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Westborough, Mass: The 2008 Presidential Election has captured the attention of the nation and the world. While the race for the White House will draw the most interest there are also contests for the United States Senate (Class 2 seats) and the United States Congress. A full house gathered at the home of Farooq Ansari to meet Edward O'Reilly, candidate for United States Senate from Massachusetts on January 12, 2008. Mr. O'Reilly is seeking the Democratic Party nomination and challenging the incumbent Senator John Kerry who will be completing his fourth term in the Senate this year.

Ed O'Reilly is an attorney residing in Gloucester, Massachusetts. He was born in Watertown and spent the early part of his career working as a fire fighter and also as a lobsterman. During this time he was earning his college and his law degrees. For some 25 years he practiced criminal law in courts across the state of Massachusetts. As an attorney an essential function that Ed O'Reilly performs is standing up for the US Constitution and the rights contained within.

A year ago Mr. O'Reilly made the commitment to pursue a full-time campaign for the United States Senate and challenge the incumbent. He proceeded to sell his law practice and has been campaigning ever since. O'Reilly faces the daunting challenge of unseating Kerry a four-term incumbent who gained national recognition during his failed bid for the Presidency in 2004.

The passion that has driven O'Reilly into this pursuit was John Kerry's 2002 vote authorizing military action in Iraq. O'Reilly feels that Kerry was motivated by personal interest. He felt that Kerry voted for the Iraq War because he believed this vote would have been necessary in order for him, Kerry, to have a reasonable chance in his bid for the Presidency. On this most crucial decision Ed O'Reilly feels that Kerry was not representing the people who elected him.

Ed pointed out that Robert Shrum, a chief political strategist for Kerry, confirmed this point in his book, citing that Kerry's Iraq War vote was politically motivated.

On a lovely January afternoon a packed audience gathered in the Westborough home of Farooq Ansari to meet Ed O'Reilly and hear his thoughts on the 2008 Senate race. Ed was delighted at the turnout and graciously met the guests individually and posed for pictures.

Declaring himself a "Massachusetts Democrat", Ed talked about his passion in running for the US Senate and described how the Senate has become extremely tied to special interests. One example he pointed to was the closing of the tax loophole on hedge funds, adding that his rival had done little on this issue. Some areas that Ed hopes to work on are universal health care and energy independence.

As part of his presentation, Ed O'Reilly asked for contributions to his campaign and also urged the audience to visit his website, www.edoreilly.com, to learn more about his candidacy.

The guests were pleased with Mr. O'Reilly's presentation and offered their support for his campaign. One of the guests in attendance, Tahir Ali, presented Ed with a copy of his book The Muslim Vote: Counts and Recounts. Ed himself was very happy with the gathering and thanked Farooq Ansari for the outstanding effort.

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