Dear Joseph,

I may be the underdog in this campaign, running against two candidates with more than $200 million between them – but the real underdogs are the middle class and those without a voice in America today.

They are losing ground while the CEOs of huge corporations pocket million dollar bonuses and corporate lobbyists get their way and promote their special interests in Washington.

While ExxonMobil rakes in record profits and receives government handouts, gas prices are going through the roof, oil has skyrocketed to $100 a barrel and the middle class is paying through the nose at the pump.

Meanwhile, 200,000 veterans – men and women who proudly wore America's uniform and served with honor on behalf of our country – will sleep tonight under bridges and on grates, ignored and uncared for by their government.

I know you cannot negotiate with the entrenched, moneyed interests who are strangling our government. You have to fight them and stand up to them. That is what I have done my whole life – and that's exactly what I intend to do as president of the United States. It's why I need your support today.

We can't simply replace a group of corporate Republicans with a group of corporate Democrats and expect change. I've never taken a dime from Washington lobbyists or political action committees. That's why I'm the candidate of change who can take them on – and win for the American people.

I know who the underdogs are in this fight. I know that the fight to save the middle class will be an epic battle – but I will never give up.

We're going to take this fight to save the middle class and to speak up for those who have no voice all the way to the convention and to the White House. And we're going to look our children in the eye and tell them, "We left you a better life than we had."

I'm asking you to join me in this epic battle – a fight to preserve the greatness of America.

Franklin Roosevelt said, "There is nothing I love so much as a good fight." He spoke for the underdogs and the voiceless of an earlier generation of Americans.

Today, the fight for bold and lasting change continues. With your help, I will fight for the real underdogs of America every single day.

Sincerely,

--John
  January 6, 2008