Tales from the dark side – the inside scoop on the election process

As a candidate, I am now privy to the dark and dirty side of the election business. I use the word “business” as it really is a business.

If you’ve looked at candidates’ web sites, they are all similar… vote for me and give me money. The purpose of these blogs is to give you an idea of my thoughts, insights and ideas. If you like what I have to say, you’ll vote for me (that’s easy) and give my campaign money (far more difficult). Raising enough money so that the voters know who you are is the biggest challenge.

You may think that candidates for national office are a noble group of people with  patriotic ideals.  You are right, they are. But the desire to right wrongs, to fix the nation’s problems and leave the country in a better place becomes secondary to the sheer amount of effort and luck needed just to get elected. And when elected, you have to work very hard to be heard.

As my personality is somewhat direct, I believe that be be effective, and not just one of the foot soldiers voting how your party tells you to vote, you must mobilize the public’s ire  through media exposure to force the other politicians to do what’s right for the country, and not for themselves. If elected, that’s what I’ll do.

If I make enemies in Congress, they can take a number and go to the back of the line.

The truth is you don’t get elected by having great ideas, good ideas or even any original ideas. You are elected because people recognize your name and check your box. A year’s effort goes into the five minute voting process after persuading people to vote for you and not the other guy. Getting voted for is easy. The trick is to get one more vote than the other guy. That’s difficult and it takes a lot of money.

As candidate for Georgia’s 14th District, I plan to right wrongs and to work to fix problems, the biggest of which is that our incumbent politicians will do almost anything to stay in power. They have to go. Eight years at the public trough is plenty.

However, in the process, I am getting an education about the election business and I plan to write posts about things that the public never hears or thinks about.

I will be annoying people involved in the process, but I think that the public has a right to know how they are manipulated, and how I think that the electoral process really works.

While hoping for enough votes to be elected, I am well aware of the enormous hurdles that exist… but nothing ventured, nothing gained.

Vote for Allan Levene for Congress.