Office of Senator Joseph Cao

[Joseph Cao]

As Speaker will you be appointing a Deputy?

Once the results are certified and within a couple of days, yes.

As the results have been certified, and since I made a promise I fully intend to keep, let's get to it.

Order of the Speaker

To provide for consistent administration in the House and compliance with the rules of said chamber

I hereby appoint Representative SevenEleven as Deputy Speaker of the People's House of Representatives.

[Joseph Cao]

PRESS RELEASE: CAO, OSR LEAD DAY OF CAMPAIGNING IN NEW YORK

Representative Cao joined former Representative Old School Republican for a day of campaigning across Long Island and the boroughs of Staten Island, Queens, and Brooklyn yesterday. The day began with a masked and socially distanced rally in Hempstead alongside local state Assembly candidates from across Nassau and Suffolk counties, where the two congressmen took questions from the crowd, with Mr. Cao fielding those about education and climate change policies and Mr. OSR taking questions on economic matters. Both highlighted the work accomplished in these areas by previous Federalist administrations and legislatures in addition to the state party’s plans for New York.

After commuting into the city, Reps. Cao and OSR proceeded to an indoor phone-banking session at the Federalist Party’s headquarters in downtown Brooklyn to meet a number of local campaign volunteers (from six feet away) and thank them for their efforts. Both promised to do their part in ensuring coordination between all levels of the Federalist Party’s operations in New York State, which they partly fulfilled immediately by headlining a Zoom fundraising call in the same building with party donors and supporters from across the state. Arrangements were also made for future Zoom fundraisers in a similar vein.

Mr. OSR then left to lend support to a promising state Senate candidate at one of her campaign stops in Flushing Meadows Park, as Mr. Cao stayed on a little longer to mingle with people in the immediate neighborhood. Having earlier promised to help out another candidate for the state legislature, locked in a close race out on Staten Island, Cao then made his way across the harbor for another masked and socially distanced evening rally with the state Assembly candidate in question. The candidate raised cheers from the crowd after the closing section of his speech, which highlighted the racial and economic diversity of communities across Staten Island and New York City, and pledged to bring their issues to the forefront of discussion in the chamber.

Early voting in the city begins two weeks from now, and prospective voters are encouraged to drop off their ballots in the mail if necessary to avoid the continuing COVID-19 pandemic.

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[Joseph Cao]

[On the way to the Staten Island rally mentioned in our previous press release, Mr. Cao stopped to record a short speech to mark the anniversary of September 11, of which a transcript can be found below.]

Good evening, Atlasia. I'm coming to you from Staten Island, from a little neighborhood known as Todt Hill near the middle of the borough, the highest point on the island – I can see for miles around, particularly over to the east where the yellow lights in Queens and Brooklyn and the green lights further out on Long Island are already coming on. We've just stopped for a breather before heading down to the South Shore for another evening meeting with one of our very promising state Assemblymen, a principled guy and a fighter for every man, woman, and child in Staten Island. But you'll get to hear from him and about his record in the state legislature later on. For now, there's something else I want to talk about – something that goes beyond any one state legislator or candidate or representative or elected official; beyond any one person, relating to our nation as a whole.

Yesterday, as you all no doubt know, was the anniversary of a day that has lived in infamy, and I spent a portion of it at the 9/11 Memorial at Ground Zero to reflect on what happened that day and in the nineteen years since. It’s taken a large toll on our nation’s psyche for a good reason. It should not be forgotten that three thousand innocent people were murdered by terrorists who betrayed the religion in whose name they acted. And it should not be forgotten that, in response, firefighters and police officers and ordinary citizens – Atlasians – rose to the occasion and to those of their fellow citizens, to save others, to help strangers, and in some cases to lose their own lives while doing so. In the face of an overwhelming tragedy, the nation rose to counter it with the spirit of community.

It’s been nineteen years and the old partisan din has long since returned to Atlasia. We do, however, need to make pains to learn what lessons we can gather from September the 11th and its aftermath. For one thing, it should always be borne in mind that what happened that day, and what happened in its aftermath, offers a good case study in the fundamental drawbacks of coercion as a means to an end. Terrorism is of a piece with bullying and its animating principle is no different – to try to suppress others through fear. It should be resisted, and it was. At the same time, anger – even righteous anger, perhaps especially righteous anger – needs to be tempered with understanding and deliberation if our response to injustice of whatever stripe is to be effective at addressing the underlying problems, to avoid mucking things up even further. The first impulse to act is a very natural feeling; but, unlike the vigilante justice we left behind, our government exists and was constructed around the principle of giving further and prudent consideration to all things before acting on them.

It should also serve to remind us all, particularly those of us who can get caught up all too easily in this febrile partisan atmosphere, that there is in fact (and at risk of repeating the old cliché) far more that unites us than that divides us. And that should reflect itself in the way we treat others: with the respect due to a fellow human being, and to their capacity as a participating voter and citizen. Especially in the current crisis – the death toll of which has already broken dozens of 9/11s – that should reflect itself in a renewed conviction to leave nobody behind, to treat the lives and livelihoods around us with the care and the responsibility they deserve. It should manifest itself in policies that strive to protect the public servants who put their lives on the line then and now; the citizens whose lives were lost that day and are lost today not with a bang but with a whimper; and every single Atlasian – every one of whom holds in them that spark of empathy and love and concern for their fellow citizens that was demonstrated that September 11th.

That's something I hope we’ll all bear in mind. It so happens that Todt Hill's name is derived from the German for "dead." Nineteen years on from that horrifying day and its wholly unnecessary death toll, it’s very much not the case that “all is well,” but the lessons I mentioned can hopefully continue to lead us toward that day. Dave bless, and see you all soon.

[Joseph Cao]

[Representative Cao joined Federalist candidates for the state House and state Senate at a masked and socially distanced general party rally in the Somerville area yesterday at which he was asked to deliver the opening speech. They were later joined by the gubernatorial candidate, who had been attending a public fundraiser across town with other regional party leaders.]

Hello, Somerville! It’s lovely to be here in Massachusetts, and even lovelier to see you all still being vigilant and wearing your masks, washing your hands, and generally keeping yourselves and each other safe. I know it’s September and the issue of school and university reopenings has been especially pressing here in one of the most heavily educated communities in Atlasia. In such a situation it’s imperative that the people and their government are able to work together towards a sufficiently workable arrangement. I applaud you all for doing your part to save lives, as the good citizens you are; I’d also like to take this moment to commend the President’s COVID policy, which has very prudently permitted each region to reopen as needed and allowed the needs of Atlasian communities to be more easily accommodated. And for those of you who are surprised that I’m praising the President, put a pin in it for now. I’ll come back to this later.

For now, I’ll just say that I think the plan is a good one for federalism and for the values and principles this party stands for. If you’ve heard any of your local Federalist candidates on the trail here in the Boston metro area or on the airwaves, you’ll know our history of standing up for a greater voice for communities at the regional and local level. Our actions on the executive and legislative levels and in the public sphere have consistently pushed to empower individuals and families and communities – to give them that much more of a chance to succeed. And we stand for this because we understand the very timeless maxim that while power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely. The Founders set in place a system of government trussed to the hilt with constitutional checks and balances to prevent too much power from pooling in any one part of government. And it’s worked! It’s kept our republic running for nearly two hundred and fifty years even as other systems of government have stumbled and fallen on the corrupting influence of power.

To be more prosaic for a moment, it’s obvious and has always been that power is still very much a desirable commodity. You may have seen some of this recently when you heard about the Green Party’s collapse over its leaders’ attempts to wrest more power for themselves. And to the Greens who’ve joined us, to those who are thinking of doing so, I hear you! Environmental concerns are a very noble cause. But even the most noble causes – and I’m including a lot of key Federalist policies in this – aren’t exempt from the corrupting influence of power. The fate of this nation has at times turned on the power wielded by one person or one singular group of persons. And the more power anyone holds in this game, in this nation, the more desperately each side seeks it. The more power the government holds, the more desperately each side will want to win at all costs or risk “losing everything.” And that isn’t good for us, it isn’t good for anyone on the other side of the aisle, and it most certainly isn’t good for the millions of Atlasians who elected us to look out for them and their needs. It turns Atlasia into a partisan cesspool in which point-scoring matters more than the truth; in which owning the libs or smashing the cons matters more than human lives. That’s not the welcoming Atlasia we should want or deserve.

So we’ve always resisted and will continue to resist centralization of power – because we believe, as your motto says, that "Municipal Freedom Gives National Strength." We’ll push back against the development of a partisan arms race, which swallows up everything in its path and pushes aside your local needs and issues and nuances in favor of a monolithically partisan mindset that no sane, functioning Atlasian ought to emulate. Which is why, I can now add, I myself have tried to look past partisan differences and work with everyone regardless of party affiliation, and to be respectful of them and their very real strengths even if they don’t think they need to reciprocate. And we’ll continue to stand up for you all – to stand up for Somerville’s needs, for the issues that Bay Staters care about, for Atlasians of all stripes. Here to talk about her own efforts towards that end, her history with the community she led and her accomplishments in fighting for your state, please welcome your next state representative!

[Joseph Cao]

[With the kind permission of its president Mr. Rover, the Massachusetts chapter of the Burkean Society hosted a masked and socially distanced meet-and-greet with local Federalist candidates on its premises in Shrewsbury. Representative Cao was invited to introduce the gubernatorial candidate with the speech reprinted below for public release, which like the others at the event was recorded and streamed online.]

Thank you for that, sir. And I’d like to thank you as well, Shrewsbury, for having us here. It really isn’t easy for anyone during this time and I commend you for your patience in letting us have a platform and listening to us. We’ll do our level best in listening to you as well – it is our job to do so, after all – so I’ll try to keep this short and sweet.

If there’s one thing I’ve fought for throughout my career thus far, it’s been transparency and openness in politics. I think – and certainly the Federalist Party thinks – that voters ought to be able to see clearly how the system works and be more active and effective in their rightful role as equal partners in the Atlasian system of government. I want to make sure you all get a chance to vote for the party you think is most beneficial to you and your community; not the one I think you ought to vote for, because it isn’t my job to think for you. And to do that properly you all need the facts. So we, the Federalist candidates gathered here and across Massachusetts and all around this great nation, have done our best to educate folks and to steer clear of propaganda and shock-jock ads and innumerable other tactics that would boost us politically but go indubitably against what we stand for as a party. That’s because we understand the responsibility that elected officials hold and the responsibility of speech that comes with being entrusted to represent and to lead our fellow citizens. And it isn’t just elected officials, who after all are only representative – you citizens have your own responsibilities in the public sphere as well.

