Hi everyone! My name is James and I am interested in running for Congress.
Why? Well, I think every American has a right to run for Congress, regardless of their social class or economic class.
I am a Democrat from a centre-right district. My congressman, Paul Kanjorski, is in the political battle of his life. This one’s gonna be a nailbiter, folks.
If Lou Barletta wins, I think the Democrats need to field a strong candidate in 2010. If nobody’s gonna run, I think I’ll give it a try.
There’s a few problems for me though:
1. I’m 23. I will be 25 by Election Day 2010 and therefore meet the age requirement to serve in Congress in January of 2011.
2. I’m gay. That one kinda speaks for itself. This district has no gay base to speak of. Remember: This is Scranton, not San Francisco.
3. I have never held elective office before. Now I know it’s not a requirement one does, and really this year inexperience is all the rage. Let’s be honest, folks, even if I had a Harvard degree in law and served 8 years in the State Legislature, I could still lose and lose badly.
These are the issues that I plan to read up about and talk about in the campaign:
1. Border and Port Security- The cargo on the ships coming to the United States is not properly investigated. That whole fiasco with the ports being owned by Saudi Arabia a few years back? Let’s bring it up again. And we need to secure the borders. Lou Dobbs is right.
2. National Security- The President of Iran is a nutjob. He wants to wipe Israel off the map. We cannot let that happen. I’m very pro-Israel.
3. Law and Order- It’s time to do what Nixon did in ’68 that won him the election. There’s a lot of crime out here, a lot of thugs and criminals, there’s school gangs now. It’s time to crack down on crime. We need more cops on the street and harsher penalties for those who try to hurt innocent people.
4. Social Security- A BIG ISSUE for a Democrat running in Pennsylvania. It’s time for the people in Washington to be straight with the American people. Is it going to last for my generation or not? If not, then let’s start thinking of new ideas NOW. The Trust Fund has been ROBBED. The Bush tax cuts stole money from the middle class to give to the upper crust elites. That money could have been used to make Social Security solvent.
5. Veterans – There’s Vietnam veterans sleeping under the bridge out here by Walmart and I’m disgusted at the treatment they have received. They are still suffering from post traumatic stress and therefore aren’t able to readjust well to civilian life. They sacrificed their lives for us. Now it’s up to us to take care of them. I will bring up this issue because somebody’s got to talk about it.
I need to form the Clinton Coalition again. Mrs. Clinton was popular here because she took the words right out of our mouths and said the things we were feeling about feeling invisible. I always thought Barack was more of a Starbucks kind of Democrat. I’m reluctantly supporting him. I would have preferred Hill.
Elitism is very much hated out here.
To win here, a Democrat needs to get “the Walmart voter” and convince them that their economic interests are best served by the Democrats than the Republicans.
I’m going to need some help here, and I’m asking you all now to offer some advice for me. So reply back to me!
I would imagine that, should Kanjorski lose, this will be a top target for the DCCC and PA Democratic Party. And should he win and retire (which might be a good idea), the same will be true. In either case, I would expect the Democrats to field a strong challenge.
But should you decide to run, check out this book:
Winning Elections, Faucheux
ISBN 1-59077-026-9
It was a textbook for one of my classes. It’s a collection of articles written by people experienced in campaigns and covers things like fundraising, events, campaign planning and budgeting, etc.
Dear James,
I don’t know if Kanjorski is going to win or not, but whether he does or not, from what you describe I don’t think you’re currently well positioned to run for Congress in Scranton.
Here are a few suggestions:
1. Consider setting your sights a little lower initially – a 25 year old with no history of holding political office is going to have a hard time being taken seriously. Think about a longer term plan than 2010 — look around for other opportunities to get out there, get known to voters, and build up a resume and campaign experience. City Council, county office, state legislature, Democratic party committee member, town/township offices, school board, etc.
2. Also look at the possibility of getting appointed to state or local regulatory or advisory committees – they are great ways to prove your seriousness, build a resume, make contacts that can help in future races, etc.
3. Get very involved in community issues and groups — rather than just talking about the issues that matter to you, find ways to work in volunteer and advocacy groups that work on those issues. Most successful candidates have a history of serving on community organization boards, doing volunteer work that gets them known in the community, identifies them with an issue, provides them with a network of key contacts. Whether it is a group working for a living wage, better police coverage, or better education, or any other issue you care about — put your time in now so people take you seriously, not just as someone who is ambitious and wants to run for office.
4. Get very involved in the local Democratic Party — not just campaigning between now and election day (although you should definitely do that), but find out about Democratic clubs or town/county groups that you can volunteer with in off-election years. Help them with fundraising events, working on cleaning up voter lists , etc. In an area like Scranton, they’ll love to have a young person come in and volunteer — most of these groups are full of very old folks who have been doing this work forever. Take on the grunt work, you’ll earn their respect and can learn a lot from them about local politics. At the same time, look at how you can bring other new people (your friends etc) into the party so you have a support system involved with you.
5. Get training on how to be a candidate. A great place to start is with a group called the “Victory Fund.” They work to help get more openly gay candidates elected to offices all over the country, and between elections they do great work with training seminars to help potential candidates learn how to be an effective candidate and how to run a campaign. Check out their website to find out more about it.
