In 2004, inspired by Howard Dean's amazing campaign, I ran for State Representative in Connecticut's 149th assembly district. I had never been involved in politics to any great extent before Governor Dean's Presidential bid, and yet when I got interested in politics, I fell hard. Initially a complete political novice, I ended up running the house party program in Connecticut for Dean, and served on the Dean for CT steering committee. When he ended his campaign, Governor Dean asked his supporters to run for office. My husband looked into the races in our area, and found the State Rep seat in our district had been unopposed for almost 10 years. So I threw my hat in the ring.
I quickly found that running for office is time intensive and exhausting - but surprisingly not that difficult, with one exception. That exception was fundraising. I had all sorts of help in terms of strategy and campaign advice. There were free campaign trainings available in Connecticut, and I had a very helpful mentor in the legislature. Volunteers from the Dean campaign in Connecticut were generous with their time and helped me out a great deal. I had all the pieces in place - except the money. I am naturally a pretty shy and reserved person, and it was very very difficult for me to call people and ask for their money. Intellectually I understood that the money wasn't for me personally, but it was still very very difficult for me to make those calls. As well, I was fairly unknown in the district except among the local grassroots community (who unfortunately were not wealthy enough to fund my campaign). I tried my college alumni list which produced some results, and raised some money over the internet. It was a struggle to get past about $5000. My opponent, meanwhile, a well liked incumbent, had no trouble raising almost $40,000 in the blink of an eye. I was extremely fortunate in that Governor Dean ended up coming to my house to host a fundraiser for me, and we ended up raising about $9000 total - enough for a couple mailings and some lawn signs.
Mike Connery, founder of Music for America and youth engagement guru, just posted a very interesting
blog entry on the mainstream media and how it deals with young people and voting. As he asked, I enjoyed it and am now spreading it widely... so I also say, enjoy, spread widely. And comment. I look forward to the debate.
It's getting rather tiring, correcting one shoddy media report on the youth vote after another. This really came to a head this weekend when, less than 24 hours after forcing a young UNLV student to ask Hillary Clinton whether she preferred Diamonds or Pearls, CNN un-ironically aired a piece during The Situation Room that made a mockery of young voters and their participation in our electoral process
So I created this "cheat sheet" for journalists. Basically it's a listing of all the most common mistakes that the media makes when reporting on young voters. Enjoy. Spread widely.
Small Flyers Mount PR Push After Lidle Crash
That's the headline in a CQ article ($) about the political reaction to the small plane crash in NY City last week. Putting aside two deaths, the security of New York and other large cities, and reports of unsafe conditions flying around Manhattan, the Aircraft Operators Association is in full damage control mode:
After the propeller plane piloted by New York Yankees pitcher Cory Lidle crashed into a Manhattan apartment tower last week, killing both Lidle and his flight instructor, Tyler Stanger, fresh alarms went out about the security vulnerabilities associated with small aircraft flying out of regional airports. The celebrity component of the story soon overshadowed security worries.
But there's another reason that security-conscious lawmakers didn't rally to review the protocols of flight plans for hobbyist aviators such as Lidle: the lobbying clout of the 408,000-member Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association. The AOPA's political action committee doled out $544,504 to candidates for Congress in 2004. By Labor Day this year it had already surpassed that total with $645,600 in donations.
This quote says it all:
"They're a very powerful political entity," says Bill Johnstone, a former Senate aide who also served on the transportation security staff of the independent Sept. 11 Commission. "Low-income folks typically don't dispose of their money to buy planes."
Common Blog
