Anybody here ever think of running for office (at the state level or higher)?

[RiverStone]

Or maybe you already did!

I have often pondered how much I would enjoy being an elected Representative. I'm passionate about my views, love a good debate, really enjoy articulating/communicating/writing a point or a counter point.

To be part of our Democratic process and actually be in a position to introduce legislation...that would rock! By office, I'm referring to that of a political variety - at the legislative level.

Minus one thing, which I can't figure out how to get around.

I enjoy a life of relative privacy - living under the stars in rural Washington state. If I were to become an elected Rep. - I would lose much of my privacy. Do I have anything to hide? I don't think so...but would my divorce, my kids, my girlfriend, the fact I'm not a church goer, or that I have Tibetan Prayer Flags blowing in the wind outside my house ALL come under scrutiny? I'm not into having reporters coming down my driveway.

No way do I want people messing around with my privacy! Though I believe if one goes into politics; one does so under the assumption that giving up privacy comes with the territory. Would you agree?

So....so much for politics eh? :shrug:

[Drum]

1. Not in politics, per se,

but have held elected offices in my unions, prior to now....

[taterguy]

2. I ran for Student Body President back in 1982

The principal was afraid of me and fixed the election. I'm still bitter. Never again.

[RiverStone]

4. The principal was probably a rethug

...and he is STILL afraid of you!


peace:)

[SPKrazy]

3. Have Thought About It...

but then the repukes would find all my posts on DU and use them against me...

:rofl:

:shrug:

seriously, state or local politics- yes

federal politics- probably not

[RiverStone]

5. What about the privacy thing?

Do you think you would have to give up alot there?

On your posts - the BushCo regime probably has a file on all us DUers already. :think:

[SPKrazy]

6. I Sure Hope So...

I want them to read something I write...

as for the privacy thing? I think at the local and state a lot less, but definitely some...

at the fed level, you can lose all privacy in some races...

especially in hotly contested districts... I live in a federally repuke district, running for congress here would be expensive as hell, cost one all of their privacy, and still would prolly lose

state level dems do pretty well, even here in this district in Arkansas

[hfojvt]

7. I was prepared to run for the US Senate

although I would not have done a very good job of it. It would not have been a Sirius campaign, raising money, etc., nor have had a snowball's chance in hell of winning. However, I think I would have gotten about 300,000 votes just by being on the ballot, and it is outrageous to me that a Republican incumbent can run for re-election to the US Senate without a major opponent. It's not gonna happen if I have anything to say about it. Fortunately some other people stepped up so I did not have to waste alot of time and money and probably humiliate myself, etc.

I do not agree about giving up privacy. I think the discussion should be about public policy rather than my character or personality or personal habits. But why not defend your Tibetan prayer flags, open people's minds?

[RiverStone]

9. Policy IS more important - though the MSM digs far deeper

you said:

I do not agree about giving up privacy. I think the discussion should be about public policy rather than my character or personality or personal habits. But why not defend your Tibetan prayer flags, open people's minds?

It's very admirable hfojvt, that you seriously pondered running; whatever one's political affiliation, I see running for office as an act of patriotism.

Back to privacy, I agree with you that personal habits should not be an issue above public policy. Yet in todays world, the MSM will make an issue of one's personal life and directly connect it to electibility. Just look at all the talk of the divorced lives of the current candidates for President.

I'm happy to defend my views - I just assume I have NO choice when it comes to privacy if I were to run for office. It would feel as if I'm living in a glass house.

[Alexander]

8. No. Atheists can't get elected today in the US.

And I would rather run for dog-catcher as an atheist and lose than lie about my beliefs and claim I believe something that I don't.

It's sad, that this country is so dominated by "religious" loonies that this can't happen. Oh well.

[femmocrat]

10. I ran for delegate to the DNC in 2004.

Running is a LOT of work, even for some minor office. The hardest part was collecting signatures.

The privacy thing doesn't bother me... it's the campaigning, raising money, all the public speaking, etc. I would be a great representative. I'm just a lousy candidate.

[ghostsofgiants]

11. I plan to in the future.

But that's a few years down the road yet.

[DarkmoonIkonoklast]

12. I've thought about it a time or two...

   More important (I guess) is, I've had friends tell me that they wish I would...
   If I ever DO run for public office, however, it would require a draft, as I'm not interested in power, political or otherwise...
   If I ever DO run for public office, I will accept no contributions from any corporation... individual citizens only, and none of those over $25. I will NOT be beholden to any "person" without a pulse... no "corporate persons"...
   If I ever DO run for public office... frankly, I don't realistically see it, because my life -- past and present -- is littered with the sort of things which, in the conventional wisdom, make one unelectable.
   First, I'm a child of the 60s, which means I'm automatically suspect for drug use... perhaps not the kiss of death it once was, but I DID inhale, still do, and I refuse to deny it, so... :smoke:
   I'm an "out" Pagan... I'm vocally pro-gay-rights, pro HUMAN rights. I support both Domestic Partnerships AND a total ban on State recognition of Marriage as a flagrantly unConstitutional State sanction of a religious sacrament...
   In fact, I want the Government to live under the constraints of the 10th Amendment, under which, the State must request permission of the Citizenry to do anything, rather than -- as is the current practice -- the Citizen being required to ask permission of the State before performing even the most innocent of acts.
   "The Nation is the People, the State is but the Tool." I use this quote in my e-mail sig-block.
   "The Nation is the People, the State is but the Tool." To me, this means that the State, and those officers of the State, work for the People, are responsible to the People, are accountable to the People... and not the other way around.
   If I ever DO run for public office, I would walk the talk of my own sig-block -- I would do whatever I could to remind both Citizens AND officials of this "little" fact. I might only get one term, but I wouldn't be there to get re-elected but, rather, to do the People's work for my entire term of service.
   As for privacy, I operate under the principle that, if I don't lie, if I don't live in pretense, I've nothing to hide. Do I LIKE people digging into my business? No. Do I believe that the People have a right to dig into the business of someone who might wish to speak for them? Yes. Public life does, in my not-at-all humble opinion, carry with it a certain personal transparency, especially in the wake of recent political (and other public) scandals.
   Like I said: unelectable.

[Common Sense Party]

13. Ran for mayor once. I doubt I'll do that again. n/t

[Omphaloskepsis]

14. My use of drugs, alcohol, and sex.. I would be ripped apart.

I have had fun in the private sector.