This is probably as nuts as I think it is, but I'm vaguely considering a run at WA-05. I've been unsuccessful in getting hold of Peter Goldmark to find out if he's considering another run, which I would support; if anyone knows how to do that, please let me know & I'll throw my full (if more or less negligible, at present) weight behind him.
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That being said, I haven't the remotest idea where/howI would start preparing for candidacy, or, for that matter, whether it's a complete non-starter. Here's where I'm at, more or less, in a nutshell:
My motivation is fairly simple: WA05 is a big chunk of rural WA, represented by a Bushite cipher. Goldmark, a rookie, took a large hunk of the vote. We need more Dems in Congress, and fewer numb-from-the-neck-up rubberstamps. I don't yet see anyone out there. I'm pretty smart, well informed, painfully honest, and cantankerous as hell. Also too ugly to get into showbiz.
I'm not quite a resident of WA05, moving to Mazama from Seattle in the nearest future. I'm more or less retired at 52 (not rich, just more willing to be "modest" than I am to impersonate an executive). Couple of advanced degrees, international relations and business, fairly fancy. Good, no, excellent manager, analyst, judge of people. Practical, relatively low bullshit quotient. Cynical, yes. Get past it, I can.
Problems: I'm not a Democrat, officially. And, if I don't run, I won't become one any time soon. I haven't joined anything since the boyscouts, because I'm convinced that most organizations magnify the fundamental corruptibility (and, oh, by the way, stupidity) of the individual by encouraging groupthink and "everybody does it". Doesn't mean I don't play well with others, I just say "No" when it needs to be said. Hasn't made me real popular in the corporate world, except among the few who find it refreshing.
Secondly, I've broken nearly every Commandment and not a few laws, albeit not lately. Never got busted, particularly; did go through alcohol treatment 22 years ago, dry since. As far as I know, the people I've broken commandments with remember it with reasonable equanimity, if not necessarily pure pleasure. I have no problem with the world knowing about my "transgressions", in a general way, but recognize that this isn't 'specially good rep.
My stands on issues are fairly vanilla for our side of the ranch:
1)Iraq has gone from ridiculous to criminal, never should have happened and needs to stop yesterday, by whatever means
2)not pro-abortion but pro-choice: it's a medical procedure that is appropriate if the prospective mother considers it to be so
3)gay rights is no-brainer;
4)Bush is an idiot, a sociopath, definitely needs a misery program for his retirement, preferably with federal sanction
5)religion as personal choice, so keep it personal
Not an easy sell in rural WA, but, on the other hand, I've already semi-converted a few confirmed rednecks: they'll put up our disagreements on this kind of issue because a) I don't attack their beliefs directly, b) I make a lot of sense on issues that really affect them, c) I'm dead honest. They respect that.
If the consensus is "don't bother", I can live with that and will simply ask for advice on how to get involved in tracking down a decent candidate. If it's not, I need to know how to approach this business. I intend to take it up with Ned Lamont, whom I went to school with & will see at a reunion in a month, but he's in a whole different league: I haven't got a mess of my own money to seed a campaign, so this would have to be a guerrilla operation.
Have at it, please.
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