Running for Office

I'm a very political animal. The first thing I remember watching on TV was the 1952 Republican Convention, when I was three. My parents had just bought a new-fangled television set and anything and everything was exotic and watchable. And we probably only got one channel!

You can ask my Facebook friends and they will assure you that I seem to live and breathe politics. And, I put my money where my mouth is, because, fortunately, I have a healthy enough bank account that I can afford to give money to politicians and causes. I have set up recurring donations for those people and causes I support for this year's election.

But that doesn't stop the politicians from asking for more, though. Every day I get emails and texts and letters from candidates whose causes I already support, asking for more, more, more.

The online and text requests are frequently disguised as questionnaires. I like taking questionnaires, as a general rule, but I don't care much for the trap at the end of these particular political ones. As soon as I hit "Submit," I get asked for money. Again.

One politician disguised asking for money by showing political merchandise I could purchase, as though I wouldn't know that any profits from the merchandise would be spent on advertising for the politician. I happen to admire this politician, but, please, stop asking me to wear your name on my face or body.

This particular person also had one of the wackiest spokespersons from her party sending me daily emails, most of which I found to be offensive, so much so that I had to request to be removed from that spokesperson's email list.

I just wonder if these politicians realize how annoying it gets to be, even for someone like me, to continually be inundated with emails and texts and phone messages, especially when I have set up recurring monthly donations.

I served on several State of Wyoming boards and worked all over that state during some of the other state appointments I had. I was occasionally encouraged to run for the lone congressional seat for Wyoming by friends, including a former U.S. Representative for Wyoming. I used the excuse that I didn't have the fire in my belly (you know, the emotional stamina and vigor, passion, or inner drive to achieve something) to pursue such an endeavor.

But what really stopped me was the enormous sums of money involved in running for office, whether local, state, or national, and having to ask people for money. And asking people to ask other people for money. I just could never do it. I am generous to a fault with my own money but would be horrified to ask you to give me some of yours.

And politicians do that all day, every day, when they are running for office. Any campaign of mine would dry up and blow away.