
There have been doubts. There have been tears. There have been internet trolls. There are continuing struggles with fundraising. There is a developing theme of having the least campaign time of any candidate alive because of being stuck inside four pandemic walls with two toddlers and a wife now working more than full time. There have been uncertainties about whether this is all worth it or not.
For the most part, none of that lasts long. You know why? Because doubts are necessary to help me see what could go wrong so I can make adjustments. Tears are there because I care. Internet trolls are there to teach me patience and how to stand up for my principles and convictions. Or they’re there to further teach me the grand art of either ignoring or sarcasm. Probably a little of both.
Struggles with fundraising are there to teach me creativity. Being stuck inside with all these kids is God’s way of filling my future “sitting in a rocking chair at the nursing home” coffers with stories of the crazy year I spent every waking minute with my family and still managed to run a reputable campaign without killing ANY of them.
And that last one from the first paragraph, about the uncertainties as to whether it’s worth it or not? You’re damn right it’s worth it. Turn on the news or scroll social media for five minutes and you know it’s not only worth it, it’s necessary.
Somebody has to help stitch the fabric of this country. I love this place far too much to stand by and watch the seams continue to unravel. Our political parties have no interest in doing that. People like me have to try instead.
But let’s back up for a moment, shall we? Let’s look at the good aspects of our political parties – or the remnants of them – because that’s where I go searching when those doubts trickle in. I can’t be unaffiliated if I don’t know what I refuse to affiliate with.
It HAS to start with the good for me, though. The bad is what keeps me away, but I need to feel a connection to each party. I mean, you can’t be unaffiliated if you hate everything about a political party. If you do, that just means you are a member of the other one. But I like some of both.
The Republican Party
Personally, it is difficult for me to see a “true” Republican party anymore (and I’ll say the same thing about Democrats in a minute, don’t worry.) When I think of what I love about the Republican party, it comes down to three main ideals:
#1 – Free Market Economy Over Too Much Government
This is overly generalized, but it’s close enough. I mean, sure, it has some downfalls, but I would pick what we have now – a free market, mostly capitalist economy with some social programs – over the TRUE definition of socialism any and every day. (And by the way, most people have no idea what true socialism is. It’s become simply a buzzword to reprehend the Democratic party, and it’s used incorrectly just about 100% of the time. Check out this article about why it shouldn’t even be called socialism; it should be called “transference.”)
Look at the good that comes from a free market economy, though. People are rewarded for innovation and hard work and personal responsibility: ALL good things that we ask of our students in school every single day. Sure, there’s greed, too, but I venture to guess you’d be calling a kettle black if you deny the presence of greed in your own life. With the ideal balance of a “capitalism with social programs” economy, we also see less government in our lives, lower taxes, and the freedom to believe the American dream is actually a real possibility.
#2 – Fiscal Conservatism
I hope I’m not alone in that seeing a nearly $27 TRILLION national debt scares me just a little bit. I really, really hope I’m not alone. And what’s worse is that there are NO plans to balance a budget anytime soon, much less actually pay some of that debt back. And with another stimulus package, it very easily could be $30 TRILLION by the end of the year.
When does that repayment start exactly? If we don’t pay back our household debt, we lose whatever it is we stopped paying for. Does that mean we eventually lose our country because we couldn’t find a way to be better stewards of OUR money?
The answer is yes. It absolutely could mean that. I’m a HUGE fan of the Republican party’s once-upon-a-time principle of fiscal conservatism. You should be, too.
#3 – A Strong Military / Police Force
We are in an era of extremism, where even a poorly worded expression such as “defund the police” can be weaponized by both sides of the aisle, dialogue be damned.
But there is no dialogue necessary when you’re sitting in a stadium and five jets do a flyover before the kickoff on opening day of football season. There is no pride in country that transcends that symbol of freedom for me.
And yes, to me that does, in fact, symbolize freedom. Those guys and girls in those jets and in the four (or five or six) branches of the military keep us safe from some VERY nasty people, and I am completely okay with that. And yes, we may have some bad apples out there, and we may need a little bit of reform, but I like having the police around, too.
As a reminder, there are bad apples in schools and churches, too. We can ALWAYS improve. But I do not believe improvement comes with weakening our protection from the people that hate our freedom and our laws.
I’m aware that some of you probably noticed that abortion is not among my three favorite things about the Republican party. It probably never will be, not because I am not “pro-life” but because it is no longer a topic that can even be discussed with civil dialogue or discourse. Until that comes back, and since I’ve already written about it, HERE are my thoughts on abortion.
The Democratic Party
As with the Republican Party, the Democratic party of 2020 is not my granddaddy’s Democratic party anymore. Like with most things political nowadays, it’s given way to far too much extremism. But here are three things I really like about the Democratic party.
#1 – Equality for Everybody
This is the big one for me. I don’t care what your skin looks like, what language you speak, where you’re from, who you love, who you sleep with, who you marry, who you worship, what you eat, what you like to do, what you say, where you go, what you buy, how you treat your own body, or if you have fetishes that might make me giggle.
YOU BE YOU, and I’ll forever fight for a world where you can do so with the same freedoms as everybody else. Equality should not be this hard. If we actually loved thy neighbor, it wouldn’t be.
