Greetings, and welcome to my blog from my husband Michael’s US Senate campaign trail!

Michael, our baby son Conrad and I have already had the opportunity to meet so many fantastic people across our beautiful state over recent months. Your support and encouragement has meant so much to our family. I hope we’ll be able to meet many more of you as the campaign rolls forward!

It’s a great honor for us to be running for the US Senate. It certainly wasn’t what Michael and I were expecting when we met in Afghanistan back in 2008, living and working together in our isolated office in Helmand province.

Our motivation to get involved in the race has come from a deeply held belief that we need to protect all that makes America great, for our future generations.

Over these next few months I hope to share with you stories and thoughts from the campaign trail. I thought that I’d start today by telling you about one of my favorite elected leaders – Sir Winston Churchill.

As a British immigrant from ‘across the pond’, I have a particular appreciation for the unique history and development of America, and for those principles of freedom and democracy that led our greatest statesman Churchill to affectionately call it “The Great Republic.”

In fact, my first real introduction to America’s history and politics was reading Churchill’s collection of essays by that name, written over some two decades ending in the mid 1950s. The book reflects his lifelong fondness and admiration for America that started with his American mother, and that culminated with the Anglo-American alliance he fostered to defeat Hitler.

One story I always remembered fondly was Churchill’s recounting of a meeting with President Harry Truman in 1946, as the allies emerged bruised but triumphant from the Second World War.

Churchill wrote: “The very first thing the President did was to show me the new Presidential Seal, which he had just redesigned. He explained, ‘The seal has to go everywhere the President goes. It must be displayed upon the lectern when he speaks. The eagle used to face the arrows but I have re-designed it so that it now faces the olive branches… what do you think?’ I said, ‘Mr. President, with the greatest respect, I would prefer the American eagle’s neck to be on a swivel so that it could face the olive branches or the arrows, as the occasion might demand.’”

Which way do you think the Eagle’s head should point?  Do you agree with Churchill?  Personally, I think that it’s probably best that the American eagle still faces the olive branches!

Of course, Churchill is a legendary heroic leader for us. I’ve always found it interesting that shortly after the allied victory against Hitler, Churchill’s Conservative Party was voted out of office, despite his personal popularity.

Instead of fiscal prudence, the British public chose a leftist Labor government that promised “full employment,” nationalization and a welfare state. I don’t doubt that Churchill wanted all of his countrymen to have jobs and opportunities, or that he wanted to protect the most vulnerable: his point was that the country simply could not afford to spend so much on social programs, and that Labor’s approach would eventually end up hurting the economy.

America faces big decisions in this year’s election. Choosing whether or not to be more fiscally responsible will be one of them.

That focus on fiscal responsibility is at the heart of Michael’s campaign for US Senate.  We want to put America on a sustainable and prosperous path for the future, for our baby Conrad – and all your children and grandchildren.

Even though I’m not yet an American, I couldn’t be more passionate about working to protect and celebrate the ‘Great Republic.’

I hope you’ll continue to follow the campaign through this blog. I’d love to get your feedback. Do be sure to send any questions you have for me to answer.

In the next blog post I’ll share some stories from the campaign trail, and perhaps a few thoughts on Queen Elizabeth’s upcoming Jubilee celebration.

Once again, our family and the campaign team are humbled by your support.

God bless America, the Great Republic!

###