
When you think about something four to eight hours a day EVERY day, it probably means you REALLY want whatever it is you’re thinking about, right?
That’s more rhetorical than actually answerable, because I could fashion a scenario where it could mean the exact opposite.
But it’s the first scenario for me. I think about it ALL THE TIME. I learned a lot last year running for the General Assembly, and now the pervasive banner ad in my head is flashing at me to do it again. The only problem is, I know I will not run another symbolic race as an unaffiliated candidate, no matter how uncompromising I am that I was built for that platform.
I regret NOTHING about my race last year. I did it the right way. I was true to who I am and I still believe independent voters are a glaringly unrepresented segment of the population.
A centrist is not somebody who is going to win a race on any steadfast and unbending policy beliefs. A centrist is a person who doesn’t expect unity, but they sure as hell expect people from both sides to be able to have adult conversations and compromise.
A centrist has beliefs, but mostly those beliefs are a marriage of what is normally considered “right” and “left.” I had several people instruct me last year to “pick a side.” One even told me to “pick a side FFS,” and I won’t spell out those words if you can’t decipher them. But I’m sorry, there isn’t a single political issue that is as simple as “picking a side.” NOT ONE. They are ALL complex, and to be creative and open-minded in how we solve those issues, I’m not committing to either side’s platform even if I’m forced to pick a letter to put beside my name.
For instance, I wholeheartedly believe that capitalism is FAR superior to socialism, but I also believe it takes some social programs and moderate regulation to ensure equity across the socioeconomic spectrum. I also will never admit to knowing what that regulation looks like. I just know it requires adults willing to find common ground and leave their freaking greed and hunger for power at the door because the good of the country requires it.
That’s just one example. There are literally hundreds, and there are literally hundreds where I can find and marry the best ideas of both sides.
I think my favorite aspect of being a centrist is that I can see all the crappy political stunts both sides pull to make the other side look bad, and when I see it, I just cringe and get angry because it just seems so childish to me.
For instance, Democrats call Republicans racist and sexist and say they don’t care about the less fortunate, but what I see is that there are a bunch of really good people whose biggest issue – aside from those whose biggest issue (and often ONLY issue) is either guns or abortion – is the fact that they are sick and tired of the handouts.
And I get that. I really do. We give and give and give to poor people and immigrants and foreign countries, many of whom are arguably undeserving of our tax dollars, and everyday Republicans are so sick of it that they’ll pledge their allegiance to a man that every single one of them will admit is a horrible human being, but they trust him to make the unwarranted handouts go away.
And on the other side, Republicans call Democrats baby-killers because they refuse ANY legislation other than total and complete abolishment of abortion, but Democrats just want government to stay the hell out of it. And if you break down both of those examples – and there are PLENTY of other examples – they’re all chock full of hypocrisy.
And why is that? Because this god-awful two-party system pits us against each other, and it uses fear to create hatred across that political divide, and it is absolutely the most childish form of disagreement known to mankind. Power has become the most important possession in America, and it has brought with it a hypocrisy and fearmongering that is clearly impossible to see from either side of the aisle.
But it is dazzlingly obvious from a centrist’s point of view.
But what do you do if you want to run for office as a centrist and feel your way of thinking truly needs to be represented in the chambers of Raleigh or Washington? Running unaffiliated again is pointless. I’m proud of my campaign last year, but I won’t do that again. When you spend literally thousands of hours on your campaign but one of the party candidates barely sticks a sign in the ground and spends about four and a half minutes campaigning and they beat you by over fourteen thousand votes, you know the deck has only two stacks.
And Centrist / Unaffiliated / Independent is NOT one of those stacks.
But nationwide, almost 40% of Americans are registered independent or unaffiliated (it’s the same thing,) and they have a near zero percent representation rate. How in the hell can those people EVER be represented, especially in a political climate as toxic and extreme as we’re in now?
How?
So Here are My Thoughts
Let’s get the obvious out of the way first because it will determine everything about what race I might be able to run for and what kind of chance I actually have in 2022. I already have ideas on that, by the way. Just not ready to announce what they are.