We should be focused on good governance. We should be trying our best to improve people’s lives, to achieve equal justice under the law, to protect the Constitution and the liberties and rights enshrined in it. We absolutely should not do or say or implement things for the purpose of “owning” people or groups we don’t like. And we absolutely should not attack people indiscriminately and without basis. This kind of mentality is ridiculous and fundamentally incoherent and responsible for the very worrying national trend of “othering” people who we disagree with. We all live in one country and we’re all responsible for each other, no matter how tenuous those connections may seem. What kind of a failed state would we be if our every action in the political sphere was predicated on assuming the worst of others? What would we be coming to if we could simply make things up out of whole cloth and put them on the radio?

Politics runs on working with others, not alienating them. Contrary to recent statements from certain people, the Federalist Party has tried to do just that – to work and fight for all Atlasians, not just the ones who voted for us. (In fact, we’ve disappointed some partisans who thought we ought instead to contribute to the national mudfight by hurling insults and skewering nonexistent strawmen – what nonsense!) We’ve done just that in the House with an active slate of legislators who consistently work to improve the lives of communities and people across this nation and on all sides of the political spectrum. We’re doing just that with legislators here who have made public statements and plans and platforms aimed squarely at local needs and to build a better Massachusetts in education, in economic matters, in environmental planning, in healthcare, and much more. And we will do just that if you put your trust in us and the results we’ve consistently produced at all levels of government.

So, folks, I ask you to consider carefully this form of political discourse when it arrives on your doorstep, as it most assuredly will again. I ask you to look at it and critically appraise it and see it for what it is. And I ask you, Massachusetts, to make your decision in the coming election based on the facts – not the products of fevered imaginations. Meanwhile, we’ll continue doing our best to make the case for the Federalists. Here to do just that is someone you’re all familiar with: please welcome a card-carrying member of your very own Burkean Society, a pillar of the state’s affairs, and the next Governor of Massachusetts!

[Joseph Cao]

[On a personal request from a promising state Senate candidate in southeastern Iowa (a local pizzeria owner and family friend), Representative Cao made a stop in Keokuk to join the candidate for a fundraising session and, later, an outdoor (masked and socially distanced) meet-and-greet, where he gave the short speech reprinted below.]

Good afternoon, Keokuk! I’ve just been back in my home state for constituent services and to catch up with my community, and just thought I’d hop across the river to see you all as well. Living in a border state can be irritating at times, what with being far removed from federal and regional capitals where a lot of the decisions are made, but I think something we hold in common is a perspective on life and society and the government that only Middle America enjoys.

Here at the regional tripoint, where Frémont, Lincoln, and the South face each other across the Mississippi, we’re reminded of the lasting impact of our forebears in shaping the country and of the impact even the smallest actions of ours today could have on future generations. It compels us to think about our role in the present and what we can do to best shape our impact, and it brings to mind Edmund Burke’s thoughts on society as a contract with the future and the past. That should in turn guide our general approach to all forms of governance: to preserve what has worked in the past; to implement policies that can be carried forward into the future for our children and children’s children to have a better nation; and, here in the present, to serve the people of Atlasia rather than ephemeral special interests that rarely have what’s best for the nation at heart. It is a naturally conservative viewpoint, one that seeks – like Iowa – to work hard for our futures and to enjoy the fruits of our labor, to harbor a natural inclination to stick to the road that has served us well but not be averse to taking the road less traveled by when such measures are called for.

And more than that, out here at the mutual boondocks of the three regions, away from the bustle of federal government, this point serves as a physical reminder that the state cannot solve anything without the citizens which it represents having a say in their decision. Moreover, while the state should ideally be dependent on its citizens, the converse is not true. There exist many local problems which are out of the province of the federal government and which the good people of the affected community can solve while Nyman is still getting its boots on. So this ought also to inform us what our regions are capable of doing – what they can do, as your very capable Frémont Council has amply demonstrated this session, as our capable Southern neighbors have also shown, and as we in Lincoln can aspire to. It ought to remind us of the enormous opportunity afforded by the regional level – this fundamentally federalist and Federalist part of our system of government.

The more general recognition out here that politics is never the be-all end-all some people think it is, in spite of the very real effects it has on all corners of society, also ties into a past admonition by John Adams regarding the obligations of the citizen. The good people I’ve met here understand that the citizen’s obligation in this society does not exclude life outside of the political process, and in fact welcomes such. A robust democracy requires you to be politically engaged, yes, but just as important is how you engage politically: the fabric of our system of government is built on the understanding that citizens have a social compact within which they do their best to live up to the morality, regardless of religion, which Adams envisioned in our society. Human passions, which can run high at times in the partisan sphere, certainly exist. But politics is not built to force us to be good and moral citizens – it depends on our good and moral citizenship for the system to work.

So, Keokuk, I’m here today not strictly on a partisan mission, but more of a civic one – though I don’t doubt that you good citizens have already anticipated it. I think all of us here recognize the basic terms of what it means to be a citizen. Our government recognizes and defends fundamental liberties, and the individual needs to exercise that liberty virtuously. I hope you all, in the few days remaining before polls open, can do the best you can with the rights and the liberties awarded to you under the Constitution – to make the best decision you can for your families and communities with your vote. And if the party that, in your estimation, does the best at protecting these values and standing up for these rights happens to be the Federalist Party – well, thanks are in order. But it is entirely up to your good judgement. Make it count. Thank you and Dave bless.

[Joseph Cao]

[Representative Cao and former Lincoln Councillor thr33 made a stop in Syracuse to help out state House and state Senate candidates across upstate New York with a joint rally at which several speakers highlighted policies proposed by the New York Federalists. The event was livestreamed, masks were worn by all in attendance, and six-foot social distancing was in effect.]

Hello, Syracuse! Thanks for having us here today. If we could get a mic check here— yes, thank you, that’d be great. Right. I may be wearing a mask and my voice may be a little muffled, but it is most certainly worth the minuscule inconvenience if we can all continue to protect each other from this virus. And so I’m heartened to see you all similarly masked up and continuing to sit six feet apart – it’s the little things we can all do that ultimately prove to be the most effective.

That goes for many other things in our daily lives, several of which are even intimately connected with COVID-19. You know, past leaders and administrations have feared events like these that touch every aspect of our lives – our physical and mental health, our livelihoods and economic prospects, our kids’ education, our social fabric, the cohesion of our families and communities – because nobody wants to face so many problems on so many fronts. This becomes an administrative and logistical nightmare for people who believe in the expansive role of the federal government. And there is no doubt about the onslaught we’re facing now: the nation’s public health crisis grinding our social lives to a standstill, in turn sending the economy into a freefall, which loops back to produce ever more deleterious impacts on our familial and social and educational institutions. It has been hell for governments all over the world to deal with, even those whose populations are a tiny fraction of New York’s. But this is Atlasia, a nation founded on an exceptional hope, and it doesn’t have to be this way.

We are in the midst of one of the most far-reaching crises this country has ever seen. Historically, such times have been opportunities to centralize power to the benefit of power players in the federal government and to the loss of communities all across Atlasia. So some of us here remain wary of anything the federal government does during this time, and with good reason. But shouldn’t that be even more of a reason for us all to step up? Our lives are the ones being tossed about and drifting on the turbulent gust of unhealthily foul-smelling air that is 2020. It affects us, our families, and our communities in ways that can’t be adequately understood or comprehended by bureaucrats hundreds of miles away. And if you can’t fully understand a problem, or (to be more accurate) all the millions of different problems being encountered by average Atlasians in their home, at the bank, at school and at work, at this very moment: how can you get a solution that can fully solve it?

But we can understand it – and we can articulate it. We can stand up and exercise our right to free speech and to a just and democratic society; not to satisfy destructive instincts and further poison the public discourse, which goodness knows is bad enough already, but to be constructive. To take the measure of ourselves and our communities, the problems therein, and solutions that could work for us. Every community has its own needs and problems that won’t be solved by a one-size-fits-all solution imposed from the top. And if you don’t trust the federal government to do what’s best for your community, then it falls to you to inform them of what could actually work. It falls on all of us to do that if we want a better future for this country and for our fellow citizens. Partisan considerations be damned – what are the needs of your community, of your family, of the single mom next door, of the homeless man across the street? What can we do, at all levels of government from President to dogcatcher, to help them get through this and get the people into secure positions and get this nation back up and running again? Your elected representatives and leaders are where they are because you elected them to represent you and to lead. That is exactly what we need to be doing now. But as I said, there’s only so much we can do without your input; the citizen’s responsibility remains, and these past few months I’ve seen it in action across the country – we aren’t simply leaving the old and weak out to dry, and we aren’t putting economic considerations ahead of human lives. And I seem to see you good citizens’ input in all of this. Because this is Atlasia, and we don’t leave our own behind.

I’ve gone on long enough. So all of this is just words, but we Federalists are nothing if not prepared to back up our words with actions. We’ve seen and heard from citizens eager to help their families and communities not just here in Syracuse, not just in the great state of New York, but all across this nation. We’ve tried our best to tailor our policies to local needs, and I’m here tonight with a small selection of the results to be presented by an upstanding leader, a former Councillor and still a fighter for the region of Lincoln. Please give your warmest welcome to thr33!

[Joseph Cao]

[Representative Cao made a stop in Waterloo, Iowa at the invitation of the Iowa Federalist Party to join in spearheading a final push across the state in the final hours before voting booths open. The rally which he attended in the company of the Federalist gubernatorial candidate and assorted state legislative candidates was therefore livestreamed, masked, and socially distanced.]

I’ve talked a lot about the Constitution and about our party’s philosophy this cycle, and I know some people consider it dry, but we’re doing this for a very good reason. Unlike our detractors who baselessly attack us without presenting any good reasons to vote for them instead, we believe you voters should have all the information you require to make an informed choice this election. And there is no more important indicator of how a party will perform in office, how it will put into action the will of the people, than its governing philosophy – and if the philosophy is a firm one, then all the rest of it will naturally follow. So we want to emphasize the heavy role that the Constitution and the governing philosophies of its writers have played in the history and governance of the Federalist Party at all levels of government; you know where we stand on the issues and how we draw them from our core principles of collaboration between local, state, and federal governments, protection of the constitutionally protected rights and liberties you all enjoy, and the importance of the family and the community.

