Ten day countdown

This election represents both the shortest campaign I’ve ever been in (two months) and the one I’ve spent the least effort campaigning.

I’ve had a dozen of my hundred or so lawnsigns picked up by others to put up but I’ve not put any up in the several dozen sites offered to me by contributors. I could have spent today doing this and that would have made sense because tomorrow its supposed to storm.And putting them up in the rain wouldn’t be any fun.

After three years of maniacal work to win a vote on the Red Plan I’ve spent the last year putting family far ahead of politics. My father and brother-in-law will pay us a visit on Sunday and cleaning my Garage takes priority. We just purchased a new car that is far to big for the garage space its in and I simply must clean it up the larger garage stall before they arrive.

this meant hauling two loads of garage debris to the materials recycling center and another load of stuff to Goodwill this afternoon. I bought a new utility cabinet for the garage and I expect it will take half a day to put the cabinet together and pick up all the stuff I emptied out of the old kitchen cabinets that were too fat to admit a Chevy Traverse.

One thing relieved me of any guilt I might otherwise have felt for abandoning this important campaign day for family. I submitted a good letter to the editor to the Trib this morning.

Here’s my simple political calculation. Both Roger and I have good name recognition. Although Roger is a man in the grey flannel suit I’m either loved or hated by voters. Putting up lawnsigns won’t change anyone’s mind and won’t give me any added name recognition. However, for those voters who are still undecided my letter in reply to the Trib’s endorsement gives me a rare opportunity to restate my case. By now its three years old but that doesn’t mean I can’t reinvigorate it.

The Trib’s circulation is a little fuzzy but its quite likely that my letter could be read by up to 30,000 voters in District 7. Compared to lawnsigns a good letter stands a chance to change minds.

Putting more faith in my words is simply following the example of my hero Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln was a rare exception. He was a man who labored hard to write his way into the hearts and heads of his countrymen. It got Lincoln elected President and I won’t argue with success. Besides, the last three years has effectively been my campaign for this office although I did not realize the office would become vacant.

When I finally gave up cleaning a happy band of beer drinking college boys began shouting at the cars driving up 21st Ave. Their racket threatened to keep my new grandson awake so, I wrapped him up in my arms and paid a call on the boys. I played the god cop and told the boys I really needed to put my baby to bed. They were nice kids took the hint and left us in peace.

I’ve got to decide whether to spend the $3,000 left in my campaign account. I’ve not prepared any new ads. Once my in-laws arrive for the week on Sunday being a good host will make it difficult to campaign. I’ve hired a charter fishing boat for Monday and hope we can catch a lunker.

A couple of people have suggested to me that I’ve become a single issue candidate. It may very well be true that a single issue gets me elected but the thousand folks who read this blog know that unlike most politicians I relish telling folks what I think about issues. I’m almost a stand in for that moth who is attracted to theflame. If you doubt this just look at the incindiary list to the right of this blog post.

I have the eclectic knowledge of a trivia pursuit champion paired with the humility to admit publicly when I’m wrong. Because I’ve run and lost so many times I’m no longer fearful (if I ever was) about losing an election just for being honest. In fact I consider it a badge of honor to lose for a good cause. At a few months shy of age sixty I can’t abide the thought of being a mealy mouthed politician. That’s something Roger Reinert might be able to say in thirty years but he sure can’t say it today.

Roger could use a little leavening. I’d highly recommend listening to an hour of Raffi singing lullibies to a grandchild. Its a good way to relate to your constituents.

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