The only way that I'll run for U.S. House

Long story short: A lot has happened since I first posted about this. Some people that I know and respect plenty made me think about some things.

There is only one way that I could possibly run for U.S. House of Representatives right now, at this point in my life.

And the only reason why I'm even posting this much, is that maybe one person out there will see this and run, really run, wherever they are. Someone who not only has the principles and the desire to serve others, but could also give this thing the commitment it deserves.

I honestly don't know if I could offer up that last one.

I'll admit it: I'm struggling with a bit right now. Some things in my personal situation could stand to be better. I am not "comfortable" as some might put it. I'm working to start up a business and right now, it's not an easy thing to do. I'm not looking for a fast way out and I'm sure as hell not looking for sympathy. Things have to be earned in this life. It's what you work for, that is what makes it worth having.

I received 4,648 votes in the election last year.

For me to seriously consider doing this, I would need to have at least three times that amount of signatures on a petition. That's not any legal requirement (that I know of). It's just something that I would need personally.

If (and it would NOT be me instigating this) a petition garnered at least 14,000 signatures from registered, eligible voters from across the 13th North Carolina Congressional district (meaning it couldn't be all in Rockingham County either) asking me to do this, if there could be at least that many signatures by January 9th (two months from now), and if some contributors would be willing to pay the filing fee before the deadline in February...

...then and only then I would run. And it would be in the Republican primary this coming May.

But there are stipulations. As I've said, there would be no negative campaigning from my end of things. If I have to produce a negative commercial or do some "dirty trick" to get elected, then I don't deserve the job and I'll bow out of the race and will never run for office again. As in, "ever". Not for school board or even for dog catcher.

I will not destroy a fellow candidate's reputation, or speak ill of him or her, for sake of increasing my chances. Running for Congress isn't worth hurting someone over.

I wouldn't run as a "conservative". I can't do that any more than I can run as a "liberal". If people are going to cast a vote for me then I want them to know why it is that they are doing so and what I believe in. Yes, those beliefs are very much what could be considered "paleo-conservative", but I'm past the point where I find labels like that to have any meaning.

Concordantly, I wouldn't refer to any opposing candidate as a "conservative" or "liberal" either. Fellow candidates deserve more respect than that, than to shove them into some box for sake of convenience.

If I wound up getting past the primary, I don't even want to think that I'm running "against" Brad Miller for his seat. I'd rather it be said that we are running for the same seat. I wouldn't have anything against the guy to think of him as an "opponent". And it's time that we began to step away from that mindset. Heck, I was one of sixteen candidates in last year's Rockingham County school board race, and not once did I think that I was running "against" anyone of those people. You'd be surprised at how many of us wound up good friends, even.

I wouldn't accept contributions from any political action committee. It would solely be individual contributions. PAC money, if contributed, would be promptly returned.

If, Lord somehow willing, I actually land the seat, I might run for re-election once. And maybe once after that if I were to win again. But after that, that's it. I'm out of there. That would be plenty enough time and some would probably say six years would be too much time. I'm not going to spend my life as a "career politician". So it would be at most six years and then get out and let the next guy serve.

Just because I would be running as a Republican, doesn't mean that I would automatically lend my support to any other Republicans. You want me to believe in a cause? Then you'll have to convince me. Having an "R" stamped next to someone's name is not enough reason to give them my support. The only reason I'd be in the Republican primary is because I do realize that right now, this is the only way to mount a serious-enough campaign for that high an office.

Yes, I guess I would be a Republican In Name Only. But what does the Republican Party stand for these days, anyway?

I don't know. If you read this blog and saw me campaign last year, you know what I believe in at least: limited government. No more income tax. I think Roe v. Wade is horrible legislation and that abortion should be done away with. We should pull out of Iraq, because we should have never gone in there to begin with. We should scrap No Child Left Behind. We should scrap the PATRIOT Act. We should do what we can to revitalize domestic industry but that's something that can't be legislated into being: we've legislated it away, if anything. We should do away with the Department of Education, because the federal government doesn't need to be involved in such a local issue anyway.

I wouldn't make any promises either. Because I know that I can't necessarily deliver on them. All I can tell anyone is what I believe in. They'll have to decide from there whether they want me doing this or not.

If after all of that is understood, and those conditions are met, then and only then would I run. And I would absolutely give it as good an effort as I can muster.

If none of those things happen, then I go on to grad school and hopefully make a better future for myself and my family, and we'll see if God leads me to do something like pursue elected office again in the future. Even if that doesn't happen, I'll still be happy somehow.

I can promise one thing though: if... if... after all of this that I were to wind up running, I have some amazing TV commercials in mind that I would be producing for my own campaign. One of them in particular would definitely trump the "Star Wars" school board ad :-)

If I win, this blog is going to stay up and active.

And that's all that I know to say about the matter.