One hundred and fifty years ago an aspiring periodical would have covered a local business man seeking a seat in Congress. Today labels and electoral inevitability only require reporting all the 'Benjamins'. As discouraging as this reality may be, it is also heartening when one thinks of possible alternatives. Fortunately voters are not as pliable as some would like to think. The reality is that insiders are.
A recent conversation with a Pataki insider revealed an attitude about one of our democratic opponents. The individual in question acknowledged our campaign as a result of some media coverage and completely dismissed the grassroots efforts of those individuals opposing the remnants of the Albany machine.
People are truly tired of politics as usual and will respond to a choice at the polls. The goal of this campaign is to make some excitement in the streets, not please the pliant scriveners of the corporate media mainstays. As we travel to anti-war rallies, music festivals and other community events we'll talk to people and hopefully inspire some hope in this process. We may even see an endorsement from candidates who go down in their party's primary.
Our endorsement this week from the Capitol District LP will help the 69% of Americans who are not happy with Congress have a voice in November. We're only 3500 petition signatures away from that choice. Unfortunately we can't start until July 11 and must finish before the end of August. We need to average almost 100 signatures a day smack dab in the middle of summer.
Our success or failure will be telling for our democracy message. As some would discourage or keep out competitors we seek to only open the process and press on to that fateful day. If you support underdogs, we need heroes like you. Signatures, blogging or even a couple bag lunches instead of an expensive lunch out will help the cause.