Cao for Great Lakes Senate – Ain't No Mountain (We'll Be Back)

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Congratulations on entering the house!

[Joseph Cao]

Well, here we are at the other end of the election! My commendations and heartfelt thanks go out to all those who exercised their democratic right to vote this weekend, and to those who chose to place their trust in my campaign by voting for me. I’m proud of the great and substantive campaign that I ran and aware that the responsibility now lies with me to realise those aims and to be a voice for all of you – those of you across the aisle as well as those who voted for me on the basis of party. I’ll do my best.

It is not lost on me, of course, that I will be entering Congress alongside left-leaning supermajorities in both houses. Once again, I’d like to congratulate all of my fellow candidates for their efforts over the past several weeks. To my fellow Federalists: I urge you all not to lose the hope or energy that continues to be a key driver of the game. Our predecessors survived previous bad cycles, and we’ll do it again. To my Labor friends (and now, colleagues): I fully welcome the opportunity to work alongside you to make Atlasia the best that it can be. To all voters, of whatever partisan or nonpartisan affiliation: let it be known that my basic goal – to be an independent and principled voice for all of you – has not changed. I will continue to make it a priority to scrutinize every bill and introduce new legislative efforts to bring constructive benefits to Atlasians of all stripes.

The road ahead is going to be bumpy. But it’s a road ahead regardless, and we’ll continue wherever the trail may lead – to a brighter and better future.

My thanks once again to all of you; Dave bless you all, and Dave bless Atlasia.

[Lambsbread]

A belated congratulations. I've been impressed with your dedication and I look forward to seeing what you're able to do in the House.

[Pedocon Theory is not a theory]

Congratulations!

[Joseph Cao]

Bloomington–Normal, Illinois

Good evening, Atlasia, and thanks for listening in. It's a busy time for most of us, so I'll keep this brief.

Ever since they and countless others across this nation put their trust in my candidacy and sent me to Nyman, I've made it back to my hometown in beautiful central Illinois and kept in touch with my constituents on a regular basis. This community has given me an enormous amount of love and support throughout my life and it's only right that I should now use my position to do my best for them in return. Constituent work really has been a pleasure; it's something I think everyone gets to benefit from, for a very simple reason. It is of course virtually an axiom of mine and of the Federalist Party's principles that we in government need to keep our work grounded on a human basis and in the everyday lives of Atlasians. Because that's when government works best: when we in the halls of Congress are not simply faceless bureaucrats who arbitrarily interfere in ordinary folks' affairs, but rather are the ordinary folks who can justify our work in terms of how it lifts up all Atlasians and advances this great nation through the preservation of liberty and justice for all. Government needs a face in order to be a force for good in everyday Atlasians' lives, and I'm happy that my constituents know that.

So I'm back here to announce that I am running for a second term in the House of Representatives. The concerns of my constituents have been my top priority, as I have supported legislation that will improve their lives and the lives of many others who also fall under my responsibility as a representative for all Atlasians. I've sponsored and passed bills that will give ordinary people a chance to give back to their communities, just as my own community gave me that chance; and I've been an active member of Congress, voting on every bill and taking every opportunity to make House legislation better and more effective. And I'm proud to have done this while remaining a happy warrior – it has been my great pleasure to be able to work amicably with all my colleagues, whether Labor or Federalist or Democratic Alliance or otherwise. The jangling Discords of our nation may plague us yet, but I've elected to ignore them. There's more work to be done.

My thanks to you, my fellow Atlasians, for your time. I ask for your vote.

[Esteemed Jimmy]

Great speech! Endorsed!

[SevenEleven]

I've enjoyed working with you, best of luck.

[Saint Milei]

Endorsed

[Continential]

Endorsed after the DA candidate/candidates!

[Mike Thick]

Not endorsed (of course ) but I do appreciate the work you're putting into the House. Good luck.

[😥]

Enthusiastically endorsed!

[AustralianSwingVoter]

!bɘƨɿobnƎ γllɒɔiɈƨɒiƨυʜɈnƎ

[Senator-elect Spark]

Strongly endorsed.

[Brother Jonathan]

Endorsed! Best of luck in the campaign.

[gerritcole]

Endorsed! Best of luck in the campaign.

whens the election

[Former President tack50]

Endorsed! Best of luck in the campaign.

whens the election

The election should take place 2 weeks from now, between Friday, August 21st and Sunday, August 23rd if I am not mistaken

[OBD]

Endorsed for a high-ish preference!

[Pessimistic Antineutrino]

Enthusiastically endorsed!

[Rover]

Joseph Cao Endorsed

[Wazza [INACTIVE]]

Endorsed!

[West_Midlander]

Endorsed!

[支持核绿派 (Greens4Nuclear)]

Endorsed

[Joseph Cao]

Great speech! Endorsed!

I've enjoyed working with you, best of luck.

Endorsed

Endorsed after the DA candidate/candidates!