You’ve heard from many of our fine candidates here about the policies they draw from this shared value system, and if you’ve listened closely you’ll find something else that they have in common: a recognition that no policy of ours exists in a vacuum, that what affects the family will impact our economic policies, which will also play into elements of our COVID-19 policy, and so on. None of these policies can either exist or be implemented in a vacuum; they will most certainly tie into each other and must be planned accordingly. This can’t be done adequately on the federal level, even with its increased command of resources and time and brainpower, because all of that can’t make up for an understanding of the ground and the issues affecting ordinary citizens. Nyman is hundreds or even thousands of miles away from the vast majority of this nation’s citizens, and – even with that high-speed rail our Federalist representatives support – it can’t possibly know the minutiae of all its citizens’ daily lives and aspirations.

So the onus to implement good policy falls to regional and state and local governments, to people and candidates who really comprehend the extent and idiosyncrasies of their local issues and who reject this top-down imposition of policy from above. The Federalist Party has always understood this dynamic well and, through the years, has built its policies around the need for greater local input, for a closer reading of local issues, and for substantive contributions from those on the ground who know what their communities’ problems are in their entirety and have ideas on how to fix them. We look beyond partisan affiliation while doing so; forget whether or not your mayor is a Labor or a Liberal or a DA one. What are the problems they see in their community, and how can we in the state government and in the legislature do to help?

That’s the pragmatism and willingness to work with others that we Federalists bring to Iowa, in addition to all the policy and idealism you’ve heard this afternoon. That’s our vision as a party formed in accordance with the ideals set out in the Constitution. That, folks, is the Federalist Party – now go vote, and may you all make the most carefully considered decision you can, one based in facts rather than attacks.

[Joseph Cao]

[Back in Lincoln, the Federalist Party of Massachusetts asked the Representative to help with a final push of their own and obliged by joining a number of state senators and state legislative candidates on a tour of the state. The speech below was delivered to a masked and socially distanced crowd in Holyoke.]

You know, Holyoke, I and the rest of our candidates here were so looking forward to a dignified and respectful campaign season without mud flying in every direction, without people once again running to their spin machines to hurl smears and insults at each other. Sadly this wasn’t to be in these final days of the campaign cycle. And perhaps I was naïve about this, but I did think they would heed the voices of Western Massachusetts and refrain from tearing others down without building themselves or other people up in return – or even being so bald-faced about it in the hopes that the average citizen wouldn’t object. Because partisan-based allegations like these are not helpful for our nation and they can damage lives and careers in shocking numbers if people turn a blind eye to their insidious effects on our body politic and all its constituent citizens and human beings.

At times this partisan din is extremely disheartening, and goodness knows I’ve been affected by the miasma of partisan hackery myself at times. It’s almost enough to make one throw out the idea of the better angels of our nature having the upper hand. And it’s a deeply unwelcome spectacle that distracts us from the crucial work we need to do in Nyman, in state legislatures and governor’s mansions across the country, to govern rather than grandstand. But my entire political career from city councillor to Speaker was not built on despair, but rather hope, and I will be optimistic – and I encourage you all to do likewise, to refrain from further contributing to this toxic brew and look beyond it instead, for one simple reason. This is not the norm.

Atlasia is a big country full of folks who are content to go about their daily lives, to continue striving towards their own private ambitions, to help out their families and their communities, without indulging in partisan brinksmanship. We as a nation are not a fundamentally partisan people, despite others’ attempts to make them so. The average Atlasian does not care about point-scoring by elected officials who are there to serve the people who elected them, but wants to know how we can help improve their lives and livelihoods. That is something we intimately understand and something that all our candidates here have worked hard for – in going out to communities to listen to them and to translate their fears and hopes and ideas into policy that will help them and others like them all over our great nation.

I will admit, though, that I may not have been entirely honest myself earlier. I should have said that mud was flying in every direction but one: despite some of our colleagues across the aisle going low, we’re proud that each and every member of the Federalist Party from our party leaders on down to the most junior state House candidate has run a clean campaign throughout and one that has presented a positive vision for our party and what we can do for you all, not just here in Massachusetts, but across Atlasia. And so, Holyoke, I hope you will now join me in continuing to promote the cleanest state campaign in the country, the proof that the better angels of our nature can and will prevail in this great state and that Massachusetts will put itself beyond meaningless partisanship and rise towards a better future. Please welcome your next state senator!

[Joseph Cao]

[On one of the last stops on the state tour in the Boston area (at which all COVID-19 restrictions were strictly observed), the gubernatorial candidate made an appeal to the values implicit in the city’s centuries of history and drew a line between the actions of the Founding Fathers, the succession of capable state and local leaders in Massachusetts throughout its history, and the current crop of Federalist candidates. Representative Cao’s speech touched on a somewhat similar theme, as the reprinted transcript below makes clear.]

I talked earlier in Holyoke about the better angels of our nature. Well, as much as others have tried to suppress them, I can see them out in force tonight, folks! Thank you all for making it here, just hours before the voting booths open, and I hope you all are weighing the candidates and parties carefully in your mind at this minute.

There’s been entirely too much discord in the air and on the airwaves these past couple of days, and I’m sure you’re all sick of this sudden outburst – but bear in mind which party has always prioritized your families and communities and local needs rather than making them an afterthought, and which party has been on the ground with you since the very beginning of this campaign season. I do want to say at this point – if the President is fully sincere in wanting to fight back against the discord in our national politics, I stand fully with him. And unlike some others I could name, my actions and speeches and priorities during my entire time in office and on the trail have reflected that. I am putting my money where my mouth is and doing my part to back down from the political arms race we’re seeing, as are the Federalist candidates for state legislature gathered here today.

This all brings to mind a different set of angels – those that Madison invoked in his famous line about government, and those that lurk just behind the rest of his contributions to our nation. Implicit in that line and in all of his later political and intellectual works was a desire to protect against the excesses of human nature, a similar sentiment to that of John Adams’ plea to resist human passions that would destroy government just as a whale could destroy a net. But Madison’s primary concern throughout was to craft an effective and stable popular government, one necessary precisely because we are not angelic, but one needing both external and internal controls on that same government for the same reason. Government has a role to play – that is not in dispute. But the interplay between federal and state government is one that must still be carefully considered.

Particularly in this time of emergency, there needs to be a clear understanding of the bounds of government and how much the state can do – and it is of course incumbent upon our candidates and state legislators here to craft and implement policy that answers the problems in each of your communities. It is partly true that there’s a tradeoff between freedom from constraint from above and the ability for all of us to live safely.  But it doesn’t have to be that way if our state and local leaders are able to establish and make use of lines of communication with our federal leaders, and for each side to heed the words of the other. Freedom, for us in the Federalist Party, does not simply mean the absence of federal government: it includes the freedom we enjoy with the rights that are quite literally written down in the one government document to rule them all, the freedoms our workers deserve and the freedoms our small businesses need to thrive, and so on an so forth.

Making sense of all this is a massive undertaking; putting it into policy is even more so. But the Federalist Party recognizes it, and our candidates have plans to tackle the task of good governance that recognize it. That’s not the case of other parties, as much as I respect their very concrete accomplishments for this nation. So get out and vote as soon as the polls open, and good luck with your decision – to do your part in rejecting discord in favor of sound good governance. Stay safe.

[Joseph Cao]

[Representative Cao was invited to open a general rally in Morristown for the Federalist Party of New Jersey's October campaign, a location chosen in recognition of its history as the military capital of the American Revolution. The rally was attended (largely virtually) by most of the Federalist candidates for the state legislature while all in physical attendance were required to wear masks and observe social distancing.]

Hello, Morristown! Good evening! Good evening, you all! Thanks for making it here, and thanks for having us this evening. Bit of a wind about, but I promise you I'll get my part of this event over with as quickly as I can.

These past months really have been the times that try men's (and women's) souls, as that statue across town says. We're still struggling through a pandemic that continues to take Atlasian lives and our economy and social fabric are straining under its weight. At such times, it's very natural for our fellow-countrymen to look to others for guidance and for instructions. And people are not just looking to elected leaders; it could just as easily be (and usually is) family members, communities, social contacts, social media "icons," talk show hosts, or anyone with a semblance of authority. In one sense, it's good that you're doing so, because when you reach out to your family members, your friends, your community, and so forth, that strengthens the ties that bind Atlasians and binds Atlasia together. It is another thing altogether when we simply take our cues, whether political or social or otherwise, from strangers on social media without thinking twice about it or bothering to fact-check or think through the cue on its merits. And you know, I find it funny that this has become such a prevalent issue in the era of the Internet – the thing that was supposed to make us all smarter and better critical thinkers in order to sift the vast amounts of information at our fingertips. Outsourcing work to someone else and letting them do your thinking for you never ends well, and we really should have learned that by now.

Because here's the thing. Your leaders ought ideally to have your best interests at heart, and the best ones will tell you why they do what they do and how it actively benefits you or your community. After all, you can't really say you're fighting for the people of a community if they don't know why you do what you do. This applies to leaders on the political scene and goes double for those in the media and online. There are still leaders in both categories who effectively treat politics as a sales pitch and think of voters as customers, who don't bother to justify their own actions and positions as long as they can paint their "competitors" as a bad business proposition. And as with salesmen, they are not averse to lying about their own record or the records of others if they think it helps them get more likes or retweets towards their real end goal of "owning the libs" or "smashing the cons." Leaders who stoop to such tactics are fundamentally not dedicated to the people they say they serve. Those citizens deserve a factual understanding of politics, and such tactics hobble ordinary folks' ability to make the best decisions for their communities and their families. And just as salesmen expect brand loyalty from their customers, so such leaders expect people to continue voting for them regardless, to never even think of considering people across the aisle.

I want to make clear that the Federalist Party stands in firm opposition to this dynamic. We know voters are not simply customers for a party, but are fellow citizens with an equal say in the democratic process. We are composed of free-thinking individuals rather than partisans, and we recognize that the best person to do a job or fill an office isn't always a Federalist. There are outstanding leaders from opposing parties who we are always honored to work with for the betterment of Atlasians and who fully deserve your vote. So we want you all, as best you can, to determine who the best leaders are for your community based on the merits and the results they've delivered. And most of all, to aid with that decision-making process, we will always be honest with you and your community about what we do and what you can expect from our party. Putting down people or organizations and smearing their records has not and never will be condoned where the New Jersey Federalist Party is concerned, because that's not what politics is for – it should be to build up New Jersey, build up Lincoln, and build up Atlasia and Atlasians of all stripes. There are many people here tonight who have dedicated their lives to building others up, and it is my great pleasure to now hand over the stage to one of them, a great worker, a great person, and a pillar of his community. Please welcome your next state representative!

