Introducing the Next Adventure

I would introduce this as being from Columbia, but that would be dishonest: I'm back home right now after a long train ride! (Not much to say about the trip actually, it was dark the whole time, so I spent most of it reading)

Unfortunately, I've been realizing just how little there is to say about how life in CoMo is going: work is either dull or frustrating, depending on the day, and the house has fallen into a comfortable routine of living together. Not much to say about that either.

On the days when it is really frustrating, I look for what I'm going to do next. As a result, I'm almost done with my grad school applications—though not as far along as I should be. This also means I've spent some time searching for campaigns I could work for; it's relevant to my interests in public policy and the ethical issues that go along with it, and the work is the demanding kind I prefer to the too-easy work I do at the school.

What I really learned from the search, however, is how ridiculously easy it is to begin a campaign yourself. I've told myself that I'm applying for grad schools with the intent of one day running for office, but when I learned this, I realized I could also just keep telling myself that I would run one day because it was easier and safer than running now. So...I'm working with the Reno County Democrats for their nomination against my State Representative for the 102nd District. If all goes well, the campaign begins in earnest in May (though I'm already happily busy with it now).

The reasons I want to run are better than just the relative ease of doing so and the thrill of a challenge. I find what I'm doing now deeply dissatisfying, and cannot imagine myself becoming happy in any kind of similar office environment. I thus have a personal reason for seeking out the kind of unpredictable and demanding workplace that are political institutions; I also do better where I am responsible to myself for doing my job, but have had that job defined by something external to me (such as the voters of the 102nd District). I do not do well with the traditional kind of "boss." Personally, I also desperately want to avoid doing work that is not significant. My work at the school fails this, for I am almost completely assured that the school's mismanagement, poor leadership, and lack of vision will negate anything that I do accomplish.

I also have political reasons for wanting to run. Jan Pauls is not exactly popular within the District. She came out on the wrong side of an issue in 2012, and had problems with redistricting (incidentally, that redistricting also moved the majority of District into the areas of Hutchinson that didn't agree with her). She's politically vulnerable, and has done little to combat the perception that she doesn't actually listen to her voters. She rarely has an opponent, meaning that a truly competitive election has good odds. In 2012 she won the primary election by only 8 votes, against an opponent who is roughly my own age and which was only her third contested election in her 20 years of service. This will be an even better introduction to elected office for me than an election which was uncontested.

Finally, besides these personal and political reasons, there are nobler ones for wanting to run. First, I believe Jan Pauls is failing in her main responsibility: she is not representing her constituents as they should be represented. The lines of communication from her office to her voters appear broken, or at least neglected. I believe that at the state level, politics can be more responsive to voters than it currently is, and especially with the abilities given by new technology. Second, Kansas is in an odd spot right now, as the partisanship that has been the standard in our legislature for many years has made its way onto much larger stages: there is room here for exciting changes that can benefit everybody as we adapt to the future. Third, despite having lived in Missouri for the past 4ish years, I still think of Kansas, and Hutchinson especially, as home. My first allegiance is to this place, and I'm motivated to serve it.

Of course, the campaign won't be easy. There'll be questions about my age, about the wisdom of replacing Pauls when she has cushy spots on at least one important committee; there'll be pressure to run as more liberal than her until the primary and then turn and run as more moderate than any potential Republican challengers; if it looks like I'm going to win against Pauls, a Republican challenger might be attracted to the race since I could be easier to run against in the general election; my schedule will be unpredictable and possibly constant, etc, etc.

I have some experience with this, both from my work for Senator Chappelle-Nadal last spring and from coordinating the efforts of the Westminster Sustainability Coalition at the same time. (To give some context to that, I was responsible for the coordination of 20 students as we got 511 signatures in a student body of only 1,084 students, as well as working with SGA, the administration, faculty/staff, planning arguments etc. This is even more important when you take into consideration that Pauls won her 2012 primary with 428 votes to Erich Bishop's 420 votes). I'm also talking some veterans of the Sustainability Coalition and who now run The What If LLC, a startup of their making, into coming back with me to help get started. We're close, communicate well, and are efficient. I have from now until who knows to make strategies and prepare, which will help reduce the work needed to be done moment-to-moment when the contest actually rolls around.

And while your help and support will be appreciated, I promise you that I'm going to do my best that this remains a positive experience for all of us and that it won't involve you unless you want it to. Other than that, who knows....it's an adventure.