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Dear Senator, as the 2006 elections are behind us, I want to write a candid and open letter to you on behalf of myself and my family. I did vote for you, however reluctantly, on November 7th, but I want to follow my vote with a short letter to outline my concerns to you and to the Republican Party in general.

Several years ago I was the guest speaker at the Xenia Chamber of Commerce, and I was very happy to share my message of Reagan-esque economic outlook, commerce and social policies. I told the Xenia businessmen how I was born in Communist Romania and how I lived a large portion of my life under Communism. I spoke about growing up in a country in which the central government got to decide what people ate for dinner, what car they could drive and when we could enjoy electricity in our homes, and I told them about my dreams as a child of some day living free in the United States of America.

That day came in 1992 when I was able to move to this country and finally have my life-long dream fulfilled. Of all places in America I landed in Cedarville, Ohio, less than a mile away from your own home. I did have the privilege of meeting you when you were serving as a Lieutenant Governor; I have attended ice-cream socials at your house and I still remember the dark infamous day in which your daughter Becky died in that car accident on U.S. 42, and the vigil we attended as Cedarville students in her memory. The straightened-out road curve a few miles outside Cedarville is serving as a standing memorial of things you’ve done to protect other drivers from having the same fate as Becky.

When I finished college I started a small business in Cedarville with a college friend, which has been successful considering my humble roots. Your son Kevin has even been our customer for a while, and the freedom enjoyed here allowed me to learn even more about the United States and market economics.

All my experiences have served to learn to appreciate you almost as a neighbor or even a distant family member. And this is what has prompted me to write to you. The loss you experienced on November 7th was not as much a loss for conservative principles and ideology, but a loss for Republicanism. Two years ago I was very excited to vote for the very first time as a U.S. citizen. A Republican victory became a reality and I was very much looking forward to seeing the Republican Party display fiscal responsibility, reduction in taxes, responsible immigration policies, elimination of eminent domain, and other crucial conservative items. Instead, the disappointment became tangible when you followed the lead of Senator John McCain and became a member of the “Gang of 14″ which in essence undermined the U.S. Constitution and the right of the President to appoint his judicial nominees and have them confirmed by a simple Senate majority.

If I may respectfully suggest, this was the reason for your loss. I do not believe you lost your Senate seat because the Democrats ran a better campaign, rather I believe you failed to enforce the mandate given to you by the American people. It was a conservative mandate, which demanded conservative values, policies and conservative principles. That mandate was instead largely handed over to the losing party in the form of entitlement bills written by Democrat Senators, and strong-arming moves designed to block crucial judicial nominees to the federal bench. Together with Senator Voinovich you have failed us. Instead of standing for Conservatism, you as our Senator stood up for Republicanism and political convenience.

In 1987 I remember hearing President Ronald Reagan’s plea in Berlin made to Gorbachev to Tear down this Wall at the Brandenburg gate. I was able to hear that speech on an underground radio station financed by President Reagan’s foreign policies, called The Voice of America. On my desk I have a piece of the Berlin wall taken from the Brandenburg gate. I picked it out myself, and I use it as a memorial to make sure that I never forget what happens when a government insists on controlling freedom and controlling every aspect of people’s lives.

Senator DeWine, I did not come to the United States to watch a renewed rise of Socialism, and I cannot in good conscience continue to support a Republican Party that is refusing to believe it wins elections or that it has a mandate to govern. I do however continue to hope for a future where a renewed Reagan-esque vigor can flow through the veins of Conservative Americans (not Republicans), to not just win elections but also actively work to create less government, lower taxes, eliminate government regulations and intrusions in citizens’ lives and eliminate government-run retirement. The truth is that the Republican Congress is guilty of all those things, and has failed to curb or stop the liberal policies pushed forward by the Democrats; and most of the fault lies in the Senate, starting with those Republicans involved in the “Gang of 14.”

I am hoping that my letter will find an open ear and will be considered by you and your staff, and I am hoping that if you will ever be again a member of the U.S. Congress, you will reconsider the implications of your positions and the expectations coming from those whom you would be representing.

Respectfully,

Virgil Vaduva