We’ve been traveling this week. We’ve logged hundreds of miles and gone from town to town, meeting people of Main Street, America.  I’ve talked to them in coffee shops, private homes, businesses, Republican dinners and Tea Party events.  Everywhere I’ve gone, the people are speaking out and I am listening.

I’ve been extremely impressed with how well-informed the people are.  The topics we’ve discussed, the questions that have been asked, all show that the citizenry of our 1st District is paying attention, educating themselves and tackling the concerns we have about our country’s direction, head on.  This renewed interest by regular Americans has been kindled by the negative impact that the current Democrat administration has had on their lives.  They see that they have been caught in the cross-hairs, and they are learning how government is meant to work, not just the politics involved. They’ve asked me about the 1st, 2nd, 10th and 17th Amendments.  My fellow citizens are reading for themselves, the Constitution, learning the how and why, what Washington should not be doing vs. what they have done.  Our current legislators and this administration do not want the populace to know or speak out, but we are not going to stop.  That is the message I am receiving from the people.

We are all concerned about this country’s current course. Policies have been set in place that will have disastrous economic consequences unless we stop and take corrective action.  This administration has brought even higher unemployment rates, which we are now all too familiar with here in the 1^st District.  President Obama and his administration’s efforts to intrude upon and control the individual citizen’s life cannot continue.  The only way we can stop this is by using the energy and common sense of the people themselves to set us on the right course.

While people have legitimate concerns, they also have demonstrated an incredible spirit. The American spirit, the one of “can do” and “will do,” forms the core of our traditional American character.  It is this awakening and renewal that I saw as I traveled, and the people of the 1^st District are echoing their fellow Americans across the land.  Something else I see; people aren’t leaving this job to others; they are rolling up their sleeves and willing to do it themselves.  I am with them on this.  I’m a husband, father and physician, but I am also an American seeking to restore this land to her Constitutional foundations.

RedState has an outstanding writer, Vassar Bushmills.  Not too long ago he wrote a blog post that illuminated the awakening of the American spirit.  He called it America “getting all philosophical again.” He noted the common man and woman, ordinary folks like you and me, looking up the true meaning of the word Liberty; and reminding themselves of the real purpose of citizenship.

Meanwhile, the administration in Washington doesn’t seem to get it.  They have a stranglehold on our district, our state, and our country, and it must be loosened.  We have to start cutting the strings, breaking out of the web that has trapped us for so long in dependency, dependency on government, dependency on Washington.

The people, you and I, are the backbone of this nation.  We will find the strength, the spirit; we’ll reach into ourselves to stop Washington, stop the arrogance and indifference.  You will find that spirit in Michigan’s 1st District.  I am one of them – just an ordinary citizen who decided to step up and confront these issues head on.  It gives me joy and I consider it an honor to do this work, with the support of my fellow citizens, to stop Washington, help others share in the opportunity for prosperity this nation has always represented, and I am willing to risk and sacrifice to do it.

The American awakening is here, and it is the people who are saying, “Enough is Enough.”

P.S.  Obviously Michigan’s 1st District is very important to me, but we can’t forget PA-12 next week.