidably, does not really constitute great writing (at least initially).
First, I have not posted in a long time. I know. I am actually wondering if anyone actually still reads the page or not other people randomly googling my Mayor Menino quote or people trying to get information on how to beat a felony charge. I have been busy and a lot of stuff has been going on in my life. All in all for the last couple months I have felt uninspired to write and a lot of what I was interested in did not lend itself to becoming interesting blog material. Exams are coming/are already going on and the bar is coming up this summer. I feel this may end up providing some interesting material so hopefully I will provide some material.
Second, I am actually facing some questions about whether "Sanity Hearing" will continue. All in all this page was about my experience in law school and like it or not that experience is coming to an end. As much as I like the name, I feel somewhat like starting over fresh. Additionally, it may seem obvious but I have sort of run out of material in line with what this was originally concieved for at its inception. I wanted it to kind of be the chronicles and musings of a law student kind of looking for the meaning of life and going through the stuff that is typical to every law student such as summer internships, particular classes, etc. To some extent though, much of this last year I've faced a lot of stuff that made life tougher than that of your run of the mill law student, but I didn't feel like complaining about it to the whole world. Additionally, a lot of the funny things I have seen (like at work) increasingly have been things I know I should not put on the internet. Somewhat like Matt (and other bloggers I've seen in the past), I realize I've stagnated here somewhat and I know that in order to energize my creative juices I need a new project or avenue. For now, I am going to close out the year with Sanity Hearing, but I think without making this more dramatic than it warrants, I'll probably end up starting something new later this year either in conjunction with this site or in place of it. I am not sure which at this point.
Three, any of you who read this are invited to my graduation. Contact me directly if you are interested. I have a funny feeling that includes possibly only Conor and Hyde.
Four, as you have read, I will be graduating from law school and I am going to be looking for a job (I actually already am) after I take the bar exam. Thus any new project I start runs a good chance of being about life as a young country lawyer getting started here in New England.
Five, a lot of my writing interest right now is actually aimed towards Derek's campaign. I've only written one thing so far, but I am hoping to write more. For a lot of reasons I am really hopeful that Derek is successful in his candidacy for state representative in Connecticut. A lot of it has to do with defying the odds which seemed really daunting to me in law school and upon which I think I reflected a fair amount on this page. My hope (whether Derek will feel comfortable with this or not-- I don't know) is to use this page as a drafting board for some posts that will end up going on Derek's campaign blog (which you can see at Derek's campaign blog). Hopefully, that can be some small way I contribute to the whole thing.
Thus, without further ado I give you my first pro-Derek propaganda article:
Why Vote For Derek Donnelly?
Why vote for Derek Donnelly? It probably seems like a good question if you are a voter in the 61st district of Connecticut. So here is the answer: when you boil down Derek’s campaign to its essential elements, the essence of what this whole run for state representative is about, beyond the policy, beyond the talking points and the platform, and it is about young, passionate, hardworking people being the right choice for government. In an age where more and more millionaires are running for office, I think that we need to ask ourselves as citizens, as voters, whether what is best for us is a government run by those who have the least to gain by putting in the extra effort to develop new policies and plan for the next generation.
Sometimes people are best defined by what they are not and what I can tell you right away that Derek is not a millionaire, he is not from a family of connected politicos, and he has not gotten where he is because anyone handed him the position. Derek is one of the hardest working people I have ever met, getting through law school while working for the Jewish Federation of Greater Hartford, working on Joe Lieberman’s campaign, and finally working for Mayor Eddie Perez of
Hartford
. Derek is that rare example of someone who has found something he is extremely passionate about working at and has done so, often to the point that it is astounding he has found the time to have a regular life.
Ultimately what voters face is a choice about who will most effectively represent them. In this case the choice is between reelecting a representative who has served a long and respectable tenure and electing a young, fresh face who is extremely passionate about the work he would be doing. In my opinion, choosing young, passionate, hardworking people for government is always the best possible choice. In his final year of law school, when most students are taking it easy, Derek has not only managed to fit in the time to run a campaign with little or no help, he has managed to do so out of his apartment, managed to also run for the board of finance, run Eileen Moncrief’s bid for First Selectman of Suffield, and all the while- he managed to out fundraise his opponent (and get engaged).
Additionally, I think it seems crucial to why Derek is a the right choice for state representative that Derek and his fiancé Michaela are the type of people who ultimately characterize the young families that will be the future of our community for the next 30 or 40 years. They are the people that will buy their first homes in Suffield, send their children to school in our public schools, use our libraries, our parks, and also foot the bill for all of the programs that our government will implement for the coming decades. Derek is passionate about being your state representative, because this position is about a lot more than a job for him. It is about the quality of life in his hometown. It is about buying a home in the same town that he grew up in, it is about taking his children to play baseball at the same field that his dad coached him on, it is about preserving the same quality of education that brought him and his peers to where they are today: doctors, lawyers, police officers, accountants, nurses, and hopefully- the next state representative of the 61st District of Connecticut. It is time for the voters of the district to choose a representative who will vigorously strive to preserve and improve our district for the next generation, and that is why I am proud to support Derek.
Thanks again JP for your support. It means a lot!
Posted by: Derek | April 27, 2006 at 12:11 AM