Taking On The Establishment, And Winning
This past Wednesday night, I was invited to participate in a Candidate Forum put on by the League of Women Voters in Diamond Bar. They did a fantastic job of organizing and moderating the debate, and there were about 400 people in attendance.
I drew the middle seat, which I liked. After the "other independent" in the debate, Julio Castaneda, endorsed a Democrat and almost literally ran off, I was left as the only independent not only in the debate, but in the election itself.
I was nervous going into the debate, because what if politicians were smarter than I thought? What if they knew stuff I don't know?
Once it got going, I was fine. I treated it like the old motocross-racing days, and I handled business. More than one person approached me after the debate to tell me that I was the most well-informed person up there, and that they appreciated that I was answering the questions asked of me directly, rather than doing the typical "politician" thing where they skirt the question so they can talk about what they want to talk about instead.
Frankly, the reason I threw my hat into the ring to run for congress was because I don't believe politicians are any smarter or better informed than we are. And this candidate forum certainly served to confirm that belief for me. There were some polished politicians on stage with me, and most of what they delivered were simply platitudes lacking substance or principle.
But I also have to say that the most fun I have is in talking with individuals from the community. I didn't expect to love doing that, but I do. After the forum on Wednesday, I was approached by two different people who told me (paraphrasing) that I was dead-on on my facts, and my delivery, and both said it was "too bad" I'm not running as a Democrat, because they're Democrats and they'd vote for me if I was one, too.
I politely told both of them that putting parties in front of principles is exactly why we ended up with Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump as our two choices for president in the last election, and that any "democracy" that delivers two candidates like them as the top two choices is obviously in a very bad way. And I'm running as an Independent because I want to fix the system, not just "win."
I know it's a lofty goal, but that's what needs to happen, and that's why I'm running.
I'm more confident than ever that I represent the change we need in Washington, DC. And, again, I'm not just running to change policy; I'm running to change the system itself. When I win - and I will, whether it's in 2018, 2020, or 2022 - my hope is that a "regular person" defeating the establishment here will wake up people around the rest of the country and help them see that they, too, can defeat the
establishment. We can take our government back from this corporate
duopoly.
And we have to, before it's too late.
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Thanks for reading.