Why I Am Running
My father James S. Ward is buried in Arlington National Cemetery. He was a WWII veteran and earned a Purple Heart as an Army medic serving on Kwajalein, the Phillipines and Okinawa. My uncle Bill Kiefer fought in the Battle of the Buldge under Patton and earned a Bronze and Silver Star. I graduated from high school in 1977, post-Viet Nam, and the last thing any of us ever wanted to do was to go into the military. I’ve regretted this decision every day since. But my life has taken me elsewhere.
And I woke up one day and wondered how a guy like me from Rockford, Illinois could have had such a fun and exciting career. I’d like to think it was all due to hard work, but there was a lot of luck involved along with living in a country that gives anyone and everyone the opportunity to succeed. But I hadn’t ever done anything for my country. Certainly not making the sacrifice that my father and uncle had made. Was this the time to start? Could I still do something for my country?
In addition, I began to be concerned about the direction the country was taking. Dawne and I had adopted our two little girls with the idea of bringing them to this country where they could have the same opportunities we had when we were growing up. But I began to look around and I realized that our prosperity was decaying, our liberties were being eroded and our overall security was compromised.
Also, I felt that the Republican party had lost its way. To read more about that, see my comments on the Party here. But it became more difficult to defend the actions of the party and that disturbed me. Frankly, all politics frustrated me. It was all about the parties. Not about our country.
Finally, everyone seemed to be talking about change. But I know from my business experience that there’s the right kind of change and the wrong kind of change. Take it from me, we’re not making the right kind of change. Unfortunately, what we are seeing is a fundamental transformation of our country away from a free market economy and the mutation of the DNA of our constitution away from its principles.
So I’ve decided that I want to serve my country, help course-correct our nation and rebuild the Republican Party into what it once was. I have a window that will allow me to leave my occupation to do this. In my mind, it’s the least I can do after I have enjoyed the benefits of this great country of ours.
But I’ll be honest with you. I’m not a professional politician. I’m a businessman. And this is the first time I’m doing this. But I feel strongly that it’s time politicians who just want to be politicians got out of the way and let people who have run businesses, created jobs and made decisions they’ve had to live with, go to Washington and straighten out this mess. I’ve got that skill set along with the ability to make the right kind of change. I hope you’ll agree. Click here to read What I Stand For.