6. Help run someone else’s campaign first. Before you run for office yourself, I’d advise working as someone else’s campaign manager or a senior campaign position — it is an essential way to learn about the local politics, make contacts, learn the media, and understand exactly what is involved in a successful campaign locally. If Kanjorski wins, he might step down or face a strong primary challenger in two years. If Barletta wins, a lot of local Democratic office-holders will be thinking about that race — rather than running yourself (and losing), help a good candidate who you like win the primary and win the seat for the Democrats.
6. Start figuring out now how you would run a campaign — how many people do you know? how would you raise money? who would work on your campaign? Start building your lists and networks now – for whenever you might run in the future.
7. Be realistic — do you really think that in two years you’d be able to raise the several million dollars, build the campaign organization needed, become well enough known in the district, etc needed to win such a high profile election? Do you really think the voters of Scranton are ready to elect a 25 year old gay Congressman? I really doubt it…
8. Think about how your political ambitions fit with your idea of life work. You don’t say much about what you currently do, your education, etc… but you should consider things like getting a job in Harrisburg or in DC (or even something like an internship with Bob Casey or Ed Rendell’s office). What about working for a labor union or an advocacy organization or local government? Maybe working as a reporter covering these issues (especially on TV, where you get to be well known). Just like volunteer activities, working in these kinds of jobs help you build a network, a profile, and credibility. (And they can be a lot of fun as well if you’re someone who is interested in politics. At lot of people find out they like this kind of work better than being a candidate/office holder themselves.)
9. Ask yourself if you are committed to doing this in Scranton. As you note, it isn’t the friendliest territory for a gay candidate, but that isn’t a reason to leave and try it somewhere else. If this is your home and you want to stay there, then you should definitely do that. If not, where do you see yourself living and working in 10 years? Would you rather be in Philly or Pittsburgh or a college town or somewhere else…
—
I hope I don’t sound like I’m being too negative on your ambitions – but I wanted to give an honest answer to your question. You could could go ahead and run without doing all this stuff and end up being one of those candidates who gets 5-10% of the vote in a Congressional primary and doesn’t get taken seriously, or you can think longer term about what it takes to build a serious life of political leadership.
I’m originally from coal country in western PA, I’m gay, and I’ve been involved at a pretty high level of Democratic politics for a long time (including being a Democratic National Committee member for 9 years, being vice-chair of my state party, and getting others and myself elected to a number of offices). I want to encourage you to do this, and to do it right.
Sorry for the long answer — but I hope it helps. If you want to communicate more about this stuff, I’m happy to exchange emails with you and talk about all this stuff more.
1. 25 in 1776 meant you had spent at least 10 years being self suffient. Working full time in a harsh world. Experience is something you get shortly after you need it.
2. Your thinking is off in that you think that being gay is the only way to address issues that gays encounter. Such as Taxes on individuals being higher than couples. Life discounts for marriage such as car insurance home insurance etc. But if you mean to redefine the dictionary or carve out special deals for just one group then your thinking is not clear at all. You may want to get on the liberty band wagon and demand that All men are created equal and should be taxed and treated as such. Then your gay status is really none of our business as a voter. But you clearly wanting to make it such.
3. My fridge broke can someone find me a Harvard or Yale man? I would suggest that we are in the problems we see today because we are leaning on these schools for our thinking instead of ourselves to solve problems.
Problems.
Border and Port Security- First is was a purchase deal not an ownership issue and it was Dubai not Saudi Arabia. Dubai has been our friend and BEST friend against middle east terriosts for more than 30 years. Clinton sold them Gobs of f-16’s in the 90’s. This Knee jerk reaction by liberals cost Americans 7 billion in jobs while Communist China was allowed to buy ports on the West coast. Buying a port is not buying water front BTW. Those counters in Airports are also called PORTS.
National Security – The president of IRan is a figure head. The Shaw of Iran runs the country and only he can say who can run for election with a board of 80 men he hand picks. This form of government in Iran was setup by Jimmy Carter who single handed destroyed the election process that would of made Iran a democracy 30 years ago.
Social Security – Another liberal heard from on what the Bush tax cuts were not. Middle class went from 28% to 24% and upper went from 37% to 33% and you can’t cut taxes on people who don’t pay them i.e. the lower class. AS you stated Decades of stealing from Social Security is catching up to us but when you steal from the public coffers, you don’t fix that from stealing from the productive earners of the country. If its ok to hate someone because they have made money then its just ok to hate someone for any damn reason. Liberals never can understand why poor people don’t want the rich robbed. Because it means you can’t never move up in station of life. Its not a left right issue its an up down issue. Progressive takes prevent upward movement.
Veterans – BS. I am a veteran 2 tours in middle east. My wife is a veteran 2 tours in Middle east. Both of us Lifetime members of the VFW(Veterans of Foreign Wars) First of all IF there are people under a bridge there is a reason and its not vietnam. A Young Vietnam Veteran would be just under 60 years of age now. There are dozens of veteran programs for Vets the DAV(Disabled Veterans) will for Free hold the hand of any vet who needs help. Either these people don’t want your help or are lieing about being VET’S PERIOD as part of their money begging. Either way another program won’t fix this issue its called life, its theirs to live well or poorly, not yours to decided to fix out of personal demons to suppress.
“Elitism is very much hated out here”
get “the Walmart voter” = Elitism (you are stating they are too dumb to live their own lives)
You need to do some soul searching and education outside what ever liberal college you just attended. You are not to the center of anything and the only reason your leaning right is because your body has been hard jerked to the left by some professor or friends. Thats physics not politics