The Tea Parties have been around for many months, more than enough time for people to find the answer, yet I keep reading goofball stories about them. Permit me to express my opinion: this is based on my personal experience with the various Tea Parties here in the bay area. I have no idea if my experiences are indicative of Tea Parties in other parts of the country.
Are They A Front Group For Someone Else?
Certainly not. The nature of my contacts with them are profoundly different than the contacts I have with established political groups. They are clearly informal, amateur neighborhood groups.
Are They Secretly Financed By Powerful Forces?
Hah, hah: I wish. I just recently found out that I am a great favorite of several Tea Parties. If they were well financed, they would have found a way to contribute to my campaign fund. This has emphatically not happened.
Are They Weirdoes, Potheads, And Nazis?
Truthfully, these are spontaneous, grass root organizations. Ragtag collection of people would not be unfair. So, yes there are a few nutballs. Since they seem to be quite egalitarian, this is kinda unavoidable, I guess.
They Are Republicans, But Are They Conservative?
This is also a difficult subject. They are certainly fiscal conservatives, but they are not always social conservatives. I suspect that this is the main reason why some Republicans are, behind closed doors, rather skeptical.
Are They Republican Sock Puppets?
This is another charge that keeps popping up. To see the answer, just consider O’Donnell (Delaware), Angle (Nevada), and Miller (Alaska). Are these candidates being welcomed and hugged by establishment Republicans, or are they being pilloried?
Hmmm?
Why Don’t Libs Believe Any Of This?
This one was a puzzle to me for a quite a while; surely the evidence is clearly on display for anyone who wishes to examine it. I suspect that Libs find it impossible to believe that a grassroots political organization could ever be conservative and totally opposite to their political beliefs, so there must be more to it that is below the surface. It must be shear disbelief.
Hey, Are You A Tea Partier?
Well, umm, err: no. I have great respect for them, and, as a candidate, they make me very happy. I have been to a few events, but as an invited guest or speaker, not as a member. Sorry about that.
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Sunday, October 17, 2010
Training Manual for Candidates: Alinsky’s Rules for Radicals
If you are a candidate, politician, or political activist, this book is required reading. The author has become famous because he is widely given credit for giving the President, who is a relative newbie to national politics, the campaigning skill to win the Presidency.
The subtitle is a Pragmatic Primer for Realistic Radicals. Indeed: this book is equally useful for conservatives and liberals.
Do not let the author’s famous leftist leanings put you off: the wisdom he imparts is equally profitable for both liberal and conservative. In the very beginning he explains that he is trying to expound useful and powerful techniques, not advance a particular point of view. In this, he is mostly successful: his liberalism pops up here and there, but it does not effect the value of what he is saying.
He has a deservedly brilliant grasp on political and community organizing: surely a useful skill, regardless of your politics. It gives you extremely valuable insights into politicking and campaigning. I only wish I had read this earlier in my campaign.
This book is a good companion to Hoffer’s The True Believer. Alinsky gives you tactics, Hoffer gives you strategy. These 2 books complement each other perfectly. Both authors do their share of slicing, dicing, and colorizing history, psychology, and facts to suit their own needs, but this does not take away from the value of what both men are saying. If you are thinking of running for office in 2012, you would be doing yourself and your constituents a big favor by reading both books before formulating your campaign strategy.
Highly recommended.
The subtitle is a Pragmatic Primer for Realistic Radicals. Indeed: this book is equally useful for conservatives and liberals.
Do not let the author’s famous leftist leanings put you off: the wisdom he imparts is equally profitable for both liberal and conservative. In the very beginning he explains that he is trying to expound useful and powerful techniques, not advance a particular point of view. In this, he is mostly successful: his liberalism pops up here and there, but it does not effect the value of what he is saying.
He has a deservedly brilliant grasp on political and community organizing: surely a useful skill, regardless of your politics. It gives you extremely valuable insights into politicking and campaigning. I only wish I had read this earlier in my campaign.
This book is a good companion to Hoffer’s The True Believer. Alinsky gives you tactics, Hoffer gives you strategy. These 2 books complement each other perfectly. Both authors do their share of slicing, dicing, and colorizing history, psychology, and facts to suit their own needs, but this does not take away from the value of what both men are saying. If you are thinking of running for office in 2012, you would be doing yourself and your constituents a big favor by reading both books before formulating your campaign strategy.
Highly recommended.
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Oct 12 Update On My Campaign
I have not written about my campaign recently, plus I saw something on the internet that my opponent has spent something like $3/4 million dollars on the campaign so far. Really? In a safe Democratic district? Does that sound like the actions of a budget-wise Congressman?
