
A few days ago, I received an email soliciting my
interest in running for City Council myself.
Apparently Jim was reaching out to kindred souls who might be more
successful than he was in getting elected and carrying forward his, or a similar
agenda.
What caught my attention was his comment that it
would probably take about $50,000 to get elected. To a City Council!
About this same time, I noted that President Obama
is in California again, raising money for the interim election. Comment was made that this makes almost 365
days of fund raising in less than six years in office. Where is the ROI for this investment and, more
importantly who gains from it?
I have been active in politics since before I was
able to vote. Both my mother and father
were staunch Republicans, divided only by lesser levels of conservatism than
what we see today. I once asked my
mother what was the difference between a liberal and conservative Republican. She answered, “A conservative Republican,
like your father thinks nothing should be done for the first time. Myself, on the other hand think it is
perfectly all right to do something for the first time. Just don’t do it now.”
She also taught me that I should always vote for a
straight ticket because that Democrat who seems so appealing at a minor state
office will soon be running against a Republican on the national stage. She
also reminded me that I had an obligation to financially support the party: a
practice I followed for sixty years until soured by the failure of our Congress
to put aside partisanship for practicality.
To the question of Return on Investment. My
observation is that we don’t have a direct correlation to money spent on
elections and money directly into someone’s pocket. Instead we see changes in entitlement, changes
in business enticements, changes in gerrymandering, changes in healthcare
delivery, and on the national scene, changes in location of where government
contracts are written.
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Buddy Cianci |
Of course the is the likelihood that a politician from my earlier state f residence, Rhode Island, may run for Mayor of Providence for the third time now that he is out of jail.
This is nothing new. As someone with 25 years in the military and
one who watched the military presence in California literally disappear as the
state moved from Red to Blue, I am painfully aware of the consequences of not
supporting the winning party.
I know two people who have tried for election to
offices of greater consequence than City Council and I polled them both for
this Post. One, who ran for the House of
Representatives I think has chosen to forget his experience. The other, who ran successfully for State
Representative in another state and unsuccessfully for the same state’s Senate,
felt the $50,000wasa valid number. Most
goes for name recognition, and that explains his successful history. Primary money was difficult to raise and
almost entirely came from friends and family.
After winning the primary, funding came from other sources. “Funds
follow winners”, he said. And that
explains why incumbents are so successful. He verified that the $50,000ws probably a good number, considering the size and influence of the city.
Some time ago I wrote a Post called The Fifth Estate, which talked about the
development of the Fourth Estate (my definition being The Press), as a means
for the public to learn what Parliament was doing, thereby lessening the
difference between the two groups. What we
see with politics in the United States is an increase in the separation between
the two groups: to a point where the ACA does not apply to any of the three
branches of the Federal government.
And a President’s wife claims they were “broke” when
they left the White House.
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Harry S. Truman |
The WSJ had an interesting article about our last
modest president, Harry S. Truman,
who literally was broke when he left office: without Secret Service, by rail,
with borrowed money to reenter law practice.
It make for interesting reading!
Today Mary and I went to a lecture on the Early Days
of Frank Sinatra. I learned a few things
that I will share in my next Post. I
hope to see you there.
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