[Joseph Cao]

[Representative Cao spoke at an event organized by the Federalist Party of Vermont in Saint Albans, which was attended by various candidates for state assembly and state Senate from surrounding legislative districts, immediately before a visit to the Northwestern Medical Center with a state legislator who previously introduced a healthcare bill in the legislature. All speeches at the masked and socially distanced event were livestreamed and a transcript of the Representative’s speech is provided below.]

Thank you for having me here, Vermont! Saint Albans is a magnificent city and I’m glad to be here this afternoon. And I’m even gladder that you all have turned out here today! With a host of elections approaching, I trust you’re all doing your best to prepare for the tasks ahead of you as citizens living under the world’s preeminent democratic process.

The recent round of polling has no less than four parties within a margin of error of each other – the Liberals, the Federalists, Labor, and the DA. And to that I have to say: congratulations, Vermont! It’s absolutely great that you have real choices and a real chance of making your voice heard this election. In far too many states since the beginning of election season, one party or another has started out with an insurmountable advantage that allowed them to coast along while superior campaigns by other parties have gone unrewarded. But in such a finely balanced state, it’s good to know that you the voters can expect your good judgement to prevail in the end regardless of which party starts out advantaged.

That’s what we at the Federalist Party have always understood matters most in our outreach – not us, who are after all only public servants, but the people who we are meant to serve. There is no possibility of being able to solve problems if we don’t know what it is that you need from your local and state governments. So I’m glad to hear that our candidates here today have spent the first leg of campaign season on the ground and listening to what is needed in your communities and in your lives; what we now aim to do is present solutions to those needs and problems that will work for Vermonters of all stripes and for the Main Streets of Saint Albans and Rutland and Newport and Barre. I’ve said before that government works better the closer it is to those who it serves – when there is a face to the different policies that emanate from Nyman, from New York City, or from Montpelier, and when these policies have their roots in the communities they are meant to help and in the ideas and problems presented by the hardworking people therein, rather than being imposed from above. That’s what we’ve been striving for in every government we head, and what we will strive for here: full transparency on our legislators’ votes and policies and implementations; a dedication to plans that put the people and communities of Vermont first; working with all parties and saying no to partisan politics, as our constituents deserve from the people they elect to work for them.

Saint Albans doesn’t have to be a political and economic terminus. The people of Vermont don’t have to be left out of consideration and languishing at the end of the line. The Federalist Party and its candidates have and always have had a one hundred per cent commitment to the needs of Atlasia’s communities. And here to expand on that: please welcome a leader in state affairs, a successful force behind the state’s rededication to government transparency, and your next state senator!

[Joseph Cao]

[As part of a concerted outreach effort in urban and suburban areas of the state, the New Jersey Federalist Party organized a series of virtual town halls and fundraising calls by candidates for the state legislature, to be augmented by livestreamed speeches delivered to limited audiences with enforced mask-wearing and social distancing. The Federalist gubernatorial candidate gave a speech of his own from campaign headquarters in Hoboken urging like-minded citizens to get their families and communities out to vote, which was followed shortly thereafter by Representative Cao's own speech from an event near the Elizabeth River. A transcript of the speech is provided below.]

Good evening to you all, Elizabeth! Thank you all for making it here today, and I certainly hope you’re taking the additional bit of trouble to wear your masks and stay socially distanced. That includes those of you watching this online, by the way! It’s the least we can ask of you all on a daily basis while the pandemic remains a constant threat to public health and to the livelihoods of all of us gathered here. National crises such as these are extraordinarily pervasive, but this one is even more so, and it is a testament to Atlasians that in our daily goings-about we’re doing our best to live around it, as it were.

And as with national crises of the past, this one has also seen a profusion of people whose rightness and foresight have been thoroughly vindicated by the turn of events and who will happily let you and everyone else within earshot know about it. For people of a certain disposition, who I can truthfully say are not limited to any one party, this in turn leads to much ado about how everyone else needs to fall in line behind whatever vision or policy has been proven right. In the past few months alone we’ve heard no end of this on social media and in regular media – this is a World War II moment, the Atlasian people must mobilize, it’s time for the politics to end and for everyone to come together behind a common goal, et cetera ad infinitum. Implicit in all this, of course, is that this noble goal around which we should rally is usually whatever pet goal the rally-rouser has in mind. And I’ve made no secret of my thoughts on wartime rhetoric, its overuse even in times of comparative peace, and its generally overstretched bounds.

I want to talk more about that last line, which has made a comeback as it does during every moment of crisis, and so will assuredly be back in the near future as Atlasia heads into an ever more uncertain future on multiple fronts. The idea that “now is the time for politics to end” preys on the image most ordinary people have of politics as a mud-wrestling blame game. But it is an approach that fundamentally misunderstands the role politics plays in our form of government. While Atlasia may technically be a constitutional republic, we are unquestionably a nation founded on democratic values: not least among them, the self-evident truths that all of us are created equal and that we are endowed with certain inalienable rights – of which the very first to be enumerated in the Constitution is the right to express ourselves and our opinions. People disagree with each other, as I’m sure you’ll agree. The discussion and debate that make up the heart of politics are essential to the way our government runs and the way policies are constructed in Nyman and in the regions.

Atlasia is a big region and is possessed of a political granularity that’s been remarked upon many times. Just here in New Jersey we have hardcore conservatives like Daniel G., moderate Federalists like former Rep. Pessimistic Antineutrino, centrists like former VP Kingpoleon and Councillor Ninja, mainstream liberals like Speaker S019, and avowed leftists like former Councillor cookiedamage. Here, as with states and regions all across Atlasia, is the answer to why this “time for politics to end” drivel never succeeds. We have had disagreements about how to respond to national crises before and we will have them again. It is obviously a goal of mine and of others to keep such disagreements civil, and to recognize that those with whom we disagree are fellow citizens and deserving of respect. But nevertheless, because we are not and never have been a homogenous nation, the differences persist. And the beauty of the Atlasian experiment is that it enables us to work through those differences in a manner unparalleled for its time, and which remains an inspiration to principalities and powers around the world today.

To those gathered here today, those with whom we agree and those with whom we may not, I say that we welcome such differences. We will work through our disagreements, and we will make use of the wealth of diversity in our own party and with our colleagues across the aisle in the state legislature to make the best decisions we can for New Jersey. And we’re counting on the citizens of New Jersey to do likewise. The Federalist Party’s ideological diversity has enabled us to pass and implement policies at all levels of government that benefit ordinary citizens and their communities; our candidates for office here likewise span the spectrum of Atlasian politics. Here to talk about their shared values in spite of their not inconsiderable ideological differences, please welcome two of your next state senators!

[Joseph Cao]

[Representative Cao made a trip to western Vermont at the request of Burlington’s Federalist leaders, who joined in organizing a Zoom fundraiser in town before letting the Representative and local candidates for the state House and Senate pay a visit to Grand Isle County and its leading towns. Among these were a stop in the town of North Hero located out on Lake Champlain, where he delivered the speech reprinted below.]

Good afternoon, Vermonters! Glad to see everyone here continuing to wear your masks and all the rest of it, even as I’m sure the proximity to a great lake (though not officially a Great Lake) and that fresh breeze coming in at this very moment is doing wonders for your immune systems. It’s great to be – can we get a check on this microphone? Yep. There we go. Thank you very much.

Anyway, to continue. It’s great to be out here on Lake Champlain today, near the site of one of the finest moments in our own War for Independence. You all are well acquainted with the course of events during the failed British campaign in this area, I’m sure, so I won’t bore you all too much with a retelling. I do want to note that if things had gone differently at the time, if the British had succeeded, the entire course of the war would have been altered. Being near the site of one of the inflection points of the war really throws its repercussions and legacies into relief, and also serves as a reminder of why the war was fought in the first place. It has to be emphasized that our Revolutionary War was one of the first to be triggered by an idea and a philosophy of the world that was fundamentally at odds with what the British (and the rest of the world, really) considered to be viable. But it was the brainchild of some of the finest thinkers of their generation, who during the war – a war over an idea of what the thirteen colonies could be – also proved to be able strategists, proved willing to fight and die for an idea, and  in the aftermath proved themselves fully capable of getting a nation founded on an idea to its feet. Our politicians today may not loom anywhere near as large as the Founders did in their time, but we at the Federalist Party likewise realize that a set of animating principles can prove to be the linchpin (or Lynch-pin, if you will) that holds together a group of public servants, gives them the drive to get things done for this nation and its citizens, and supplies those accomplishments with a proper philosophical framework that lets them stand the test of time and last for future generations. We’ve tried to keep to that goal since our founding; and since then we’ve brought policies and changes to Vermont and to other states all across Atlasia that lift up the common man and woman, those in the city and those in the country, marginalized communities of all sizes and shapes – that give them and their communities the chance to flourish.

So we’ve covered the past; let’s get to the present. Lake Champlain may loom large in our national history, but for you all there are also practicalities and issues that come with living on a lake. It’s been on the receiving end of a host of problems. The recent low precipitation has been lowering water levels in rivers across Western Vermont that drain into the lake, and there’s been consequences for its wildlife. Part of that wildlife is also under threat from chemicals that drain into the lakes and rivers of the Champlain Valley – pesticides and chlorine-treated water being particularly egregious offenders. And other lakes across Vermont and the nation, most of them less illustrious than this one, are falling victim to the same forces. This state of affairs can’t be allowed to stand. Every civilization has held a reverence for nature and the environment that gave them what they needed to survive. Our modern society has surely lost some of that gratitude, and as citizens, we all have a responsibility to do what we can and take what small steps we can manage in order to preserve our lakes, our rivers, and our environment. And as for us, the officeholders who you have the power to elect, we have additional responsibilities to go with that additional power: to stand up to corporations who generate the majority of air and water pollution, to oversee efforts to restore habitats, and to work with the scientists and workers who know best how to get about it.

The Federalist Party stands ready to protect Lake Champlain and other lakes across Vermont and Lincoln and Atlasia. We stand ready to protect and to preserve and to defend not just the people and communities of Vermont, but their environments as well. Nothing lasting happens without a favorable environment, as the Founders made skilful use of, and none of the plans we have for Vermont can get off the ground without an environment of trust. The day to determine that environment is approaching. Let’s push forward and create a better economic, social, and natural environment for all – and here to explain how she aims to do that, please welcome a longtime advocate of preserving Vermont’s natural beauty, a pioneer of sustainable approaches in managing Lake Champlain’s drainage system, and your next state representative!

