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Over the next thirty minutes, Mitchell helped her craft an opening statement. Susette thanked her, promising to call her after the hearing.

Before Susette fell asleep, Von Winkle called. He had just returned from City Hall. “You missed the show of the year,” he told her. “The place was packed.”

“I’d rather be there than here right now,” she said.

Von Winkle assured her she’d do just fine in front of the senators. “Go get ’em, Red,” he said.

43

LIVING PROOF

September 20, 2005

As a little girl, on her first day of elementary school, Susette had been surprised when her class went to a cafeteria at lunchtime. She hadn’t known what lunch was. In her house she had had only two meals a day, breakfast and dinner. She liked school because it offered a hot meal every day.

Entering the U.S. Capitol for the first time, she felt a little like a child all over again. She never realized that people like her—a working-class nurse without a college degree—could get an audience with senators. “Boy, there sure are a lot of people here,” she said, taking a deep breath as Scott Bullock ushered her into the hearing room. She took her place at the witness table beside the mayor of Hartford, who had come to testify in favor of eminent domain.

Proud to be on the other side, Susette figured she owed it to millions of other working Americans to do her best to convince the senators that politicians like the one seated next to her didn’t care about the little guys.

Susette looked over her shoulder and smiled nervously at Bullock. He gave her a look of confidence. The Susette Kelo in front of him wasn’t the same Susette he had met the first time he visited her home, in 2000. During five intense years of ups and downs, victories and setbacks, she had evolved into the leader of a national movement. She wasn’t polished and programmed. But that was what made her so effective. You couldn’t stage genuineness.

Susette didn’t need notes to tell the senators how she found her house and fixed it up on her own, met Tim LeBlanc and fell in love, and thought she was on her way to living happily ever after until she discovered a condemnation notice taped to her door on the day before Thanksgiving 2000. “We did not have a very pleasant holiday,” she said, “and each Thanksgiving since has been bittersweet for all of us. We’re happy that we are still in our homes but afraid we could be thrown out any day.”

Though often distracted at hearings, the senators couldn’t help focusing on Susette. Unlike the suits that so often parade before committees—corporate executives, lawyers, lobbyists, and special-interest representatives—she was the people, a plain-talking woman with a story that was too infuriating to be made up.

“My neighborhood was not blighted,” she said. “None of us asked for any of this. We were simply living our lives, working, taking care of our families, and paying our taxes. The city may have narrowly won the battle on eminent domain, but the war remains, not just in Fort Trumbull but also across the nation. Special interests who benefit from this use of government power are working to convince the public and legislatures that there isn’t a problem. But I am living proof that there is. This battle against eminent domain abuse may have started as a way for me to save my little pink cottage, but it has rightfully grown into something much larger—the fight to restore the American Dream and the sacredness and security of each one of our homes.”

Bullock wanted to clap.

Senators and their staff surrounded Susette as soon as the hearing concluded. Some praised her courage and determination. Others expressed dismay at the Court’s ruling. A staffer from Senator Edward Kennedy’s office handed Susette the senator’s card. “If you need anything, call his office,” she said. “He’ll do anything to help you.”

Once outside, Bullock patted her on the shoulder. “You did great in there today,” he said.

“Well … I tried,” she said.

44

LEAVE NO FOOTPRINTS

Mathew Greene liked and respected