I do appreciate the work you're putting into the House. Good luck.

Enthusiastically endorsed!

!bɘƨɿobnƎ γllɒɔiɈƨɒiƨυʜɈnƎ

Strongly endorsed.

Endorsed! Best of luck in the campaign.

Endorsed for a high-ish preference!

Enthusiastically endorsed!

Endorsed

Endorsed!

Endorsed!

Endorsed

My sincerest thanks to everyone here, and to those who reached out to me in PMs! Proud to be getting tripartisan support from Atlasians around the nation.

I was away from Nyman for a few days recently, getting across Lincoln and keeping in touch with constituents in my great region. I also made an address in Green Bay which my office has decided to release, since it probably counts as a pre-election stump speech of sorts.

Before I begin in earnest, I just want to say it was a pleasure bumping into Poirot yesterday in Fond du Lac and listening to his plans for the Liberals in Wisconsin. I'm sure you've all heard of the Lake Michigan bike trail by now. And I gotta say, as an Illinoisan, I'm not the right person to comment on whether Wisconsin will take him up on the offer, but I hope my fellow Feds across the border can get behind the idea as part of the Lincoln Federalists' multi-year plan to improve and augment our regional infrastructure, and I hope you'll give the idea some consideration as well. It's funny that Poirot brought that up to me first, in fact, because I happen to love cycling. I cycled a lot around my home town of Bloomington–Normal and along the roads of central Illinois prior to my election to Congress; it's been a great way to stay fit and continues to be even during this pandemic, because it's an outdoor exercise that make everyone get the heck out of your way if they don't want to be sent flying. Flippancy aside, I think there's an analogy to be made between bikes and Atlasia.

In my time participating in politics, I've seen lots of my fellow Federalists and others to my right speaking up about the concept of liberty and its central role in our system of government. At the same time, there's been much talk from people to my left about justice for the ordinary man – social justice, economic justice, environmental justice, and the like. And there've been people on the fringes, hopefully excluding the vast majority of my fellow participants in politics, insisting that either of these is the be-all end-all of our political system, that we must prize this or that above all else, or that Atlasia will go down the drain without prioritizing one or the other. I suppose you good folks know me well enough by now to guess that my opinion on this is fairly different, and you'd be right, because guess what it says in that Pledge of Allegiance we recite all the time, including at the flag-raising that kicked the proceedings off this morning? We shouldn't pursue liberty at the expense of justice, or justice at the expense of liberty; after all, the phrase is "liberty and justice" – and, more crucially, for all. Liberty and justice go hand in hand, and who prizes one must also cherish the other. Good government is based on a firm understanding of this principle: it appreciates the role of checks and balances in the system we designed to combat threats to either of these foundational values – or, to circle back to the analogy, either of the wheels that keep the bicycle of Atlasia moving forward, without either of which it would most assuredly fall.

And what makes this good governance visible in the lives of the citizens whose liberty and justice it is meant to preserve? If I could be permitted to further butcher my metaphor, I took some liberties with that bit about the wheels earlier. It isn't just the wheels that keep the bicycle of Atlasia moving forward, because if we had just the wheels we wouldn't have a functional bicycle. All those gears and pedals and chains – not to mention the frame, handlebars, and seat – make sure all the energy of everyday Atlasians is channeled into lifting this nation ever upward. And, crucially, all of this stuff is out in the open for the cyclist to see. Does that make it much more exposed to the rain and mud and other elements than if it was covered up? Of course, and the state of my bicycle is a testament to that. But that also makes it much easier to fix if anything in the bicycle's workings goes wrong, or becomes stuck, or gets out of alignment. Which is why I and other Federalist candidates all across Wisconsin and the nation have and will always continue calling for greater government transparency. The government and its workings and impacts need to be a visible, observable presence to the people it serves.

You know one way to do that? Get involved. Go run for something, as so many of you here are doing this election; how local the office is doesn't matter as long as you're driven to make change and to stand up for your community. Inform yourself and those around you about how government works at all levels, rather than swallowing Deep State conspiracy theories. Even if you do run – and especially if you don't run – support those around you who are, particularly the new and first-time candidates on the local and federal levels! They are absolutely to be commended. And, of course, if you're looking to support candidates who will always keep true to their communities and constituents; who have a clear and principled vision for the nation; who will put their head down and work towards that moment when all of Atlasia will be able to sing with new meaning "My country, 'tis of thee; sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing"— …well, you've got no shortage of Federalist candidates here in Wisconsin and for the federal House and Senate who fully deserve your support.

Thank you all for your kind words and support these past few days, folks; I will be facing you all again very soon, in about thirty hours, as a name on your ballot for House, and I do hope you'll make an honest evaluation of my hopes for a second term. Good luck with your decision, citizens. Be well.

[Rep Jessica]

Endorsed!

[At-Large Senator LouisvilleThunder]

Enthusiastically endorsed!