[Joseph Cao]

[Representative Cao was introduced at a masked and socially distanced rally for the Federalist gubernatorial candidate in Bennington by the local town manager, who was in turn introduced by a number of state senators for southern Vermont. A transcript of his speech is reproduced below.]

Thank you for that fine speech, Mr. Manager! And I’m greatly honored to be here in Bennington today. Folks, thank you very much for coming out here to listen to us this fine afternoon, and thank you for keeping up the mask-wearing and social distancing; it is a mark of your willingness as civic-minded citizens to listen and to critically weigh the various campaigns up here around the state in preparation for making your decision at the ballot box just a week from now.

We’re glad you’re stepping up, and I can tell you that we the officeholders you elected are also stepping up in turn: your town manager over here, who’s graciously welcomed all of us today, has been able to implement a new Strategic Economic Development Plan for the entire local area as part of his work on the Bennington Economic Development Partners. Local workers and local businesses can now reap the benefits of folks like your town manager’s hard work in keeping big corporations from taking over the town economy. This, folks, is the party of Main Street values! And we say to you all that if he and other Federalists are able to take the state House this October, we are ready to hit the ground running and give the small businesses of this great state the opportunity to flourish as they never have before.

And look, COVID is still dominating our lives. That’s not something that’s up for debate. But Atlasia is nothing if not resilient and we will be able to get through this if we continue to keep our fellow citizens in mind, keep their health and their wellbeing and their humanity in mind, and act accordingly. That means keeping in mind the safety of your high-risk neighbors and friends and family. It means giving what courtesies you can to these people to protect them and protect all of us, keeping six feet away, washing your hands, staying as healthy as possible, not placing others at risk by congregating as little as possible. The severity of this disease has been impressed upon all of us. Its impact on our lives has been equally devastating, particularly so for the underprivileged and the marginalized. But what we ordinary citizens can do, what I’ve mentioned above, can go a long way towards helping the nation recover. The responsibilities falling to doctors and medical staff and essential workers as the primary ones facing the pandemic head-on are those that strictly depend on their role – and as for us officeholders, if falls to us to support them and give them space to do what they need to do.

Whatever else Franklin Roosevelt may have said, he hit the nail exactly on the head when he told the nation just under ninety years ago that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself. The fear experienced by the ordinary citizens across Atlasia, the working men and women who wake up each day not sure if they’ll survive, is not rational. That is entirely natural! “Nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror” is old as time and has been remarked upon by many, many people in various forms – not least of all North Bennington’s own famous daughter, Shirley Jackson. Jackson’s stories and novels are, for the most part, not about external threats. The ghost in every story of hers lurks within the readers’ own minds. We in Atlasia, however, are fully aware of the limitations that have been set in place, and I hope you all over the past months have become better aware of what you can do to stay safe and help to bring our country over the hump. We still fear, that is true. But if that fear can motivate us to be on our guard – if the paralyzing effects of that fear can be ameliorated by hope for a better future – if each of us can rise beyond the depths into which this “nameless terror” seeks to drag our nation and its citizens, and to look out for our fellow citizens to offer them the help they need – then, Atlasia, I am fully confident that the common men and women of this nation will get through this long national moment of crisis.

And it falls to us public servants gathered here today to do so as well, for the citizens we represent in our public capacity as well as for ourselves in our personal capacity. It falls to us now to tell you all exactly what we seek to do to combat this crisis, and to do that, Bennington, I invite you all to give your best welcome to a fighter for communities like Bennington all over the state; a fine public servant with an accomplished record; your next Governor of Vermont!

[Joseph Cao]

Rallies will be socially distanced with masks mandatory. Masks will be handed out at the door for those without. Temperature checks will be taken upon entry.

Rally in Arlington, TX

Hello, Arlington!

Some folks seem to equate concern for an overarching big government as a direct critique of their own party. This critique is well taken because the governing party in Nyman recognizes that it is the party of big government and history has shown us that big government grows more oppressive the more powerful it becomes.

We know that our party, the Federalist Party, is the party of guns and the party of gun owners. Our party is the party of hunters, the party of sportsmen, and the party of safe use and care of guns. Our party is more unified in favor of your gun rights than the majority party because we recognize that this is a fundamental freedom of the people. As some folks say, the right to guns protects all other rights. God-willing, it will never come to that, and the way we prevent that outcome is by voting. Our vote is our first defense against tyranny. A vote for your local Federalists is a vote for a reasonably-sized federal government, paired with an empowered regional government.

Vote for freedom and liberty, vote Federalist! Thank you, Arlington!

Thank you for them fightin’ words, Westy! And thank you, Arlington, for having us here – keep masking up, keep socially distancing as you all are doing now! Folks, I just want to mention that the both of us are going to be on your ballot in just over a week’s time. So if you want a pair of listening ears and careful hands who will fight for your concerns and your needs in the House, I urge you to vote for the both of us – and for others up and down the ballot who will likewise be a representative for every Atlasian, whether liberal or conservative or in between!

Now, I’m not the first person most would think of when associating politicians with the South. Still, I am a federally elected representative who was sent to the People’s House by a coalition of Atlasians that is not bounded by any state or region; I have a concern for my constituents and for their wellbeing and have both introduced and supported legislation that will alleviate some of the problems ordinary citizens like yourself face each day. And I want to point out something in the messages that have been on the air recently. It is Labor’s right, of course, to seek your support. But I hope I can make the case for why that message is somewhat flawed despite its undoubtedly good intentions, and why the Federalists will continue to fight for you and you only.

Positive government action has been considered something of an oxymoron by certain people to my right. I do have to say, however, that while I categorically reject that hyperbolic characterization, the role of government in Atlasian society continues to be something that only the Federalist Party has consistently gotten right even as we fix infrastructure, get COVID relief to the people, lower taxes, fight for a transition towards clean energy that doesn’t leave anyone behind, provide support for Atlasians’ childcare, and more besides. From our founding, we have recognized the crucial role the states and regions play in administering the people of this great nation, far more informed about each locality’s idiosyncrasies than the federal government could ever be by virtue of being far closer to ordinary citizens on the ground. And we recognize that the role and structure of government helps to make these wonderful policies you hear about more practical, more workable, and better and fairer for all Atlasians. The bicameralism, the rules and unspoken structures of legislative debate, the checks and balances in our federal government: all of these were put in place explicitly to slow down the process of “getting things done” in order to allow reasoned and constructive debate to be held. Such debate produces far better policy that has input from people of all political persuasions.

And we Federalists have resisted efforts toward governmental streamlining – to switch to unicameralism, say, or to bypass the legislature’s role in the legislative process – because we understand that such moves, no matter how much they are accompanied by assurances that this is only necessary to get more and better legislation through more quickly for the good of the people, ultimately accomplish exactly the opposite. Governing is difficult, and this is partly because it was designed to be so. But such a system was set up because the last thing the Founding Fathers (those of America and those of Atlasia) wanted was for governing to turn into ruling. The people invariably suffer when more power and more agency is concentrated in one place. This nation was founded upon the notion that a decentralized system of government could succeed in spite of all contemporary evidence to the contrary; that we would now move back towards the form of governing we categorically rejected several times is a slight to what ordinary Atlasians past and present have metaphorically and literally fought for. What we Federalists have managed to do, and what I’m proud of, is to still be able to deliver results for you good folks – healthcare, infrastructure, clean energy – while doing our best to preserve the institutions and the principles that have driven this nation since its inception.

So having made the case for ourselves and for the agency of you the people, we hope you all can do your duty as citizens of this nation: to be a reasoned and informed participant in the democratic process with an eye towards fighting for what is best for you, your neighbor, your family, and your community. We do our best in what we do in our own constitutionally defined roles: to fight for the people and for the nation. Now, people of Arlington, inhabitants of Texas, citizens of Atlasia, it falls to you to do likewise and make the best choices you can. We wish you all the best of luck.

[Joseph Cao]

[Representative Cao made a visit to Pittsfield, Vermont, for a day of reaching out to some of Lincoln’s voters as part of his House and Senate bids and in support of a number of promising candidates for the state House and Senate. A transcript of the livestreamed speech he gave at the masked and socially distanced event is reproduced below.]

Hello, Pittsfield! It’s an honor to be here today, just one week out from a number of important elections that you responsible citizens are going to have to make some decisions on. Now it happens, as you just heard your good state representative say, that I am running for reelection to the House and also for Lincoln Senate – so take that, and take my work for your communities; for the citizens of Vermont and of Atlasia, into consideration as you go about your own business during the coming week. Regardless of which party you support, get out and vote! Your public servants are best served when you citizens express your intentions and your needs through the ballot box in as large numbers as possible. Of course, make sure you stay safe while you’re doing that! Mask up, social distance, vote by mail if you’re in the high-risk category. We want you to keep safe just as we care for our nation’s social, economic, and constitutional wellbeing.

We know things like these aren’t always easy and that external threats to our daily lives and futures aren’t always adequately guarded against. And for you all, Pittsfield, climate change is just as much of an everpresent threat as the coronavirus is; this town’s history has seen it flooded out multiple times, most recently and devastatingly during Hurricane Irene when Route 100 was flooded and you were cut off from everyone else for days. The decreasingly gradual aberrations in an increasingly volatile climate have very real consequences. They can cause untold amounts of devastation: not just here in Pittsfield; not just here in Vermont; but all over Lincoln and Atlasia and the world. They can cut others off from their friends and family, from their livelihoods; and all it might take is simply for one little road, the only way into town, to become impassable. They can remould the physical and economic and personal geography of our communities for years to come. Like COVID-19, this is absolutely not a threat to be taken lightly. Unlike COVID-19, this is not something that can be isolated even as its isolating effects have made themselves known here in Pittsfield and elsewhere; we’re already experiencing its effects across the nation.

Look, this is personal for me as well. My home, not to mention the homes of my family and friends, was flooded out by Hurricane Katrina and many of my possessions were lost in the devastation that attended our city. Higher ground was desperately needed, then as now. But our community understood that material possessions can be replaced, and the miracle of it was that the really irreplaceable things – the ties that bound us together, that enabled us to come together as one body to fix what we had and retrieve what we lost – got our community through the catastrophe and its aftermath. And it pushed our little community of small business owners, fishermen, poor folks and middle-class folks, both during and after the fact, to be more vocal as a community and to stand up and make ourselves and our needs and interests heard. It has also pushed myself and others in the Federalist Party to prioritize combating this continual and growing threat, to lessen the impact it’s already taking on communities all across Atlasia, and to do all this while continuing to give those communities the autonomy and the space to fight climate change on their strengths. Because our values are what makes us a party that continues to speak up for the value of regionalism, of recognizing and encouraging the success of Main Street having far more to offer this nation than Wall Street, and of the good that Atlasians have done and can still do independently of what the government does. And we will use those irreplaceable things, these values of ours that bind us together, to lift you all up as best as we can – to get this state and this nation to higher ground.

