Some men see things as they are and ask why.
Robert F. Kennedy, 1968 (paraphrasing Shaw, 1921)
I dream of things that never were and ask why not.
Just how “ridiculous” is this campaign? Short answer: No more ridiculous than Congress itself has become.
The question that only you — the voters of the New District 1 — can answer is:
Will enough of you believe that it’s worth the effort it takes to help spread this campaign,
and then vote in the primary?
Will enough of you believe that it’s worth the effort it takes to help spread this campaign,
and then vote in the primary?
Historically, a midterm Congressional primary like this will draw barely one third of registered voters, and less than one quarter of eligible voters. I find that sad, but not surprising.
Talking with constituents has confirmed what I already knew: Most voters are disillusioned with the major parties and our election system, because it seems rigged and almost pointless. Well, it seems rigged because it is rigged. However:
Voting in this Congressional Primary is not even close to pointless.
It’s time to loosen the partisan grip on Congress. I believe a lot of you feel the same way, and that together, we can do it!
Please get involved today. Thank you.
It’s not ridiculous to wonder about the viability of this campaign, and I don’t blame you if you’re skeptical. The last person elected to the U.S. House as neither Democrat nor Republican was none other than Bernie Sanders of Vermont, serving from 1991 to 2007 — and he was running for a single statewide seat. In Vermont, no less. The lack of non-partisans in The House seems a bit strange, considering that close to 40% of voters have no party affiliation. There must be something that inclines voters to choose major-party candidates. Right?
Well, there are many things working together to make it difficult for a non-partisan to win a seat in Congress. But there are holes in the barriers, and I am well positioned to win in this New District 1.
To some, my lack of political experience is a drawback, and I’m sure many voters will dismiss my candidacy out of hand. What remains to be seen is how many voters will see it as a plus. From talking directly to voters, I think the number could be significant.
The bigger hurdle, it might seem, is my choice to forego any significant campaign spending. But this too cuts both ways. I decided early on that anything resembling a traditional campaign was pointless — there’s simply no way I could compete with the fundraising machinery of the major parties and candidates. So it’s “go viral or go home” for this campaign. In that context, minimal spending may actually help.
The strategy is fairly simple:
- Establish this site as a base. From here people can find whatever they need to know, and follow developments. I will add and refine right up to election day.
- Start the Go Viral phase — end of April, early May — to drive traffic to the site and spread the word.
- Convince many Republican and Republican-leaning voters that they don’t have to follow the usual script, which is: Vote GOP in the primary, then watch your candidate lose by 5% to 10% in November. (This New District 1 is D+10 or more.)
- Convince many voters fed up with the partisan mess that we really can break free from it.
- Convince many non-voters (up to 2/3 in typical midterm primary) that this time it’s not a waste of time to vote.
- Place in the Top Two on June 2. This in itself will be news. Big news.
- Have five full months to make my case for the November vote. It’s a strong case.
That’s the gist of how this can work. Read on for some other particulars if this sort of thing interests you.
The story continues…
The Political Machine wants us to believe that you must Join The Machine to win. Well, the deck is certainly stacked against those of us who don’t Join, but the law remains on our side. I decided to run in part to find out how the process really works — and I was pleasantly surprised.
There is no real barrier to ordinary citizens such as myself running for office — and I believe the barriers to winning are mostly psychological. If too many people believe that someone outside the machine simply cannot win, that belief can be self-fulfilling. It can feel foolish and pointless to do anything at all to help them win, even if you wish they would. From my conversations so far, I believe I can convince enough people not to give up without trying.
The major parties provide a lot of support to “their candidates”, but by definition they have limited appeal in a diverse district. The point of gerrymandering is to try to ensure that limited appeal is enough for a narrow victory.
However, if I can convince enough voters that it’s possible to actually represent the entire district in congress, I can finish in the top two in the primary (with perhaps 20% to 25% depending on how things split). The general election campaign is five full months, during which I’m confident I can show more than half of voters that I’m not just different, but better for our district, Congress, and the country.
While I’m definitely not a career politician, I have had a long and successful career working with very complex systems, and I’m confident that I have the skills and experience to do this job more effectively than any partisan. I expect that enough voters will agree.
I’m approaching this campaign much like our country’s Founders imagined: Ordinary citizens taking some (limited) time away from their lives, to come together “in congress“, to work together to establish laws for the common benefit of the nation — to work towards a more perfect union.