I've published accounts of my adventures of running for office. It's been a trip, to borrow from '60s slang, a roller coaster ride. This is an update after the election. This morning, I went to vote. This afternoon, I stood on a busy street corner, waving at voters. This evening, I went to the town hall to await results. I lost.
I was very disappointed. I was running for my town's Board of Education. There were 4 seats up for contest, and I was one of 5 candidates. Three of the candidates were incumbent (including me, I had been appointed by the board to fill a vacancy until the election), and all three were Democrats. There were 2 challengers, both Republican.
The Republicans conducted a stronger campaign, I thought. More lawn signs, bigger ads in the paper. They spent way more money than the Democrats.
I had done what I thought I needed to do. My candidacy was part of a slate, which essentially means that there is a lot of campaigning that the Democratic Town Committee does, and not a lot that a candidate can do in his or her own behalf. I helped with the fund raisers; I marched in the town parade; I put up lawn signs; I conducted lit drops. I made no phone calls. I could have walked the neighborhoods - but didn't, thinking that I probably needn't. I was wrong.
In earlier diaries, I invoked Howard Dean, his statement that if he were a citizenship professor, and citizens were his students, the best grade he could give someone who never ran for office was a D-minus. Well, I now feel like I could make a C-plus, maybe even a B. Yes, I made mistakes, and I learned. But I didn't win.
So, what now? I got a call from MSM newspaper reporter asking me that question. I told her, I have some ideas. I'm not going away. I still want to run for State office, I see it as far different than running for local office. I'll conduct my own campaign. To start, I'll get a mentor. I'll be going to the DTC meetings of the towns in the district, get some face recognition. I won't get vocal for a while, just stick my hand out and repeat my name. I'll study the material I received at the DFA academy, even attend again in the next couple of seasons.
I'll blog, here on Kos and on one or two local political blogs. I might even put up my own blog, see what happens.
I'll be in touch!