#2 – Public Education
Until you show me two things about charter schools – that they are better than public schools and that they DON’T encourage segregation – public school will be a MUCH greater need (and constitutional guarantee) than the unproven need for “school choice.”
There’s not a single piece of data that says public schools are worse than charter schools – look no further than those lovely school report card grades. There is, however, proof that if you let charter schools operate without providing transportation or lunch, you have intentionally eliminated people of lower socioeconomic demographics.
Historically, that means that if you open your charter school without providing lunch or transportation, a whole lot of black and Hispanic kids can’t go there. I’m VERY measured in how I define systemic racism because, like most things, we can be guilty of generalizing far too much, but planning an entire school while consciously knowing that certain races will be disadvantaged in attending is pretty nearly the definition of systemic racism.
We have tax dollars going to charter schools who might be operated by out-of-state companies, meaning our tax dollars are LEAVING North Carolina, we have tax dollars going to religious schools (yes, even Muslim, Jewish, and soon the Church of the Albino Sasquatch,) and we have tax dollars going to public schools, and NONE of them operate with the same set of rules. When they all do, we can certainly talk about “school choice” and make academics the main story line. Until then, equality comes first. That means public school comes first.
And one last thing about public education. I honestly DO NOT care what we call the schools. We can call them public or charter or private or even cosmic if you want. Public servants (teachers, fire fighters, police, EMT’s, etc) need to be paid so that they don’t have to work a second job. And educating our children is the most important thing a civilized, advanced society can provide. Therefore, call them Cosmic Covenant Contentment Carrottop schools for all I care. Just make the education great and pay the teachers what they deserve. My kids are worth that. So are yours.
#3 – People Shouldn’t Die or Go Bankrupt Because they Can’t Afford Medication or Treatment
I do NOT have the answer to the health insurance conundrum, nor do I have the answer to the pros and cons of regulating drug manufacturers because I truly can see both sides of that argument, but there simply has to be a way that we as a country can find a way to save people from death or financial collapse because of an accident or cancer or some other medical catastrophe.
Yes, there is the argument of personal responsibility – said another way as an example, should we be responsible for a heart transplant when somebody ate themselves three hundred pounds overweight? – but many of those cases can be argued and debated with nary an answer on the horizon because of the ever-more-difficult-to-understand catalog of mental illnesses.
Again, I don’t have the answer – I’d love to help brainstorm for it, though – but a medical condition that is treatable should never cost somebody their life or financial solvency. A nation of people that care about their fellow man would never allow that to happen.
Those are three really, really major principles of both parties, but more than anything, I believe them to be really, really major principles of what CAN make our country great.
If you didn’t notice, starting from the top, I highlighted freedom, innovation, personal responsibility, dreams, fiscal responsibility, protection, equality, education, and helping those who can’t help themselves. That’s a damn good list. And I pulled it from both parties.
Call me something else if you want, but I will forever find the good in our division and try to bring us together. That’s something the parties refuse to do right now. They don’t want a strong country. They want a strong party.
So my mid-campaign reassessment, shocked though I am not, brought about some new thoughts and ideas because I embrace personal growth, but the result was essentially the same as the assessment. I’m forever an unaffiliated voter and candidate because I have no interest in boxing myself in to only half the principles I need to be the kind of leader this state and country needs right now.
I can actually save you the time and guess with almost 100% accuracy how party candidates will vote for the next two years should they win. They will vote along party lines, the division will continue, they will take their cues and their instruction from the corporate money that finances their party, and we will NOT move closer to a state and country hellbent on coexistence, civility, mutual respect, open-mindedness, and unity.
Win or lose, I’m proud as hell to be running unaffiliated. Go spend five minutes on social media and it’s hard to disagree that we need people like me in elected office right now. I hope you will give me that opportunity.
Denton,
I like the way you think. I agree with pretty much everything you have said.
You did a great job of simplifying politics in this country and highlighting some of the good things and not so good things of each party.
You addressed the importance of equality, economic stability, public education and health care.
We, as a nation, need more people like you to pick up the torch and go forward and fight for equality and honest politics that get put in place to run this country for the people that pay their hard earned money in taxes, for just that purpose.
It would be so nice if we had a detection machine that all politicians could walk through and an alarm would go off if you are dishonest, and you are then sent home, no longer to hold public office. Well, that isn’t going to happen. So folks better try to educate themselves and do their homework and vote some of these greedy, power, money hungry folks out of office.
We better pull together and try to turn things around in this country, before we lose so many of our rights and liberties, there will be no going back. It really is scary right now. Old Glory is in danger and we owe it to her, each other and our children to take a stand and take our country back.
Sincere prayers for your success.
We lived in the Garner/Raleigh area for about 20 years. We moved to Hickory/Newton NC with my husband’s job in 2004. We hope to retire soon and be back in that area sometime in the not too far future.
We hope to find an existing home in the Smithfield area, or land to build on. So, we will not be in your district by November. However, if I were there. You would have my vote.
I will tell my sons, Justin and Zach Hendrix and Zach’s wife, Courtney to check you out.
Good luck with this endeavor. I admire the time and dedication you have given to this journey. I know with a job and a family, there are not enough hours in the day to get it all done.
Sincerely,
Vickie Hendrix