Free Political Advice Pays Off
Back in August, I was the first to sound the warning that Beth Low's seat in Missouri's General Assembly was in danger. Thanks to my sage advice, she started up a web page and managed to prevail in an 83-17% nail-biter.
Labels: humor
posted by Dan at 11/13/2008 07:35:00 AM
9 Comments:
Lance did a great job raising issues and 17% is excellent for a third-party candidate.
Thanks for the compliment, 9:30. We're all in this together.
Lance, I was impressed to see you out on election day working the 5th Ward polls. Could you run as a Dem next time? Beth is now termed out.
Thank you for your kind words. I haven't made any decisions about future campaigns but I was under the impression that she can run for a final term in 2010.
I think it is important for public servants to actively engage their constituency in dialogue. What better way to do this than to use the availability of the internet? I don't buy the argument that trolls would make the process counter-productive as most people recognize trolling for what it is.
Maybe politicians think it is "beneath" them somehow to participate in this dialogue, but I think the fact that "anything you say can and will be used against you" is more likely the reason for their silence. It is appropriate for criminals to keep their mouths shut, but I expect my public servants to behave differently than my clients.
My challenge to Beth Low's re-election was not in vain: she was forced to open up and reveal herself to the public that she serves. Only public pressure can ensure that she is working toward our best interests, regardless of her good or bad intentions. She can't possibly be an expert in every area so how does she know which way to vote unless the people help her understand the issues? I don't think it is a good idea to rely on Party leadership when in doubt, but I suspect that is exactly what many politicians do.
I asked Beth Low to be my "Facebook" friend when she only had an account under "Nancy Low" but was refused with the polite explanation that she only used Facebook as a means to stay in touch with friends and family. The implication was that I did not fit into either family. I thought that was fair enough.
Within a few days she had created a new account under "Beth Low" and began to use Facebook as a tool to campaign just as I (and many others) had been doing. As of today her public persona has 353 "friends" and to me that means that there are 353 people, many of whom probably live in our district, who now have a better means of keeping track of her and communicating with her as their representative in Jefferson City. Any supervision is better than no supervision.
Additionally, my family and I will benefit in that she will probably be working harder during the next two years. She was criticized (severely in some cases) during this past campaign cycle. How else can one improve unless attention is drawn to areas that need improvement?
I recently asked to be her "friend" under her public persona and simultaneously sent a message congratulating her on her victory. I've got nothing but silence in return and at this point I think it is safe to assume that I'm not welcome to participate.
I've got no doubt that she will read Dan's post and this comment. I suspect that she commented anonymously in the previous thread about our race. Will she have the courage to chime in this time? I would be delighted to be proven wrong here, but I won't be holding my breath.
Dan made the Ed Wolf deposition! Page 27 line 23.
Way to go Dan!
Who's gonna scan the depo then post it?
Puhlease.
http://www.kmbc.com/download/2008/1114/17976942.pdf
This blog has been included in this weeks FIVE FOR FRIDAY on All Arkie. I hope you like the image I featured, and I hope this helps to attract many new visitors to your wonderful site.
http://allarkiearmy.blogspot.com/2008/11/five-for-friday_14.html
Have you considered having an open thread every few days to avoid off-topic posts?
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