You mean I am being outspent 1000-to-one?
Sheesh.
I have made a number of appearances the past month. Now, that the election is less than month off, I actually have fewer such things scheduled. Course, now comes the hard part: intense GOTV and precinct walking.
While I have received contributions, endorsements, and some media attention, these are all what I would call passive events. In other words, they were all the result of those who have contacted my campaign. I have not actively gone out to seek them, and that is greatest mistake I have made. The problem is that I am a campaign of one running things out of my apartment, and I do not have a campaign manager, whom I now realize I really need for such these things, since I do not have personal time myself for them.
One bit of political strategy I have learned, however. It is common wisdom, at least from local media, that since the SF Bay Area is so far left, that Republicans must make a strong move to the center to at least have a chance to capture a few votes from the center. I disagree strongly with this idea. I believe that the starker contrast that Republicans draw with their Liberal opponents, the more votes that we will receive; it is a strategy that has worked for Bay Area Democrats for years, and I think that it will also work for Republicans.
In any event, I am having the time of my life. Right now, my voice carries weight, and that is quite edifying.
You mean I am being outspent 1000-to-one?
Sheesh.
I have made a number of appearances the past month. Now, that the election is less than month off, I actually have fewer such things scheduled. Course, now comes the hard part: intense GOTV and precinct walking.
While I have received contributions, endorsements, and some media attention, these are all what I would call passive events. In other words, they were all the result of those who have contacted my campaign. I have not actively gone out to seek them, and that is greatest mistake I have made. The problem is that I am a campaign of one running things out of my apartment, and I do not have a campaign manager, whom I now realize I really need for such these things, since I do not have personal time myself for them.
One bit of political strategy I have learned, however. It is common wisdom, at least from local media, that since the SF Bay Area is so far left, that Republicans must make a strong move to the center to at least have a chance to capture a few votes from the center. I disagree strongly with this idea. I believe that the starker contrast that Republicans draw with their Liberal opponents, the more votes that we will receive; it is a strategy that has worked for Bay Area Democrats for years, and I think that it will also work for Republicans.
In any event, I am having the time of my life. Right now, my voice carries weight, and that is quite edifying.
Friday, October 8, 2010
Required Reading for Candidates - the Economics of Dr. Doom
Review of Crisis Economics by Nouriel Roubini.
If you are a candidate for public office and could be in a position to write or vote for legislation on financial reform, this book is a must-have. In particular, chapters 8 and 9 have specific recommendations that are easily translated into a legislative bill, and I agree with all of them.
The author acquired the nickname Dr. Doom because, for years, he warned against the financial meltdown of 2008 and about the severity and long-lasting effects it will have. He was widely ignored and even ridiculed; not anymore. Today, he is well-regarded as a visionary or a sage, and his voice carries weight.
Many have written about the financial meltdown, but Dr. Doom is one of the few people who has, in my opinion, correctly analyzed the current financial crisis. Far from being a once-in-a-lifetime occurrence, he has pointed out that these type of financial panics occur regularly in capitalistic, western countries: they have happened many times in the past, and shall certainly happen again. His perspective is a historical one, and the old saw that ‘those who ignore history are doomed to repeat it’ comes to mind.
Particularly unsettling is the last chapter, Outlook. The good doctor foresees a rather rocky economic road ahead for the US and the world. It is a good bet that the next financial collapse will come from one of those listed by the author.
If you are a candidate for public office and could be in a position to write or vote for legislation on financial reform, this book is a must-have. In particular, chapters 8 and 9 have specific recommendations that are easily translated into a legislative bill, and I agree with all of them.
The author acquired the nickname Dr. Doom because, for years, he warned against the financial meltdown of 2008 and about the severity and long-lasting effects it will have. He was widely ignored and even ridiculed; not anymore. Today, he is well-regarded as a visionary or a sage, and his voice carries weight.
Many have written about the financial meltdown, but Dr. Doom is one of the few people who has, in my opinion, correctly analyzed the current financial crisis. Far from being a once-in-a-lifetime occurrence, he has pointed out that these type of financial panics occur regularly in capitalistic, western countries: they have happened many times in the past, and shall certainly happen again. His perspective is a historical one, and the old saw that ‘those who ignore history are doomed to repeat it’ comes to mind.
Particularly unsettling is the last chapter, Outlook. The good doctor foresees a rather rocky economic road ahead for the US and the world. It is a good bet that the next financial collapse will come from one of those listed by the author.
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