We want you all to stand up and make your voices heard, just as my own did all those years ago. We encourage you to take stock of what you need, what your family needs, what your community needs, and listen to those of your fellow citizens who have answered the call of duty and run for office. One of them running for the state Senate this month is here with us today, one of your own local daughters, a first-time candidate, brimming with ideas and experience at taking on such threats on behalf of her community; Pittsfield, it’s my pleasure to now invite you all to give a warm welcome to your next state senator!

[Joseph Cao]

[To conclude an afternoon of campaign events and get-out-the-vote operations across northeastern Vermont, Representative Cao accompanied a number of Federalist state legislators and candidates to Newport for a livestreamed rally at which seating was limited and masks and social distancing were mandated for public health reasons. The speech is reproduced below.]

Thank you for that exceptional speech, Senator! And a very good evening to you, Newport! It’s getting dark and the wind is picking up, but I can still see that you all are taking pains to stay masked up and six feet apart. Good to know my eyesight isn’t failing! Then again, even if it was, I saw an excellent optician’s while passing through the middle of town. This really is a town that leaves no stone unturned for its citizens; or, if you prefer, a community with something for everyone.

Though Newport does happen to be a community with something for everyone in more ways than one. Orleans County is an economic melting pot, but it’s also something of a paradoxical scene: among the highest rates in Vermont of poverty and unemployment and of second home ownership. Now no doubt there is some reason for that last statistic given your inexpensive rental housing – for which we must thank your Federalist city manager’s competence and foresight, by the way – but it nevertheless shows that this little corner of the state is home to a broad cross-section of our nation’s economic walks of life, from people struggling to get by at the best of times to people who remain in a generally comfortable position at the worst of times. And so in the midst of this huge economic and social and total upheaval from the pandemic, I want to say today that the Federalist Party at all its levels is looking to communities like Newport and others across Orleans County as ground zero for how best to get all our citizens across that broad socioeconomic cross-section out of the hole that we’ve all been plunged into. Candidates before me have elaborated on some of their plans in this regard, and candidates after me will continue to do so – and given their proximity to the ground, I think everyone is better served if I leave them to make use of their experience and their expertise in this area. Suffice it to say that I hope you all gathered here and you all watching online come away from this event with a better understanding of your candidate’s economic plans – which are, of course, all laid out on their websites as well.

And as we’ve stressed before, no part of policy can be considered in isolation. In the case of economic policy, we must of course consider the massive distortion and strain that COVID-19 continues to exert on the economy, and precisely how all our grand plans on this front can come to fruition while ordinary Atlasians’ livelihoods continue to be inhibited by the threat of the virus. So we Federalists at all levels of government – myself, your own Lincoln Councillor Brother Jonathan, your gubernatorial candidate and all your state House and state Senate candidates gathered here today – also continue to devote our energies and our votes to supporting our medical workers and providing relief to whichever communities it’s needed in. Still, it should be noted that on a purely human level we officeholders are just as powerless to prevent infection or guard against COVID or make our patients well again as any other ordinary citizen. To beat this crisis, our citizens need to step up en masse; and what we’ve seen, what has made us all immensely proud, has been you Atlasian citizens as a whole, doing just that. Masking up even in the absence of mask mandates; closing your businesses even before and after the duration of lockdown orders in your state; continuing to educate yourselves about this crisis and adapting to it in the good old timeless ingenious American fashion – that, more than anything we poor few officeholders can do to personally prevent the spread of the virus, is what will get us through this intact and ready to spring to greater heights.

Communities like Newport, similar ones all over Vermont and all over Atlasia, and their people who live in them quite literally hold the power of life and death in their hands. Of course, we officeholders live in communities as well. So even as we affirm the good judgement that you folks have made through the crisis and everything else that’s been thrown at you in this pig of a year, and as we continue to urge you all to exert that good judgement in all your daily doings and at the ballot box next week, we’ll likewise continue to fulfill our constitutional duties and make use of the leadership you give us and others. And as I yield the stage to a worthy candidate and a man fully deserving of election to the state House, I would like to express my hope that in the remainder of this event we can convince you that we are the right ones for the jobs to which we seek application – in the House, in the Senate, in the governor's, in the state legislature – to which, moreover, you also have the power of approval or rejection through your vote. Let’s make good use of it.

[Joseph Cao]

[As part of his own reelection campaign to the House and campaign for the Senate, and to support Federalist state legislative candidates and the gubernatorial candidate in Vermont, Representative Cao joined a small masked and socially distanced gathering of candidates and ordinary citizens at a livestreamed public town hall in Montpelier to discuss Federalist policies at the state level, before proceeding to a general event across town which likewise adhered to public health guidelines. The gubernatorial candidate opened the event with an exhortation for all Vermonters to maintain an open political mindset during and after the election, a sentiment echoed in the speech transcribed below.]

Montpelier! It’s great to be back out here again on the trail among you all. I’m delighted to have had a productive roundtable meeting earlier today with some of you good citizens regarding ways to get our local small businesses and workers out of this economic rut, just as I’m sure our candidates here tonight are only too glad for the much-needed input from you all. We as officeholders and as a party benefit from your speaking up; the closer we are and the more feedback we can have at every step of policymaking, the more we all benefit. Every single one of the policies you’ve heard proposed by your local candidates for the state legislature are the products of roundtables and discussions and meetings like the one this afternoon, and I hope you all gathered here today and you all watching this online can see for yourself what we’ve promised all along – the Federalist Party of Vermont will work with and for all Vermonters.

We really do mean all Vermonters; it’s something we’ve always tried to do in light of the politically divided climate we find ourselves in. I’m sure you’ve all seen poll numbers that have the Liberals, the Federalists, Labor, and the Democratic Alliance in something close to a statistical dead heat. A lot of these town halls and meetings have featured voters and questioners with whom we don’t share a party affiliation. It is a mark of Vermonters’ niceness that even the loudest partisans we’ve met have been unfailingly polite and willing to have a reasonable and respectful dialogue on the issues! Anyway, we as candidates have also done a pretty good job of responding to all the questions we’ve gotten regardless of which side of the political aisle they came from. And we’ll continue to do the same for you all if our fine public servants here tonight are able to report for duty in the Capitol across town in a fortnight’s time. I want to be clear that we have our convictions – there’s no denying that policy-wise for any of our candidates or for our future governor here. We will act on our proposed platforms, particularly so when, as with most of our policies thus far, you the people are in agreement.

Still, there are other considerations that tie into what we as leaders and publicly elected officials have a duty to do. It is peculiarly seductive for some politicians to tell their most loyal constituents what they want to hear. But it harms all of them, and all of us, when they tell people that at the expense of what all their fellow-citizens (regardless of party) need to hear. For a public officeholder to focus overly on the voters who already agree with them is to push that officeholder a little further down the path of pushing aside all the others who they serve: other constituents; the rest of the nation that doesn’t agree with their views; even the Constitution itself, which, as you’ll notice, says nothing about any political parties or ideologies. For voters to continue driving this dynamic is to help push our citizenry apart as people gather in their respective ideological corners. It doesn’t take much of this for reasoned political debate to devolve into hatefulness, and as was mentioned at the presidential debate earlier, that is a red line which shouldn’t be crossed.

Feedback loops of this sort are seductive, of course. Why engage with people who drain you of energy through argument when you can retreat to the comfortable circle of friends who will back up everything you say? But that’s a gross distortion of the concept of friendship, as I’m sure you all will agree. Friends are not there to be cheerleaders for whatever you say or do. A friend or anyone else who truly cares about your wellbeing will step in if they see you going astray or settling into tendencies that are destructive in nature. Rather than do what ideological friends are obligated to do, these feedback loops instead amplify our worst attributes and fracture this nation further. Political officeholders swear an oath to the Constitution, to preserve and defend the nation, and to serve their constituents. And they go against the tenets of that oath when they do what is most convenient for them personally, rather than what the nation, their constituents, and the Constitution deserve.

Listening to the concerns of our ideological opposites, treating them with the same courtesy and listening ear as we would our ideological compatriots, is something that benefits us all. I know I’ve done my best to do that in my time as a Representative, as have my fellow candidates for the House this weekend. I'll do my best to do that if you decide to elect me to the Senate. I know our good state legislative candidates and gubernatorial candidate have done that in the time they’ve spent across this beautiful state coming into contact – six feet apart, of course – with voters of all political stripes. And I know that you citizens can do that as well: listen to your neighbors, those with whom you may justifiably disagree, and treat them with the courtesy they deserve as a fellow Vermonter, a fellow citizen of Lincoln and of Atlasia, and a fellow human being. Thank you for your willingness to listen, Montpelier, and please join me in welcoming a fine public servant and fine person who has served you all well magnificently regardless of your ideology – your next state senator!

[Joseph Cao]

[Immediately following the election, Representative Cao was in central Vermont continuing to campaign on behalf of the Vermont Federalist Party, which took advantage of party leaders' activity by organizing a series of Zoom fundraising sessions. The following speech was given in Barre, where the Representative had been asked to introduce the Federalist gubernatorial candidate.]

Good afternoon, Barre. Thank you all for keeping your masks on, and thank you all for showing up at the polls last weekend for the federal and regional elections! And I really do mean that. I know many of you probably voted for others on the same ballot, but my campaigns have always been about reaching out to the voters who I serve in our nation’s capital and hearing what they have to say. The more people make their voices heard, the more who come out and speak up for what they need and what they believe in, the better we are as a nation. The more we get to know about the issues that affect your daily lives, the better equipped we are to have a useful conversation with you all in shaping new policies that can solve these questions or alleviate these problems. So thank you all for coming out, and while our region hasn’t seen quite the same level of turnout as it had two months ago, I’m very glad we got to hear from many of you out on the trail about what you’d like to see on the political scene going forward.

