This morning I had to remind my sixteen-year-old daughter for the one-millionth time that she needed to start wearing a jacket since the weather is getting colder.
This reminded me of a campaign event, which I attended seven years ago this coming spring. My daughter and I had been invited to an event just outside of Santa Fe to meet some of the candidates from the northern part of the state. The event was free for anyone. I was invited because I was a new political blogger who covered candidates from all over the state.
Like this morning, my daughter had forgotten to wear a jacket. The day started out nice. When we got to the Chile farm, it had started to rain lightly. We stayed under the tent. I spoke to candidates as we ate some food. I was waiting for the Governor to speak when my daughter started to complain that she was getting cold. I was more than a little upset with her. She had once more walked out the door without a jacket. This had been a long running battle between the two of us.
A gentleman came up to us. He noticed that my daughter was cold. This man with the boots and the cowboy hat appeared concerned for her. This softened my usual demander because my primary concern is for my daughter’s welfare. I had never met this man before that event. He introduced himself as Tom Udall. He asked me to vote for him for congress. I told him that I lived in Albuquerque outside of his district. He still was interested in my options on the issues. I liked him. I supported and worked his campaign when he ran for U.S. Senator.
A few months back the Senators and Congressmen of this state all except for Congressman Lujan said that they would not be attending any townhall type events because of safety issues. All of their events since that announcement have been small private fundraising events. The price tag for these events has not been cheap. Things that normal average voters can ill afford to attend in today’s economic environment. While safer for the candidates, I do not think these types of events are going to buy them enough votes to win in next year’s elections.
No amount of money can buy the hearts and souls of the voting public in this state. We have seen candidates in the past spend large sums of money just to loss at the polls. What matters is if a candidate is willing to listen and act on what the common people are saying to them. If candidates wall themselves off from the voters, they have no idea what matters to the voters.
Now they can say that they are working hard in Washington or Santa Fe for the voters, but how do they know what matters to the voters. As most people already know, polls can and often are wrong. Unless elected officials speak directly to voters, they seldom understand the concerns of the middle class or the working poor. More of our state’s voters fit those categories.
Elected officials have voted a number of times to cut the educational budget in this state, which has resulted in my income being cut. I have to pay more because my daughter’s school has less funding for classroom supplies. The cost of everything including food has been going up over the last seven years as my income has gone down.
President Obama has been sending out request for campaign donations. He says that in return for these donations to his campaign that you can be entered in a change to have dinner with him. The donations are as low as five dollars. Well the president is more than welcome to come have dinner with me and my daughter any times he likes. I have no desire or time to travel to the White house for dinner. If he wants my five dollars, he is going to have to come ask for it in person. We can have dinner at a fast food place where the common voting public in this state eat dinner.
The message from this blog is simple. If candidates want people to vote for them, they had better start getting out of Santa Fe and Washington. Candidates need to listen to common voters so they can start voting the public’s will. Yes, some voters are going to be very angry at first and with good reasoning.
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Quotes:
Senator Edward M. Kennedy (Teddy)
"For all those whose cares have been our concern, the work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives and the dream shall never die."
The O'Coilean (O'Collins)
'A great host with whom it is not fortunate to contend, the battle-trooped host of the O'Coileain."
Abraham Lincoln
"With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation's wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations."
From NPR Radio
"Rosa sat so Martin could walk.
Martin walked so Obama could run.
Obama ran so our children can fly!"
Ralph Waldo Emerson
"I awoke this morning with devout thanksgiving for my friends, the old and the new."
Unknown
"Friendship is loving someone no matter what is in their past. It is accepting the fact that they are human and that they have made their share of mistakes over a life time. Trust is being able to tell your friend the most private secret knowing that they will not judge you. A life is not lived well without that one true and trusted friendship."
Mary Harris "Mother" Jones
"My job is to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable"
Albert Einstein
"Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind."
Will Rogers
"I don't belong to an organized party--I'm a democrat."
President John F. Kennedy, Democrat
“If by a ‘liberal’ they mean someone who looks ahead and not behind, someone who welcomes new ideas without rigid reactions, someone who cares about the welfare of the people—their health, their housing, their schools, their jobs, their civil rights, and their civil liberties—someone who believes we can break through the stalemate and suspicions that grip us in our policies abroad, if that is what they mean by a ‘Liberal,’ then I’m proud to say I’m a ‘Liberal.’”
Martin Luther King Jr.
"Faith is taking the first step, even when you don't see the whole staircase."
Lora O'Brien
"All I can do is share one person's experiences on her own path, not tell you how to walk yours. If a guru is what you are looking for, find another! If I am a teacher, it is because I am already walking the path that you, Dear Reader, may wish to be on. Although each of us must make our own way, I can put up signs at least, and make the way slightly less hazardous for those who wish to walk a similar path."
C. S. Lewis
"Affection is responsible for nine-tenths of whatever solid and durable happiness there is in our lives."
"For all those whose cares have been our concern, the work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives and the dream shall never die."
The O'Coilean (O'Collins)
'A great host with whom it is not fortunate to contend, the battle-trooped host of the O'Coileain."
Abraham Lincoln
"With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation's wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations."
From NPR Radio
"Rosa sat so Martin could walk.
Martin walked so Obama could run.
Obama ran so our children can fly!"
Ralph Waldo Emerson
"I awoke this morning with devout thanksgiving for my friends, the old and the new."
Unknown
"Friendship is loving someone no matter what is in their past. It is accepting the fact that they are human and that they have made their share of mistakes over a life time. Trust is being able to tell your friend the most private secret knowing that they will not judge you. A life is not lived well without that one true and trusted friendship."
Mary Harris "Mother" Jones
"My job is to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable"
Albert Einstein
"Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind."
Will Rogers
"I don't belong to an organized party--I'm a democrat."
President John F. Kennedy, Democrat
“If by a ‘liberal’ they mean someone who looks ahead and not behind, someone who welcomes new ideas without rigid reactions, someone who cares about the welfare of the people—their health, their housing, their schools, their jobs, their civil rights, and their civil liberties—someone who believes we can break through the stalemate and suspicions that grip us in our policies abroad, if that is what they mean by a ‘Liberal,’ then I’m proud to say I’m a ‘Liberal.’”
Martin Luther King Jr.
"Faith is taking the first step, even when you don't see the whole staircase."
Lora O'Brien
"All I can do is share one person's experiences on her own path, not tell you how to walk yours. If a guru is what you are looking for, find another! If I am a teacher, it is because I am already walking the path that you, Dear Reader, may wish to be on. Although each of us must make our own way, I can put up signs at least, and make the way slightly less hazardous for those who wish to walk a similar path."
C. S. Lewis
"Affection is responsible for nine-tenths of whatever solid and durable happiness there is in our lives."
A Female Democrat
1/1/10 A new year and a number of future elections to cover. The budget will be a major issue this year and we must work hard to protect the core values of our party.