Showing posts with label 4th Congressional District. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 4th Congressional District. Show all posts

Tuesday, November 8, 2016

John Rutherford wins in Florida's 4th Congressional District.

I congratulate John Rutherford (Republican) for running a fine campaign. With most of the votes in, it appears that he will be representing Florida’s 4th Congressional District.  It looks like he got over 168,000 votes. David Bruderly (Democrat) apparently got over 73,000 votes. Gary Koniz (Independent) got over 5800 votes. Bruderly and Koniz also ran fine campaigns. There were 477 write-in votes, most of which were probably for me, since I was the only write-in candidate who was officially in the race.  
Congressman-elect Rutherford will be following in the footsteps of three great U.S. Representatives. I’m speaking of Ander Crenshaw, Tillie Fowler, and Charles Bennett, one of the all-time greats. I wish Mr. Rutherford all the best.
I thank all the dedicated and tireless volunteers who played such an important part in the campaign to #MakeAmericaLaughAgain. I couldn’t have done it without them. Also, I thank the 477 voters who chose to write in my name instead of just filling in one of the little circles. You sent a strong message!
To quote Winston Churchill, “This isn't the end. It's not even the beginning of the end. But it's, perhaps, the end of the beginning.”
What have I learned? I’d have to say that the most important lesson I’ve learned is that when you only have two signs, it’s hard to get them around to all the precincts.  
#MakeAmericaLaughAgain

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Location: Jacksonville, FL, USA

Sunday, August 14, 2016

We, The People, love it when political campaigns go negative.

Hoke and Spare Change
Although the vast majority of Americans say they don’t like negative political campaigns, many secretly love negative campaigns. How else would it be possible that the most negative candidates in the two major political parties have risen to the top and secured their nominations?
Since their coronations at the Republican and Democrat conventions, Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton have not disappointed.  He says that she is crooked. She says that he’s unstable.  He says she’s a liar about the emails. She says she short-circuited. He says things that sound ludicrous. She says he’s unstable. He says she’s crooked…
The only end in sight is November 9th, the day after the election. (Of course, if something goes wrong in the ever unpredictable state of Florida, the outcome of the election may not be determined for weeks, as was the case in the historic election of 2000.)
We're not even into September and the schticks the candidates have been using already seem old and worn out. It's quite possible that viewers and voters may develop campaign fatigue. Instead of merely saying that they don’t like negative campaigns, they may actually grow tired of them. By the time we get to October, people may be so bored that they barely notice the October surprises when they are rolled out.
Republican Primary in Florida’s 4th Congressional District
“As August begins, the most interesting narrative in the GOP primary race in Florida’s 4th Congressional District is the back-and-forth between John Rutherford and Hans Tanzler,” writes A.G. Gancarski for Florida Politics.
Rutherford says Tanzler is a political insider. (It seems like an odd accusation from someone who was Jacksonville’s elected Sheriff for twelve years.)  Tanzler says Rutherford isn’t really a conservative. The rhetoric is pretty tame so far. Lake Ray, who is probably the only other candidate with a shot at winning the primary, has begun running non-attack ads.
According to Gancarski, “The other four candidates — Ed Malin, Deborah Pueschel, Bill McClure, and Steve Kaufman — lack the resources to go negative in a meaningful way on their opponents, and as a result they will be vying for the populist outsider track in this race.”
The 4th District has been a Republican stronghold since Tillie Fowler was elected in 1992. Whoever wins the Republican primary at the end of the month will be in a very strong position to win the general election in November. With that in mind, things may heat up a bit in the next few weeks. 