Now, as with two months ago, there was some controversy surrounding a number of invalidated ballots, and this is rather a concerning issue – though not precisely for the reasons you might expect. What happened was certainly not something that ought to be encouraged by parties or individual leaders or anyone else, much less carried out once or even two election cycles in a row. It was arguably a distortion of the affected voters’ voices with all that that entails. I’m sure you’ve all heard these arguments ad nauseam, though, so I won’t dwell on it; certainly both sides of the argument have made themselves more than adequately heard.  But in the course of that debate, it was put forward by several officeholders that the morality or ethicality of such actions was of no concern. Now, of course, they are correct from a legal point of view; not everything unethical is necessarily illegal, and in the eyes of the law that distinction is what ultimately matters. As it should! The legal system works as it does for a reason: not as a final arbiter of what is right and wrong, which would subordinate our justice system to subjective concerns that might vary widely between different arbiters of the law, but instead to ensure that a maximally impartial verdict is delivered to all concerned citizens.

But the ethicality of the officeholder is, for precisely that reason, the furthest thing from irrelevant. The fact that there must be some other moral determinant aside from the law, to which we can point when the legal process emerges with a verdict that releases the “obviously guilty” person on insufficient evidence or sentences the “obviously innocent” person on evidence that says otherwise, is paramount in the rest of our many, many daily actions that do not consciously involve the law. Lady Justice is not literally blind; she does not have her eyes gouged out; she merely wears a blindfold, and so she still has powers of sight that must nevertheless be subordinated to the requirements of the legal framework within which she operates. We public officeholders may operate mostly within the bounds of the metaphorical blindfold that our positions impose upon us. Yet as humans and as fellow citizens with just as valuable a vote as the rest of you, we also have the same eyesight you all possess. We may or may not choose to use them, and that is our choice. But I would argue that acting as though that eyesight doesn’t exist, that the spirit of the law does not matter at all, deals a blow even to the act of following the letter of the law.

There is a public impulse to common courtesy and decency which transcends the religious bounds the Founding Fathers were all too aware of. Moreover, their ruminations on the effectiveness of our system of government – particularly that famous essay of John Adams’ – are explicitly predicated on the innate morality of the Atlasian people; people who will do to others as they would have others do to them; people who by and large understand that their fellow citizens are just as deserving of all that our nation has to offer as they themselves do. When we holders of the public trust or we citizens go against that, particularly when it is done deliberately and with full knowledge of the consequences, the ties that bind society together and allow it to function are inevitably weakened. When national leaders openly embrace the idea that nobody has morals and nobody deserves to act as though they still matter, it deals a correspondingly large blow to the bonds of trust upon which our nation runs; including, I may say, those upon which we in Congress and the regional legislatures depend in order to gather together as one body and argue over the issues in good faith as duly elected representatives of the people. People who see politics as a zero-sum game where the ends justify the means are arguably not in it for the communities they claim to fight on behalf of, but rather for whatever burst of adrenaline they get from sucking the moral lifeblood out of our body politic and leaving a soulless legal framework behind to be exploited and loopholed to death.

I and others on the campaign trail here in Vermont have talked a lot this past month about what we Federalists have done, are doing, and can still do: for the sick and the needy and the high-risk, for the struggling small businesses and the people who wake up each day not knowing if they’ll be able to get through this, for the environment and the million and one public facilities that most people use without a second thought. As we’ve also said, we recognize the similar goals being pursued by other parties who likewise care about our nation and its citizens, and we’re more than ready to work with them in legislatures here in Vermont and in other states across Atlasia. But I think what we have – the Federalist Party of Vermont, and by extension that of Lincoln – in our understanding that the process matters just as much as the results; the means just as much as the ends; the wellbeing of our nation’s social and constitutional fabric just as much as the wellbeing of its citizens; is what ultimately sets us apart as the party of all Atlasians: those ahead and those left behind, all of whom are affected by the little things and words and deeds that do still matter.

All the fine candidates with me on stage tonight recognize this, and all of them are eminently fit to tackle not just the problems still facing your communities, but also the problems with respect to either side of this series of dichotomies. It is now my pleasure to introduce a dedicated public servant who has pursued solutions to both of these for most of her life in and around her community, her county, and the state. A warm welcome, please, for your next Governor!

[Joseph Cao]

[Soon after leaving Barre in the afternoon, Representative Cao returned to Saint Albans at the request of a state representative and state senator serving the region, and was invited to a general event in the town which followed a town hall question-and-answer session by the state legislators. A transcript of the speech given at the livestreamed, masked, and socially distanced event is provided below.]

Why, thank you for that fine speech, Senator. It is a great pleasure to be back here in Saint Albans on this lovely evening, and especially so when you all have been a shining example of civic participation so recently – I was just reading a report in today's Messenger that this county had one of the highest rates of turnout in the nation for the recent federal election. Now, if you all could keep that up this weekend and get out to vote for the candidates who have consistently prioritized citizen input, community outreach, and policies that benefit all Vermonters, that would be great!

I’m confident you’ll be able to do that; your history in this area goes back a long way, as I spent a nice quiet hour learning for myself in the local library just now. This has been a border city almost since its founding and I wouldn’t be surprised if most of you could claim ancestors from the other side of the border. Your state senator, who’s just given that excellent speech of his, is himself descended from an immigrant family who crossed over from Canada, and he recognizes the value of the chance offered to those ancestors of his – hence the bill he’s recently introduced in the state Senate to protect the status of this great state’s immigrant workers and speed up the naturalization process for them. We Federalists are very much aware of the integral role that immigration has played not just in Vermont’s history, economy, and social fabric, but also those of Atlasia at large – and we will do what we can, here in the state government and in other levels of government around the country, to ensure they can continue making extensive and beneficial contributions to the nation. And if you’re ever curious about your specific candidate’s policies on immigration or anything else, we’re always keen to answer your questions as we just did earlier with the town hall, and they’re more than adequately laid out on the candidates' websites. So go check them out! Voters deserve to make the best and most informed choice possible so that the leaders you elect can speak accurately and effectively for the communities they represent.

Now, obviously, that history cuts both ways. Saint Albans happened to be the site of the northernmost battle of the Civil War, a skirmish by Confederate rebels from across the Canadian border. All things considered, the rebels clearly won that battle – and yet it is something of a small miracle that the full extent of their plans, which included burning the city down, did not come to pass. It seems, from what that excellent museum across town says of the raid, that they carried defective incendiary bottles which failed to ignite. I bring this up now because it happens that I unknowingly visited that museum on the anniversary date of the battle, and that detail stuck with me. It seems to offer a cautionary tale of sorts for something we are now in danger of facing. Obviously, and very thankfully, we are not in a Civil War or anything close to it. But people do not need to take up arms in order to be actively hostile towards each other, especially so when they and their fellow citizens disagree over some incendiary issue or another. My feeling, over the past several election cycles, has been one of foreboding at whether or not we are heading further down that road; it really would not take much for something to explode onto the national conversation with the potential to divide families and communities along political lines. But, if I’m being honest, I refuse to believe a single disagreement alone can do that sort of damage – our unions, the ties that bind us together, what unites us rather than divides us, etc. etc., are stronger than that. For such a wholesale breaking point to be reached, there would need to be some deeply layered existing tissue of previous disagreements, one piling upon the other, each taken less in the spirit of constructive debate and more in the spirit of destructive hate, until finally an issue comes along to break the proverbial camel’s back of our national union. We saw that with the Civil War, of course, and the decades of mounting distrust that eventually lead to the breaking point which launched one of the bloodiest wars in our history. We have the benefits of history and of hindsight, and anything which pits our citizens against each other should not be allowed to metastasize to the point where we become blinded by distrust and hate for our fellow Atlasians.

So how can we do that? I mentioned in Barre that our leaders have a responsibility to conduct themselves in a manner mindful of their ability to affect the national consciousness. But leaders are only one part of the national conversation. Whether or not these destructive tendencies take root among the general population is up to those who make up the general population; they are exactly as powerful as you citizens allow them to be. You all are the incendiary bottles that, if lighted, have the ability to burn the Atlasian community to the ground. As responsible citizens, when you debate the issues with your neighbors and friends and those in your community, feel free to disagree – that is entirely justifiable. But when you justify it, be sure to keep in mind that it is possible to debate the issues without degrading each other; we can disagree without hating each other; and no matter who “wins” or “loses” the argument, or the election, or whatever new front some people want to open in the battle for the soul of Atlasia, we must strive to work together. By definition, there are no solutions on a battlefield, so let’s not treat politics as one – and let’s do our best to find solutions to the problems that plague us all. Saint Albans, I wish you the very best of luck in this endeavor, and now please welcome a state and regional leader in the mold of Coolidge and of Roosevelt, a quiet legislator who commands the immense respect of her colleagues and wields a big stick for the good of the communities she serves: your state representative!

[Joseph Cao]

Order of the Speaker

Using my power as Speaker, I have removed the following bills from the House queue:

Resolution to expel Thumb21 (Citizen – frivolous)
KANYE Act (Citizen – frivolous and impractical)
Labor Dictatorship Act (Citizen – frivolous)
Judiciary Reform Act (Citizen – frivolous)
Bane of Fhtagn Act of 2020 (Citizen – frivolous and impractical)
Making Things Run a Lot Faster Amendment (Citizen – frivolous and impractical)
Restoring Activity to Atlasia Amendment (Citizen – impractical)
Resolution to Condemn Rioting (Jessica – frivolous; not germane to Atlasian affairs)

Representatives have the right to challenge these decisions within the next 72 hours.

[Joseph Cao]

[Representative Cao spent Thursday morning in southern Vermont in the company of a number of candidates for the state legislature and at several meetings and roundtables with ordinary citizens from the Searsburg area, many of whom were later present (either in-person or virtually)for a livestreamed event in the town at which some detailed policy aims were laid out by the candidates ahead of voters’ decisions to be made on Election Day. A transcript of the Representative’s speech at the masked and socially distanced event is provided below.]

Hello there, Searsburg! Once again, thanks very much for having us here and for being good citizens – in the civic participation sense by coming out to listen to us, and in the public health sense by complying with the masking and social distancing regulations. It is of course the mark of a strong community spirit and of a deeply ingrained care for your fellow citizens when you consistently continue to go out of your way to take these precautions. From what I’ve seen of Searsburg, that is manifestly the case, and it is this sort of community spirit that leaves me convinced that you all will be able to see your fellow Vermonters through the multiple crises afflicting our nation regardless of who wins this weekend.

