I am mad. We're all mad. We have had lots of issues lately with Democrats failing to live up to the standards that those who consider themselves Progressive/Liberal/Etc have set.
I personally am very mad because my own Congressman, The Honorable (used loosely now) Glenn Nye just voted against health care. He voted against Stupak too for those who care, but voting against Health Care is a dealbreaker for me.
He is a Blue Dog, and although he does not appear to be as odious as Mike Ross has been regarding health care (Nye has never to my knowledge gloated about holding health care hostage, for example) you can take his membership in that caucus for what it's worth, with whatever grain of salt you want.
As I have sat and stewed and just been irritated, I have wondered to myself lately if I should just shut up and run for Congress myself. I have always thought I'd like to try and have a political career, but I've always laughed it off saying things like "nobody would elect me, because I tell it like it is" and "I wouldn't bullshit the people I would be a straight shooter, so nobody would vote for me".
But the more and more I think about it, and the more I see the anger on the left grow...and the mere fact that not only did Barack Obama win the Presidency last year, but he carried Virginia - the first time a Democrat has done so since Johnson did it in the 60's.
Anyway.
I can't even if I wanted to run for any national office next year, I'm not old enough to do so yet. I don't turn 25 until 2011, which is the minimum age for eligibility to be a member of the House.
I have always thought any serious run would wait about another ten years or so, but because of the shifting mood on the side of the Democrats, I am wondering if there is any even slight viability to perhaps at least seeking to earn a primary nomination for the Democratic Party in 2012.
There are of course, many pitfalls to thinking about this. For one, I have never held any elected office ever. This is obvious because, well, I'm not that old, so when have I had time to do so?
I did find, however, some precedent for sending whippersnappers to Congress, so that makes me feel a lot better about the process.
Adam Putnam, (R-FL) and Patrick McHenry (R-NC) were both sent to Congress essentially immediately after they became eligible to even run for the office.
I don't really know much about Putnam or McHenry, but the fact that citizens in recent memory have in fact sent sub-30-year-old men to Congress makes me think my chances in light of my own youth alone can't much worse than theirs.
Other issues include the fact that I don't really have any actual record to run on. Nye had never held elected office, but he served overseas for the State Department for several years before deciding to run for Congress. Even David Ashe, who I cited in my diary last night had the distinction of only being a military man, and he "only" lost to Thelma Drake by 10-11% in 2004. According to Ashe's own Facebook page, his military service is in fact the only real platform he had to stand on against a well-known Republican House of Delegate member and realtor in Drake. To only lose by a margin of 55.1 to 44.8 is not "good", but I mean, he could have had his ass whomped like 72-28 or 68-31 or something, right? Right.
The thing is, I have literally been a lifelong resident of VA-02. While Doug Hoffman (snicker) knew nothing about all those silly "parochial" issues in NY-23, I feel that I could credibly talk about VA-02, at least the Norfolk part of it anyway, without much problem.
I'm not going to go into any detail regarding any sort of campaign issue stances or anything because frankly that would be premature, but I think it is safe to say that scant few Republicans/Conservatives would like to vote for me because I don't share very many of their views if any.
The other big problem with even thinking about attempting something like this is that I honestly haven't got the slightest clue what I would need to do to run a campaign, be it in 2012, 2014, or beyond.
So, I am posting this here, and now, because I want some feedback.
Specifically, am I out of my mind? If yes, what would you suggest doing to burnish one's "credentials" before attempting a run for Congress.
If I am not (or even if I am), how the hell does one actually organize/run a campaign for Congress? That would be really nice to know before launching one out of nowhere.
Suffice to say, I would really, really, really at some point down the line, be it as early as 2012 or as late as...2050...would love the help and support of you guys, the Netroots. I would love to be a candidate of, say, the PCCC as opposed to "just" backed by the DCCC.
My ultimate goal would be to serve in a national capacity in a way that we don't see from politicians often enough: With some good old fashioned common sense.
I want what is truly best for the people, in Virginia and in America. That means I would much rather listen to constituents rather than fat-assed corporate bastards who want me to pay more attention to their particular interest than to the interests of good, hard-working, worried working folk.
Am I too optimistic for that? Maybe. But I'll never know until I try, eh?
Please don't misunderstand or anything, I am not soliciting donations or anything like that here! Not yet anyway!
Just would like to hear any words of advice that anyone might have, and any other discussion pertinent to such an issue, I suppose. Think of it as a very large exploratory committee, except instead of a bunch of talking heads in suits, it's "the people" who I am seeking to hear from!
Thank you for any honest and constructive posting that you can provide to my diary...it will be appreciated.
Pre-Diary Posting PS:
I feel like I should add another disclaimer I guess. I don't want anyone to construe this as somehow inappropriate. I'm not trying to troll, or cause division, or seek money or anything. I have wanted to post about this subject for a little while now, but I have worried that with a lot of infighting and cross-blog strife going on, this might contribute to it.
Please, don't go that route. That's not my intent here. I am just fed up of incompetent government, and want to know where my mind should be on this. It stems out of a genuine desire to help serve the people, so, let's go from there, shall we? Thanks!