Sally Burnell

I am a 1979 graduate of Kent State University with a B.A. in Theatre and a minor in Anthropology. Since 1983 I have been employed by the Akron-Summit County Public Library in the Mobile Services Department. Of Irish descent on my mom's side, we've always been good Democrats and progressives and were raised to believe in the value of the social contract. My father died in a car accident in 1961 when I was 4 years old and it was due to his GI Bill and Social Security survivor pension that we were able to live a decent life.

That same money paid my way through college and I have been eternally grateful for FDR's social programs that allowed me to not only grow up in dignity but to receive a college education, which in turn allowed me to start a career that I am still in 26 years later and will hopefully retire from in four years. (I'm one of the lucky ones who seems to have a job that weathers all economic conditions and is - almost - recession proof.)

I've worked on the campaigns of George McGovern (even though I was too young to vote at the time), Jimmy Carter, John Kerry and Barack Obama. I am extremely hopeful about the new Obama presidency and I hope that people give him a chance to succeed. I know that the Right is doing their utmost to try to trip him up and make him fail so that they can say, "I told you so!" but I hope that Obama is smart enough to see the traps they are setting for him and avoids them at all cost.

I consider myself an old "Yellow Dog Democrat" in the same mold as my mom, who proudly hails herself as an "FDR Democrat" at age 81 and is an active progressive herself. She is my example of lviing to the fullest at her age and I defy anyone to guess how old she is, given how active and engaged she is in so many causes. She is a product of the Depression years and the lessons she continues to teach me enrich my life daily, especially in these times in which we live. I am grateful to her for teaching me the value of the social contract and how it enriched this country in so many ways, like allowing my father not only to pursue an education after WWII himself, but to provide for his children after his untimely death. I will always be grateful for these lessons taught to me throughout my life.