Your newly reelected Councillor, Brother Jonathan, just gave a fine speech in Burlington last week that only a Vermonter could have done as well as he did. And while I’m obviously not a Vermont native like he is, I would like to try and pick up the thread of his general argument, because there have been some things flying about in the national conversation that reflect on the race here for the state legislature and for the gubernatorial. We want to make sure you all get the full picture of what we in the Federalist Party will fight for if elected. You’ve already heard from a state House candidate who’s spoken about her plans to make Vermont’s criminal justice system a fairer one for all those involved in it, from another who gave his thoughts on Searsburg’s further potential for a renewable energy-driven local economy, and from one of your state senators who earlier this year proposed and helped to pass an innovative plan to keep Vermont’s small businesses afloat in the COVID era. So the policies that the Federalist Party aims to pursue in Vermont have been expanded upon by the many fine candidates who’ve spoken so far, but now I’d like to make a different sort of argument.

I crossed over to the wind farm just outside town earlier today to have a look at it, and I have to say the official who accompanied me was unfailingly polite and had a quick answer for all my questions about the plant and Searsburg’s future plans for more renewable energy projects. The impression I’ve gotten has been a firm commitment by this community and its fine citizens to clean energy, for which I believe a round of applause is in order. The candidates you see up here tonight all support advancing the course of renewable energy not just here in Bennington County, but all across the state. And why are we able to do this? That explanation must begin with Jonathan’s excellent point that this state is a fundamentally conservative state in the sense that you citizens possess a recognition of what has carried your state through its history, of where your strengths lie, and of how you can harness those strengths for a better future for the people and the state of Vermont. This characteristic is fundamentally derived from the strong sense of community that this – one of the oldest states in the union – has carefully nurtured over its long history.

Our candidates have borne in mind this long tradition of looking out for everyone in your communities, as they have amply demonstrated this month in their extensive efforts to reach out to their fellow citizens and try to determine local solutions that work for local needs and problems. Obviously this isn’t exclusive to Federalist candidates, as the Peace flyer I found on my table at lunch just now made clear. I’m quite sure, from the interactions we’ve had with Vermonters from across the aisle, that they are as dedicated to helping their communities as our own candidates are. But here is where the Federalists are set apart from other parties, in my opinion: we know quite well that Vermont’s disposition is towards preservation, towards a quiet marriage – the more effective for its lack of ostentatiousness – of progress with tradition, and towards solutions whose effectiveness is determined first and foremost by their performance at the level of communities and citizens. Our every event, every attempt at voter outreach, and every townhall and roundtable reflects the understanding that the officeholder is most effective when they approach the problems they’ve been set to solve as simply another citizen, and when they treat their fellow citizens as equals in the fight against poverty, against the pandemic, against threats to the environment, and against the creeping attempts to upend their communities. And you’ll know from all of this that whatever we do and whatever policies we pursue, be it wind turbines or small businesses or the need for better online learning, it will be solely based on local needs: on what the community your candidate hails from believes is the best solution or the best way forward.

There’s been a lot of wind blowing about on the national political scene. But for the reasons I’ve just outlined, you won’t catch me or any of the Federalist candidates here tonight contributing to it – and regardless of whether or not you elect thsm all this weekend, good citizens of Searsburg (though as a partisan I would strongly recommend you consider doing so, of course), I have every confidence that the incoming legislature will be able harness the extraordinary energy you ordinary people have showed, the energy that matters far more than what some politician or talking head or other thinks at any minute. And our Federalist candidates will do their very best to convert your needs and your energy into solutions that will benefit Vermonters of every political stripe. That is what we promise, here and now. Here to speak about this promise is an accomplished state legislator who has kept just that in his time in the state House, who is now aiming to bring it home in a tight race for the state Senate, and who I trust you will support this weekend just as fully as he has supported you throughout the entirety of his legislative career – Searsburg’s next state senator!

[Joseph Cao]

[A video, of which the following is a transcript, was posted to Representative Cao's social media and website on Friday morning with the hashtag #GoVote.]

Hey there, folks! I’m climbing Killington Peak at the moment, and it’s been taxing me rather more than I would care to admit. It’s Election Day tomorrow and I just wanted to get this message out – go vote!

The Federalist Party has been working hard with the people of Vermont this past month in putting together local solutions for the problems facing local communities. I don’t doubt that other parties are doing so as well. Regardless of your feelings about any party – go vote! It is the most important and the most far-reaching civic ability you have to affect what goes on in Vermont, in our fine region, and across this nation. And when you do it, it is a testament to the long tradition of our nation’s democracy and its implicit promise to all those who came to its shores seeking a better life. It is an ideal that we have fallen short time and time again in our history, but an ideal doesn’t rise or fall with the morality or lack thereof of the times. So we always get back up from whatever depths we’ve fallen to by remembering and restoring our commitment to the ideals that have sustained us thus far. We take a drink from the water bottle of our ideals, and we strive on towards fulfilling those ideals with renewed strength.

This doesn’t happen overnight. Our long national journey does not end after one election and people need to know that civic participation should not be limited to the last weekend in a month. And through the long stretches between voting, you take the time to educate yourself about the issues; to talk to your friends, your neighbors, your communities, and those all around you; to stand up for the issues you care about and make them known to your leaders, from the town council through the mayor, the state legislature, and on up. And with each vote you should remember that no process is over and done with – that like so many other things, the solutions and the policies that serve your communities need constant watering, that when the machinery of the law breaks down there must be a drive of human ideals, of morality, and of sheer persistence that fixes it and gets it up on its feet to live another day.

The path is often winding, often steeply uphill, and often strewn with the rocks and boulders of opposition and problems with whatever new policy is put into place. That is partly a function of the human condition and of how much of a struggle it was and is to sustain the democratic system that still remains the longest-running and largest-scale of its kind in the world. We as officeholders and we as voters and citizens are always obligated to help clear that path and to traverse it for the issues we care about, because they never come easily. But as we do so, we bear in mind those coming after us, for whom we are doing this, and those who have come before us and helped to make the path what it is today. It does not end; it will not soon end; and it ought not to end as long as we continue to believe in what we stand for firmly enough to fight for it. But when the peak is reached – perhaps by us, perhaps not; perhaps by those far in the future who may only know those living today as names in a history book – the view, and the fruits of past and present people’s labor for a better and brighter future, will be more than worth it.

Go vote – pick up your friends and family on the way, maybe a couple of strangers, stay in line for as long as you need to – and let’s keep climbing the peak, keep fighting for the policies and the communities we hold dear, and keep being the good citizens I know you all to be. Good luck!

[Joseph Cao]

[On one of the last stops of the night after a day of GOTV efforts and encouraging voters to go to the polls, Representative Cao joined the Federalist gubernatorial candidate and many of the party's state legislative candidates for a masked and socially distanced rally in Burlington to once again urge people to do their civic duty. A transcript of the Representative's livestreamed speech is provided below.]

Burlington! It is a great pleasure to be here, and while you’re all going to vote I just want to try and put a rhetorical bow on the general message that the Federalist Party has been bringing to you and your communities this month. It may feel scattershot, and that is partially because it is. Your candidates for the state legislature and your gubernatorial candidate have talked about many issues thus far: renewable energy, small businesses, the environmental upkeep of Lake Champlain, pandemic policies, education, criminal justice. I think that across all the things we’ve laid out, we have done a pretty good job of letting you all know where we stand and getting your feedback on the policies and solutions we’ve proposed – most of which, I am very glad to say, were able to pass muster with the people most affected by them precisely because those who wrote them made full use of their intimate knowledge of how their communities tick.

Besides all this, what do we have? What overarching vision are we operating towards? It can, I think be found in the declaration our gubernatorial candidate made earlier that we will do our best to serve communities all over this great state with policies designed by and for Vermonters. And, in particular, that last bit about our service being determined by and for Vermonters. The Federalist Party of Vermont may be many things, but it most certainly is not overly concerned with what goes on in Nyman or in think-tanks or in other centers of power across the nation. No, where it is most concerned is with the real center of power here in Vermont: you the people. And this is how we in the Federalist Party at large operate, because we are firmly aware that as the primary standard-bearer for regionalism and federalism across our nation’s history, the states and the regions deserve to have their say rather than having the same message getting pushed by people from whom you’d expect much more diversity of opinion. We aren’t driven by party orthodoxy on any issue, because what really matters for good government in Montpelier is the policies that get proposed by those closest to the people they serve. And if they choose policies that go against what some faction of the Federalist Party in a different state thinks, well, that doesn’t matter, does it? The last thing we’d want to do would be to standardize our ideology across the board, which ironically is exactly what some recent allegations have accused us of doing. We’ll work for the people who elect us, and no more than that; and the consistent efforts we’ve put into ensuring that our workers’ policy, our pandemic policy, our educational and environmental and economic policies are acceptable and a good solution to the communities they are aimed at – based on citizen input and responses to our proposals in the town halls and roundtables we’ve held – is a good indicator of what we mean when we promise to do so.

We stand at our core for a more welcoming Atlasia, which  – if you’re sick of hearing it by now – you may be interested to know was originally launched as a Federalist commitment to campaigning conceived in a fundamental respect for others in the nation and dedicated to the proposition that everyone has the right to be heard. So throughout our campaign, I and others have urged you all not to live down to the picture that others have painted, not to be mindless partisan drones who simply pull the lever for every name with an (F) printed after it. And personally, I’ve tried to convince others not planning to vote for us to do the same and refrain from being a citizen who predicates their entire vote on how someone in party headquarters instructs them to vote. What we’ve urged you all to do is to look around at the policies and the facts and the meat that candidates of all parties have put on the table, and moreover to cut through the mudslinging that others have regrettably engaged in recently, because that mud won’t fix your roads or prioritize the needs of your small businesses, and even when paired with real meat all that it does is make voters feel dirty for engaging in the public square. And that is a state of affairs that the Federalist Party stands fully against, because that is the precise antithesis of the more welcoming Atlasia that we have always stood for, that we have always prioritized, and that we have held as an ideal since our conception – even if we fall short of it, that is no excuse for not trying to live up to it anyway. Nobody is perfect, and when we aim to be good (as we should) we ought not to let the perfect be the enemy of the good.

I believe our campaign has spoken for itself, and I for one am proud of the excellent and clean campaign we’ve run in Vermont this month. The same must go for other parties’ efforts in Vermont, which have been as pristinely clean as the white clapboards that everyone not from Vermont likes to poke gentle fun at. So I urge you all gathered here today and you all watching this on your way to the polls to vote to keep this: let’s make a commitment to keep Vermont firmly on the path of calm, reasoned and positive campaigning, let’s get our citizens and communities and Vermonters all over the state out to engage in the public square, and let’s bring a more welcoming Atlasia to pass one state at a time. Go vote, Burlington! Thank you all, Dave bless you all, and good night.