The political season is upon us
The political season is upon us
We have five months of political campaigning ahead of us, starting with filing week of June 1 to 5. Five months is way too long - and stretches over our treasured summer weather. It is hard o
We have five months of political campaigning ahead of us, starting with filing week of June 1 to 5. Five months is way too long - and stretches over our treasured summer weather. It is hard on candidates and hard on us voters. Political campaigns belong to the fall months. The current schedule can be called the 'incumbent retention act' of our state legislature. When we have trouble following campaigns it always benefits the incumbents. But we have to deal with it.
At NwCitizen, I have plans to try and help candidates get their messages out to the voters in a zero cost manner. And I hope the writers here do what they can to expose those issues and personal histories of candidates and incumbents that we voters need to know. Let the campaigns be energetic, comprehensive and clean. Challengers have the obligation to inform us why incumbents should be replaced - and incumbents can tell us why challengers are not qualified. Often really fine candidates are smeared by political machines. We here at NwCitizen can counter that a bit. I will be watching. Let the relevant truths and genuine opinions come forth - but let them come forth early enough for the other candidates to respond.
Any candidate who wants to announce their candidacy here can do so. However, it has to be here before it appears elsewhere and before filing week in June. Doug Karlberg did that. Just email your announcement to me at john@nwcitizen.us
After filing is completed on June 5, I offer every registered candidate for the major local offices a one time post as a guest on this website. In general, it will be posted when submitted, or as close as can be done. The last will be posted a week or so before the Primary Election day of Tuesday, August 18. Our over 100 registered commenters will be able to weigh in on the posts. A candidate can submit an article of most any length - 100 words or up to 3,000. They can submit a photo. We will link back to their website. Yes, those with no primary election can also submit a post. Lets get the issues out there early. And, yes, if this process works, then this offer will be repeated for all candidates during the general election campaign.
The obvious offices for this offer are City and County Council and Port Commissioners.
Lets hope filing week shows us good challengers for all the offices. Incumbents need to be challenged. Without challengers, human nature being what it is, incumbents become arrogant and distant from the concerns of citizens. They become too comfortable with power. Challengers should be respected and encouraged. They take on a five month task with the odds against them. We should all give them support as they serve us by just running for office. Let the games begin.
At NwCitizen, I have plans to try and help candidates get their messages out to the voters in a zero cost manner. And I hope the writers here do what they can to expose those issues and personal histories of candidates and incumbents that we voters need to know. Let the campaigns be energetic, comprehensive and clean. Challengers have the obligation to inform us why incumbents should be replaced - and incumbents can tell us why challengers are not qualified. Often really fine candidates are smeared by political machines. We here at NwCitizen can counter that a bit. I will be watching. Let the relevant truths and genuine opinions come forth - but let them come forth early enough for the other candidates to respond.
Any candidate who wants to announce their candidacy here can do so. However, it has to be here before it appears elsewhere and before filing week in June. Doug Karlberg did that. Just email your announcement to me at john@nwcitizen.us
After filing is completed on June 5, I offer every registered candidate for the major local offices a one time post as a guest on this website. In general, it will be posted when submitted, or as close as can be done. The last will be posted a week or so before the Primary Election day of Tuesday, August 18. Our over 100 registered commenters will be able to weigh in on the posts. A candidate can submit an article of most any length - 100 words or up to 3,000. They can submit a photo. We will link back to their website. Yes, those with no primary election can also submit a post. Lets get the issues out there early. And, yes, if this process works, then this offer will be repeated for all candidates during the general election campaign.
The obvious offices for this offer are City and County Council and Port Commissioners.
Lets hope filing week shows us good challengers for all the offices. Incumbents need to be challenged. Without challengers, human nature being what it is, incumbents become arrogant and distant from the concerns of citizens. They become too comfortable with power. Challengers should be respected and encouraged. They take on a five month task with the odds against them. We should all give them support as they serve us by just running for office. Let the games begin.
