Singel Steps Aside

By SINGEL FOR CONGRESS

Johnstown – Mark S. Singel today released the following statement withdrawing from the campaign for the vacant 12th Congressional seat:

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In the short time that I have been a candidate for Congress, I have enjoyed an outpouring of good will from folks all over the 12th District. Many of these voters recalled our earlier political endeavors together and I deeply appreciate their kind words and support. In a very short time, we gathered a strong group of workers and were well into the preliminaries for this race.

When I announced my candidacy, I noted the national, state, and local implications that this race would have. I said that this would require someone who understands the legislative process and has an ability to hit the ground running.

But it is critically important for all of us to remember that this is not about who wins but how we can all work together to move our area forward.

Like many citizens, I have watched the political discourse deteriorate over the years. We have gotten to a point where talking heads incite the masses to reject anything and everything that governmental leaders propose. Extremists on both sides push leaders to parrot their views rather than to think clearly, rationally, and on a bipartisan basis. This is why good people like Evan Bayh and other moderates are increasingly uncomfortable in office.

Partisans go for each other’s jugular first and wonder why the gladiators they put in the arena are more interested in fighting than in governing.

With the attention of the nation focusing on the 12^th Congressional District, I am declaring that the ruckus stops here.

This is a hard-scrabble area where the people built their churches and business and bars with their bare hands. This is an area whose people respect each other’s hard work and opinions. We are a melting pot of cultures, races, and backgrounds that has survived floods, economic depressions, and political upheavals precisely because we value the communities that we built and we value the people in them – whether they are conservative or liberal, Democrat or Republican.

Here, we work together.

I believe that a fitting tribute to Jack Murtha and to the people he represented would be for us to go about replacing him in a civil manner. I believe that we can send a message to the pundits and the politicians that we can do this with honor – and without dividing our resources.

It would be an honor to represent the people of the 12^th District in Congress. But it is more important to me to know that we send somebody to Washington with our hopes and aspirations and with our united support.

I am not suggesting that we can or should do away with a partisan election. We all know that the two parties will be actively engaged.

I am saying that the field of Democrats is too large and that we need to focus on a candidate right now so that he or she can begin to unite all factions – even before being blessed by state leaders.

While I could remain in this race and slug it out for endorsement, special election, primary, and general election, and while many have told me that I am the “favorite,” I choose to withdraw from the race and to commit myself to support the endorsed candidate.

This is not about adding a new title to my political resume; it is about pulling the community together when we are under duress. This is the culture of our area and I look forward to play a continuing role in its progress.

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February 25, 2010 at 5:00 pm

--pa2010.com Staff