I am Concerned Citizen
Can you hear me?
Anyone who knows me knows that I am a big fan of our republic and James Madison. The system of government that he and our founders designed is brilliant. It was designed to give the people a voice and power, which I mean, to place power close enough to the people that when a concerned citizen wants to be heard, they can.
I am a concerned citizen.
About a year ago I joined the PWCGOP and since then I have been a hard worker and dissenting voice. I’ve challenged the idea of fundraising as a necessity in campaigning. I’ve run for congress even though the local party discouraged me at every turn. I’ve spent countless Saturdays away from my family knocking on doors for Youngkin, Cao, and VA delegate candidates. I have volunteered my time, donated my money, and given them my voice in the form of a vote. Still, I cannot be heard.
At a recent GOP meeting, while challenging the idea of how most campaign events are fundraisers and how that discourages moderate and independent voters from having access to the candidate— Yesli Vega defended the idea by saying she was available to meet with citizens (citizens is my word, not hers) so later, I requested a meeting and was passed off to her campaign staff. That was Monday, by Thursday the staff member text me to see if I would door knock for them. I declined because I was already signed up to knock for Hung that day, but I asked if we could get our meeting scheduled soon. He replied no problem, then asked if I wanted 1 on 1 time to which I replied yes. By Tuesday I sent a follow-up text. At that point, I was basically told that I wasn’t getting a meeting. I didn’t live in the district, and she was busy. I then sent some of my substack articles over, which he (I think) opened and shared because within minutes my views jumped by 5. I sent them because I was proud of them, I’ve spent a year learning how to write so people in power would take me seriously and I wanted them to know I wasn’t just some crackpot, I cared and had something of value to say.
While campaigning Hung had the opportunity to hear some of my concerns up close (representation and campaign finance) and my story. The longest I’ve spoken with him was at an RPV event while campaigning. Hung was respectful and kind. I offered to help write immigration policy with him, but he said he couldn’t do that until he was elected to office. I challenged him in person and disagreed. I told him that’s what politicians have been saying for a generation now, holding the answers until later but we never get them. Back in June, the last time I spoke with Hung, I asked him how I could help the campaign and I was told to wait until August to door knock.
I’ve tried to get heard in other ways as well. I have emailed local and national media outlets. I’ve had friends email them. We did get some replies but no follow-up, just pushed off until later. I’m sure they think I am crazy, and I don’t blame them, there is a lot of crazy in the world today, however, I am not crazy I am very serious.
If you look up the results from my congressional race you will see that I finished with 64 votes. That doesn’t look very serious, does it? I jumped in the race late because of the discouragement from the party. I didn’t advertise. I was the only candidate who put out a 12-year plan to repair our republic. When I got on stage, I didn’t use my time to talk about the other side, I spent my time talking about ideas like expanding the house and overturning Citizens United. I didn’t even bother to recruit my family to vote for me, I knew I wasn’t going to win, and I wanted to see how many people heard me. Sixty-Four people heard me and voted for my ideas over all the advertising. I wonder what would have happened if Cao and Lawson’s money didn’t drown out all the other candidates. I shook hands with a lot of people who voted on election day, a lot of them never heard of any of us, they gifted their power based on advertising. That doesn’t sound very serious to me.
I don’t mean this as an attack on Yesli or Hung. To their credit, they are at least trying. I’ve never seen Jennifer Wexton or Abigail Spanberger in the wild, I guess once you get a blue check mark you can’t be seen with the common folk anymore. If they happen to read this, I want them to know I mean no disrespect. I am just a concerned citizen trying to be heard and I am running out of options. I have knocked on doors in both districts and when I ask people what the biggest problem is in politics, the number one answer by a long shot is corruption and money. I haven’t heard any of the candidates talk about these issues. They aren’t listening or representing the people they claim to work for.
The political system wants three things from a citizen, their time in the form of volunteering, their money in the form of fundraising, and their voice in the form of a vote, but at no point does the political system want to hear from the people who gift the power. My job as a citizen is to have something of value to say, their job as a representative is to hear me. They are failing.
Working in politics is not fun. Instead of focusing on fantasy football, whiskey, cooking, running, golf, and my friends and family; I’m focused on reading supreme court briefs and notes from the federal convention. After a year of screaming into the wind, some days I just miss my old life and want it back. I want to give up. But I won’t, it’s not who I am. I hope someone hears me. Give me some hope America. This is serious.
P.S. If you want to learn more, click the hyperlinks.