Hi there! I'm Jean Hay, and any way you count, I am a different kind of candidate.

In this race for the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate, I am the only woman. It's me and four guys.

I figure they'll split the men's vote.

Three of my opponents are lawyers, one is an accountant.

My background is very different.

Over much of the past 20 years, I have worked as a newspaper reporter and bureau chief, covering the courts, car accidents, the local school boards and county commissioners, dissecting municipal budgets and comprehensive plans.

I saw my job as one of providing people with the information they needed to make good decisions. I took that responsibility very seriously. A very big part of that responsibility was exposing injustice or incompetence, wherever I found it.

I worked on the belief that if people only knew what was going on they would rise up and correct the situation. And for the most part, that was the way it worked.

I learned who to trust, and how to spot a lie. I nailed politicians and bureaucrats who ducked questions in attempts to save their own hides.

I wrote stories about so-called ordinary people doing extraordinary things by following their talents or their gut instincts.

Day after day, as I wrote about the way people in this great country interact with their government – our government – I grew to marvel at the wisdom embodied in our Constitution, Bill of Rights and Declaration of Independence.

Life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness. Freedom of speech. Equality. Habeas corpus. Democracy, where people ARE their government. Truths which are self-evident.

It's a wisdom which, collectively, embodies a set of values which we share as a nation, and one shared by the diversity of peoples and religions within our borders.

The second different part of my life has been as a commercial organic farmer, with all the business, environmental, and regulatory hoops – and dirt on my hands – that all that implies. I've been farming and gardening organically all my adult life.

I was the next-door neighbor to Helen and Scott Nearing on Cape Rosier for seven years in the 1970s, and, after I was no longer a working journalist, I became an environmental, human rights and political activist.

I learned about the need to respect and encourage diversity – whether we are talking about the environment, agriculture, the economy, human rights, or Congress.
Today, I worry about Congress' insistence on putting a money value on everything from endangered species to air pollution credits. I worry about people in positions of authority who don't understand that a sign of wisdom is knowing what you don't know.

I worry about people with great power making long-term decisions on short-term information, and what harm they can do in their ignorance.

The third way I am different from my opponents is that I am a mother. And, as such, I take the issue of choice very personally.

Choice is a human rights issue. It is a matter between a woman and her God. I will fight anyone who tries to take that decision out of her hands and put it in the hands of some politician or bureaucrat in Washington.

My advocacy on this issue goes back many years. And this year, the strength of my position was recognized with endorsements from both the National Organization for Women in Washington, (NOW), and the National Women's Political Caucus.

I'm the only candidate in this U.S. Senate race – of either party – to receive either endorsement.

I have been described in the media as a fighter, as a tightwad, as gutsy, very opinionated, strong-willed, direct, outspoken, hard-hitting, straightforward. It has been said that I call them as I see them, that I'm not afraid to speak truth to power.

I'd go along with all that. And I ask you, wouldn't you like someone like that looking out for you in Washington?

Because that's what it's going to take to be heard over the din of the Republican rhetoric.

* * *

Those who know me also know that I do my homework.

I've proposed a National Economic Security Plan. Take a look at it and tell me what you think. I would tie the personal exemption in the tax code to the annual income you would get if you worked full-time at minimum wage.

And I would move the starting point for Social Security payroll taxes up to the same point, so that no one trying to survive on a poverty-level income would be paying either income taxes or Social Security taxes to the government.

And yes, America does need a raise. I propose raising the minimum wage to a living wage. How does $6.50 per hour sound to you?

And I would make sure the minimum wage is extended to restaurant workers. Right now it is legal to pay some restaurant staff half the minimum wage, or $2.13 per hour, with the hope that tips will make up the difference.

That is absolutely obscene.

I also propose a three-part national health care plan for all Americans, with a government-funded annual individual allotment, followed by a self-pay out-of-pocket part tied to a percentage of one's individual income. Beyond that, a catastrophic and long-term medical care component would kick in.

Under my plan, YOU would have control over your annual allotment. YOU, not an insurance company or HMO, would decide where, when, and what health care you need.

And that includes dental care, eye care, mental health services, even alternative care from authorized providers.

The beauty of this plan is that by nature it's anti-fraud. You would have an incentive to check the bills for accuracy and to shop around for the best price for routine services. No more of this attitude of ''why should I care, insurance will cover it.''

You WOULD care, because after you use up your annual allotment, you would be paying out-of-pocket for awhile.

If you're healthy one year, and don't use up your allotment, it gets rolled over and added to the next year's allotment.

This plan would make some level of basic health care available to everyone. It would encourage prevention programs such as immunizations, and early intervention. And it would stop cost-shifting.

This plan would eliminate the need for regulations about:

• insurance portability,
• pre-existing conditions,
• deductibility of health care premiums and costs,
• coverage for family members or significant others,
• and a myriad of other details which now take up a lot of time, energy and attention of a whole lot of people

This plan is an example of the way I look at a problem from the ground up, and then find creative solutions.

* * *

Lastly, I want to talk to you about campaign finance reform.

I've been saying for a long time that the best way to reduce the big money in politics is not to reduce the income, but simply to lower the rent, so more normal people can afford to live on the campaign trail. I've proposed free TV time, reduced postage and phone rates.

But there is an even simpler and easier way to effect real campaign finance reform, and this U.S. Senate race is the perfect place to do it.
This time around, money has been tight.

Only one of the five Democratic Senate candidates has aired ads on TV, and that one has had to use his own money to do it.

I made the decision at the beginning of this race to conduct my campaign the way Jean Hay the voter wanted to see campaigns conducted, and the way the general public keeps telling us it wants to see campaigns conducted – on the issues and on the ground.

The American-made Saturn I bought new almost three years ago to run for Congress now has 98,000 miles on it. I'm still on the original brakes. Must be because I go a lot and don't stop a lot.

My calendar has been full of bookings for forums, interviews, radio and TV appearances, mill gate leafletting, trade show appearances, nursing home get-togethers, campaigning door to door.

The only costs in my all-volunteer campaign have been for gasoline, telephone, postage and printing, and the cost for our World Wide Web page on the internet.

All in all our expenses for this primary might get into five figures, but they might not. Think of what would happen if I won the primary on June 11, after running a campaign like that. All the conventional wisdom about what it takes to win an election would fly out the window.

Instant campaign finance reform.

What I am doing is calling your bluff.

You said you wanted this kind of campaign.

You said that you're tired of the big money in politics.

You said you wanted a candidate who dealt with issues, honestly and directly.

I want to know whether you believe in yourself, whether you really believe what you say you believe.

And whether you are willing to put your vote where your head, your heart and your gut tells you to put it.

You can prove you mean what you say by voting for me.

If you like my style, my ideas, the way I think; if you trust me to go to Washington and do what is best for you, for Maine and for this country, I urge you to vote for me in the June 11 primary.

Right now, your thoughtful vote is more valuable than any amount of money you could donate to my campaign.

Please use your vote wisely on June 11.

Our country is counting on you.

                                    Portland, Maine