Politics and Process

Over the months ahead I’m going to use this space for two main purposes which actually align with my mission. I call them the two “P”s. Politics and Process. If I’m going to ask for your signature (and then for your vote) it would only make sense for you to know what I think about government and its role in our lives. Political parties call them platforms but since I’m my own party I will just refer to them as my beliefs. I also want to shine a light on the process of running for office. What does it take? What hoops do you have to jump through? Is an elected position out of reach for the common person? It will all be here so let’s get started.

So, what are you?

When people ask that question they are traditionally referring to party, which is problematic now that one-third of North Carolina voters aren’t registered Republicans or Democrats. I used to refer to myself as an independent but recently I’ve had to learn how to spell unaffiliated. I’ve gotten pretty good at it because of lots of practice but I will save that for the process section. As an independent I feel free to embrace policies from both major parties along with the Greens and Libertarians without feeling like I’m cheating on someone. You see I’m what used to be referred to as a moderate. 

The problem is that moderate is a tough sell these days because we don’t tend to take extreme positions on anything. There are no cable news channels that spout centrist dogma or push moderate policies because that doesn’t sell commercials. The shame is that most Americans fall in the middle but our voices tend to be drowned out by the screamers on both ends. Talking heads from both major parties only seem to agree that the other side doesn’t love America, understand the Constitution, or grasp what the Founding Fathers intended. According to Pew Research, American political beliefs have barely changed but how we feel about those we disagree with has taken a dramatic nosedive towards the negatives. I blame politicians. 

So how do we change that?

The solution to our political divide is understanding that our government has been shoehorned into a two-party system which leaves little choice besides A or B. Because of this, our candidate options can’t be too moderate for fear that they may be accused of agreeing with some of their opponent’s policies. The lightbulb moment for me came when I realized that Republican and Democratic politicians may disagree on policies but can’t exist without each other. So I decided to run as an alternative option.

House District 53 is the highest office that I can run for and still work through our Harnett County Board of Elections. In order to keep any fools willing to pay the filing fee from appearing on the ballot in November, state law requires a potential unaffiliated candidate to procure signatures from registered voters equaling 4% of the total number of voters for that office. Even though this sounds like an SAT question what it means is that I will need just short of 2,200 signatures from registered voters in District 53. Signatures must be on the form provided by the Board of Elections, not electronically, and be turned in before March 3rd, 2020. At that point the staff will hand verify every signature against the current voting rolls and if they are approved, voila, I’m a candidate for State House District 53

In a later post, I’ll let you in on the labyrinth of paperwork that I’ve already completed and other barriers to participation for Independents but first I need to get on the ballot. The signature threshold is daunting but not impossible if I’m diligent and have your help. If you would be willing to host a signature party please send me a private message and we can work on a schedule. If you are a member of a civic organization or church that would be willing to give me a few minutes to share my thoughts that would also be great. Together I believe that we can strike a blow for decency, common ground, and healing for our divided state and country.