I would like to think so. I figure that even if the Repub's here are tired of someone like Bill Sali they'll still vote Repub over Dem. But does that mean they won't vote for an Independent? On both side you have to realize that everyone is becoming disenfranchised. On the red side as they move to neo-cons and away from traditional conservative values, I could see this happening.
Which is why I have thrown myself into this long-shot of a race. I am running as a true Independent Write-In for U.S. Congress in Idaho D.1. against Bill Sali and Walt Minnick.
I call myself a true Independent because I don't get extreme with it and am not trying to run as an Indie because I lost a primary. I am an Independent because I am one. I'm not Libertarian or Green Party or Unity 08. I am also not running to make a statement. I'm not a Repub or a Dem. I'm just a guy who is sick and tired of being sick and tired and a lot of people throughout this country feel the way I do.
I ran for City Council here in Lewiston a couple years ago and lost, but got a lot of support along the way, pretty much under the same circumstances as now. People didn't like who they had to vote for so they figured they would give me a chance.
Which is basically what I am trying to do here. I am running on Massive Reform and Economics. I believe balance is actually what we need, whereas a Repub economy is on one side and the Dem economy is on the other. There is no balance. We need appropriate taxes, not really low or really high. We need to get rid of defecit spending because, in principle, it's like giving America a credit card and that doesn't work well for you, so why would it work well for our Country.
I get a lot of guff for being young, I'm actually 29 and as some have mentioned on here, they miss a guy like Frank Church who became our U.S. Senator at 32, and wasn't Bill Clinton in his late 20's when he first ran for Congress? Clearly age isn't the issue, ala Obama. It is the message that matters. I want to clean up Boise and Washington. You do that with hardcore Reform. I want to go through our entire tax code federally and would recommend it at the state level to remove all of the special interest and lobby money. I want to go through every program we have in America and check it against the Constitution, ahem Patriot Act. I want to go through every Department and clean things up to make them more organised and efficient, much like a consultant would do for a company or business.
But, the question becomes, do I actually have a chance? Possibly if I would have run as a Repub, I would be on the ticket, having violated Bill Sali, but I would be lying to myself and when I sit down at my dinner table I want to know that while I get to eat tonight, so does the rest of America.
A lot of what I am saying is a lot of what everyone else is saying, but from going through the process so far, even though we agree on a lot of things and what I want to do will fix them, Rep's and Dem's simply won't put their support behind me, because I'm not a Rep or Dem. People vote for party, just like everyone of you will vote for your party even if there is someone there that would be a better person for the job and do a better job of looking out for you.
I get zero media coverage, not even a questionaire to see what my positions are on issues or a basic interview or even an annoucement here and there to let people know I'm running to begin with, but that's okay. I think they'll come around eventually. Maybe a little nudge here or there, maybe an endorsement or two here or there and I'll get a little something.
What I'm finding is that the people who should get elected don't. The GOP and DNC alike put their support behind the person with the 'most electability' and 99% of the time that is the person who is willing to sell themselves out to the party and their special interest and lobby groups. So the best person for the job doesn't even make it past the primaries.
All I'm asking for is a fair shake. Give me the questionaire's, give me the little tidbit interview, let people know I'm running and let the best man/woman win.
So I come on various websites and promo myself because, in reality, it is just me running my campaign at the moment. I have a few people in various areas who said they'll support me and some are even working on making signs for me which is awesome and hopefully they know how much I appreciate that. But do I really have a chance? I refuse to sellout. I'm not rich. I'm not subsequently famous (name recognition), but does this make me a lesser of a candidate? No. In my opinion, I think Walt Minnick is basically the same guy Bill Sali is. If you look at Minnick's page, you'll see a lot of the term "i'll vote", not, "I have a plan to...". See my webpage and you'll see nothing but plans. So Minnick will just do the job, which is voting, he is not bringing anything to the table. So, in essence, he is the same as Sali, just a different name, a different party, and he is rich. Where Sali whores himself out to Big Oil, Minnick will whore himself out to former Timber Industry friends and he'll vote, just like Sali does.
I find it odd how so many people are saying, change, change, change, change, yet here I am, offering them real change, giving answers to what they're complaining about and they don't take it.
As for contributions, all I'm basically looking for is gas money. Minnick is holding some 10 town hall meetings in July throughout the District and I would like to be at all 10. I know I can make one of them because one of them is here in Lewiston, but as far as the rest of them go, I'm not sure. One would ask, why even bother if you don't stand a chance on paper? I would answer that, because I care. Can Bill Sali say this? How about Minnick? Do they care, like I care? If they lose will their lives change at all? No. If they win, would they're lives change at all? Hardly. Minnick will go back to being a rich guy and probably run against Crapo. Sali will go and do what Sali does, which if he does as much as he does in Washington as he does out of Washington, it won't be much.
If this is enough to deter people from throwing in their hat to begin with. So be it. I won't quit. I won't stop until the election results are final and even then, I may announce my candidacy for Mike Crapo's Senate seat next year. I'm starting to look more like Church than I thought.
Write-In David L. Mosher for U.S. Congress in ID-01.