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Thursday, August 4, 2016

Hoke and Spare Change: How to run for Congress for $100

That's a vintage Palm Beach voting booth.
It was used in the historic election of 2000.
At the recent Trump rally in Jacksonville, I was asked by several people why I got into the race to represent the folks who live in Florida’s 4th Congressional District. As a write-in candidate with no party affiliation, I am, admittedly, a long shot. So, why did I get into this race?
  1. On April Fools’ Day, The Florida Times-Union used a letter to the editor by me in which I announced that I would run for President. Most of that letter was from a schtick I put together years ago when I was in comedy. It was Pat Paulsen-ish. Here’s an excerpt.
    “Many Americans have lost their sense of humor. We no longer laugh as we once did. Candidates have been getting meaner and the jokes have been getting uglier. However, we can     Make America Laugh Again. Not with insults to belittle one another, but with kinder gentler jokes. I envision an America with a thousand points of laughter, all over this great land of ours. This laugh is your laugh, this laugh is my laugh. Life, liberty, and laughter - these are the values that will bring our country back together. Ask not what your country can do to make you laugh. Ask what you can do to make a fellow American laugh. Give me laughter, or give me death!”
  2. Two weeks later, when Congressman Crenshaw announced he was retiring, I looked into what it would actually take to get into the race for that seat. I discovered that it’s so easy a caveman could do it. Even a caveman with very limited resources.
  3. This is the craziest election I can remember. The two candidates for President, Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, are truly terrible. American voters are accustomed to choosing between the lesser of two evils. This year, determining which it is promises to be quite challenging. That being the case, I felt that becoming a candidate would provide me with a good platform from which to provide running commentary. Plus, I came up with a slogan that seemed perfect for this election season. “Make America laugh again.”
  4. When I found out that it wasn’t prohibitively expensive to officially become a candidate, I decided to see how far I could go on a budget of $100, totally out of my own pocket. If elected, I won’t owe anybody anything. Getting the paperwork notarized and sending it off to Tallahassee by certified mail cost about twenty dollars. I spent another fifteen dollars on the hat and another twenty dollars on business cards. That leaves $45.00. So far, so good!
  5. Even though I'm a bit of a long-shot, the idea of a steady gig that pays well ($170,000 plus solid benefits) is appealing. Also, it seems like the work would be interesting. 
So, there you have it. I’ll be in this race and blogging about it through November.

#MakeAmericaLaughAgain

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Wednesday, August 3, 2016

Sympathy for the Donald? Trump Rally in Jacksonville.

I went to the Trump Rally out of curiosity. It was interesting. Spoke briefly with David Bruderly, the Democrat candidate for the 4th Congressional District. Seemed like a decent guy. Also bumped into Republican frontrunner John Rutherford, as well as Lake Ray's campaign manager. 

 In regard to the event, there were several speakers in the leadup. Then there was a musical interlude which began with Sympathy for the Devil by the Rolling Stones. That seemed like an odd choice. After thirty minutes, Retired Lt. General Mike Flynn introduced Donald Trump.







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Instead of a wall on the border, how about a white picket fence?

PublicDomainPictures.net
There’s lots of concern over the U.S. border with Mexico. Many many people cross the border and enter our country from the south everyday. Do we know who they are? No. Do we know why they’re here? They may be up to no good. Some of them may be terrorists.
According to Attorney General Loretta Lynch, “The good in this world far outweighs the evil. Our common humanity transcends our differences, and our most effective response to terror is compassion, it’s unity and it’s love.” It’s so important to remember that as people enter our country illegally.
With the wisdom of Attorney General Lynch in mind, we need to send a clear signal to people who cross the border. Donald Trump has suggested building a wall to stop them. That's not a very friendly solution. We really just need these people to know that they are loved and that there is a better life for them here.
If elected to Congress, I will sponsor legislation to fund the building of a fence on the border with Mexico. Not a wall. A fence. And not a chain link fence with barbed wire at the top either. It will be a white picket fence – the type that was a symbol of nice neighborhoods in the not-so-distant past.
When people from Mexico and points south enter the country, they will see the fence and realize that they’re entering the promised land.

Joke of the Week
Hillary Clinton said that a key part of her plan to get people back to work with good jobs is retraining displaced workers. Can I get retrained to work in cyber-security? There seems to be a demand for that sort of thing. 

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