An End of A Campaign

It is said that the surest way to never fail is to never risk trying. Of course, the down side to never trying is never being able to achieve success.

Today I am writing to thank you for your support in my campaign for Congress as an independent candidate. I can’t express enough the gratitude I have for your willingness to offer support, both morally and financially, when I set out on this journey into the political world. From the time I decided to give this campaign a try, I knew it would be an uphill endeavor. I was told that I had no chance, that I would be wasting my time, that I would never make the ballot. At some level, I knew that at least two of those negatives had a good chance of coming true. But I never once thought it would be a waste of time, and I still don’t think that now.

The deadline for me to submit signatures for inclusion on the ballot has arrived, and I am woefully short of the number needed to qualify. Embarrassingly short, to be frank. As such, I have no other choice but to wrap up this campaign effort and move forward. But as I do that, I do so with more knowledge than when I started, and it is my intention to use that knowledge, expand that knowledge, and continue my efforts to make our government more open, more rational, and more representative of ‘we the people.’

Despite a fair amount of visibility on the political internet blog circuit, most of my attempts to gain attention from the traditional media in this district went unnoticed, a failure that literally doomed my prospects from the beginning. Without an outlet to let people know about my campaign, I had only a few part time volunteers, each of us working full time jobs in the process. It was not possible for so few to collect so many signatures in so short a time.

In addition to the lack of media interest, during my interactions with the general public during signature gathering attempts, I discerned a formidable distrust and/or disinterest from most people. It was troubling to say the least, but also a confirmation of my position that politics have become so surreal to the average voter that the disconnect is great. The average voter has become either completely enmeshed with their partisan position or too cynical to believe that an outsider could have any impact. Those feelings made signature collecting that much more challenging.

The final straw on the proverbial camel’s back can be attributed to the overall lack of funding, which I also knew would be a large barrier. And despite the contributions you some supporters generously provided, my campaign contributions never broke $1000. However, aside from a one-year cell phone contract, I have no fixed expenses to speak of from the campaign, and early on I stopped spending money completely as to have done so would have been pure waste. With no volunteers or visibility, what could a few hundred dollars do to help? And so it is with some satisfaction that I was able to return the generous donations given for my campaign. After all, the trust placed in me as a candidate demanded that I return the money intended to help my campaign, a campaign that now will not take place.

So while this is the end of this campaign effort, it is not the end of my own political life. I will continue to write political columns on the internet. I will continue my efforts to remain an advocate for democracy and freedom. And I may even decide to run for office again in the near future.

So once again, I thank you for you support and look forward to teaming up with you again in the future.