In Johnston County, North Carolina where I live, Republican voters outnumber Democratic voters by over 15,000 as of February 13, 2021. Seems like a no-brainer that if I were going to affiliate myself with a party, that would be the one to partner with, right?
For some people, sure, but not me. I probably hold more traditional conservative beliefs than liberal ones, but that party would not want me. I simply do not have what it takes to be a Republican. Even though…
- I’m a big fan of capitalism.
- I want as little government in my life as humanly possible.
- I want to see the number of abortions in this country decreased exponentially.
- I get pains in my stomach thinking about the debt we’re in as a country and our inability (or refusal?) to balance a budget for two full decades.
- I “back the blue” and understand every profession has a few shitty employees.
- I’m a fan of the Second Amendment and think responsible gun owners should welcome a simple process that PROVES they are responsible gun owners. I mean, we prove we’re responsible vehicle owners pretty much every year, right? What’s the difference?
- I am in favor on every level of ensuring our handouts are justified.
- I will fight for the Constitution and rule of law with all my power.
- I believe you have the right in this country to do whatever you want, believe whatever you want, and be whatever you want, as long as those things don’t infringe on somebody else’s rights to do the same.
I have seen too much over the past few months and years to know how I would be welcomed into the Republican party, and if you know the names Mitt Romney, Liz Cheney, Adam Kinzinger, Ben Sasse, or even Richard Burr, or you’re familiar with what a RINO is, you know how ostracized I would be for disagreeing with a party whose own leaders call it the “Party of Trump.” In fact, I don’t believe every poll I see, but I saw one recently that said 80% of Republican voters would require the person they voted for in upcoming elections to be a Trump supporter.
And I am NOT a supporter of his and never will be. But as a person on the outside of the party, it’s pretty obvious that you can’t be a “real” Republican unless you pledge your undying allegiance to him. I’m sorry, but that will not be me. Ever. I can support some conservative policies without making one man the omniscient ruler of my beliefs. And I’ll never support any politician who treats people the way he does and incessantly lies without regard for anybody or anything, even human life.
So that leaves only one other option, and in a country with only two options, I will probably have to choose that one. And no matter how much sense I make, no matter my beliefs, no matter how I run my campaign, and no matter how committed I am to representing 100% of my potential constituents – not just those in my own party – that choice will not meet with a successful campaign in Johnston County. I would be blacklisted as an enemy of the Republican party even with having arguably MORE constitutional / conservative beliefs than the “Party of Trump.” Fascinating, right?
But chances are, I’ll be welcomed as a centrist by most people in the other party. Chances are just as good, however, that I’ll meet quite a bit of resistance with my main platform. Should I run next year, you aren’t going to hear me robotically spouting off a party’s platform. I’m going to be talking about all the things most of us want that politicians aren’t giving us. Stuff like:
- We need a viable centrist party, and it’s going to take elected officials to get it off the ground. I’m sick of only having two choices for every race because they are often crappy choices.
- When centrists are skeptical about a public option in health care reform, you know we have a fear that it’s going to function like the damn DMV and skyrocket our national debt. It’s clearly not been sold well. But we have to find some answers to this. Start with finding a way to make sure a medical catastrophe can’t financially ruin a family and go from there.
- In education, get rid of standardized testing, put LOTS of trade schools in our high schools, and require every middle AND high school kid to take a personal finance class. Tell me ONE person who would disagree with that.
- Stop with the voter suppression until you can prove widespread voter fraud. Just stop. Put your focus on trying to find a creative, unique way to make sure every voter has an ID instead of just bitching that they don’t.
- Campaign finance reform. A job that earns a hundred grand a year should not cost five million to obtain. That’s a breeding ground for corruption.
- Legalize marijuana and get non-violent offenders out of jails and into rehab.
Other than that, my campaign will be based on common sense, common decency, and the very common idea that we are a melting vat (much bigger than a pot at this point,) and we have to make laws that somehow work for every ingredient in that vat. If we stuck every piece of legislation in that vat and sincerely tried to find what worked for the majority, we’d be amazed at what we could accomplish and what kind of country we could be.
And for the love of god, give us term limits FFS.
Denton – what are your views on tackling climate change?
Love your stance..stay true to who you are always
I do hope you run again