Lindy Li (李林笛)。

校友在群里分享了这个消息，华裔普林斯顿毕业生Lindy Li（李林笛）辞掉摩根银行的高薪工作，开始了她竞选宾州的美国国会众议员的征程。
 
她的成长反映了太多我们这代人移民海外的足迹，她在四川出生，二个星期后父母就去了英国，因为父亲要去那里读博士，所以她是爷爷和姥姥带大的，至今还因与近 90岁的姥姥感情深厚而每天通话。父母在她四岁的时候将她接到英国，五岁时随父母抵美国，先在耶鲁短暂停留后去了波士顿，弟弟在那里的塔夫什大学医院出 生，后来举家搬到宾州定居。她说服父母让她从公立学转到全女子的私立高中，她称那里改变了她的一生并使她顺利进入普林斯顿。她在普林斯顿也积极参加课外活动，连续数年当选年级主席，现在仍然是普林斯顿校友的招集人之一。
 
下面是她为自己竞选写的争取选票的文字，文字之精美与她在普林斯顿所受教育应该密切相关。她文章的第一段写出了美国与世界很多国家不同的地方，那就是她为来自五湖四海的新移民提供了相对公平的竞争机会。
 
如果我能给Lindy的竞选主管建言, 我会告诉她或他，这篇文章写得太像普林斯顿毕业生着墨的自传体文章了，过于深奥而不那么适应用作竞选语言。美国人从来不喜欢旁征博引名人的格言，尤其是需要面对芸芸众生的议员竞选的时候。
 
记 得当年小布什和戈尔在圣路易斯华盛顿大学进行总统辩论，当时正是波黑战争期间，戈尔回答问题之前先在有限时间里解释马其顿（Macedonia  )与哪些地区接壤以及它的地域政治的重要性，像个大学教授在给电视观众上课似的，我当时就为戈尔这位哈佛的差劲生着急。美国的政治语言是什么样的 呢？“Bin Laden, Wanted dead or  alive"（通缉本·拉登，死的活的都要）”，就像这样的德州酒吧里的美国人都听得清楚的语言。
 
我们为她的竞选决定深受鼓舞，因为我 们中国大陆移民在美国国会无人代表。我们的后代对美国名校录取歧视的抱怨需要有人在国会替我们说，从有限的访谈中得知，Lindy虽为民主党籍但她持反对 美国名校歧视亚裔的录取政策，因为她自己亲身体验过并且还有一位十五岁的弟弟。真想跨州为她投票，希望宾州的选民能够为我们出力。她来自学术气氛甚浓的普林斯顿而不是繁杂却对社会和政治问题拥有激情的耶鲁，这个倒确实有些令人意外。
 
Letter to Pennsylvania
 
More is thy duo than more than all can pay
 
By Lindy Li
 
America  is a land of promise and new beginnings, a beacon for the rest of the  world. Arriving with nothing but a suitcase of dreams, my family and I have spent fifteen years in beloved Pennsylvania. I became the woman I am today, walking its soothing slopes and reading beneath its gentle trees. That America welcomed us with nurturing arms is a debt that I can never fully repay, though my bid to serve you is the first step on a lifelong journey: to revive that “government of the people, by the  people, for the people.”

What does it say about who we are as a nation that the highest bidder so often prevails? We don’t elect our leaders to fundraise all day or to be sucked into the vortex of the perpetual campaign. We don’t elect them to serve special interests at your expense or to strategically posture in front of the hungry camera lens. Nor do we send them to Washington so they can grow rich in office, scaling the ladders of power. Rather, we seek leaders with integrity, moderation, and unwavering confidence, knowing that compromise is necessary in a democracy but unbending ideology is not. Herein lies the difference between a stateswoman and a politician.

I refuse to give up on our country and ask you to join me today as we breathe fresh life into the great American promise. Know that I am always by your side and that I’ll never be so engulfed by the responsibilities of office or so jaded by political realities that I’ll lose sight of why I’m there in the first place: for you and for you alone. Forever I’ll try for you and me.

Abigail Adams said, “It is not in the still calm of life … that great characters are formed. Great necessities call out great virtues.”  I’m thankful that life has not been easy and that I’ve struggled for my American dream. Just as a tree can only grow as tall as its roots, so the measure of my ability is the measure of the challenges that I’ve overcome. Today the foundation beneath our glistening American dream is in disrepair, as too many flail in vain against circumstances beyond their control. Will the women, young people, and forgottens of our great commonwealth finally have a voice in the hallowed corridors of Congress, a leader with immense heart and courage, or are we going to hurtle down the familiar path of selfish gridlock and unimaginative leadership? We are the ones that we’ve been waiting for. So take my hand.

李林笛在普林斯顿。