I got to vote for myself in the primary! Don’t get me wrong, I’m not in this for kicks. I’m running for an office that is complex, unforgiving, doesn’t stop, and some people will expect things of me that I and the office simply cannot do. I might as well have fun now and enjoy what I can because once I’m elected I’ll have to roll up my sleeves and start work. I mean it when I say this is a partnership. I expect all of us to work on this together. No public official, elected or appointed can accomplish anything alone. Getting this far is, itself, a victory. If I can do this so can anyone else who feels strongly enough to run for any seat. It’s our government. WE THE PEOPLE are the most prominent words on the constitution or any of our country’s founding documents for a reason and we need to make them mean something again. We can change the world one day and one election at a time. It’s not easy to run for office and, depending on the office and how you approach it the race could get expensive financially as well as emotionally and in many other ways. But it’s worth it. Win or lose I can say I tried and I hope I’ve set an example for others to follow. Stand up for what you believe, get involved, and help make this a country governed by real people again. At the very least you’ll get to vote for yourself or (if you’re supporting someone) for your friend or family member. Any excuse for a party, right? Anything worth doing entails some degree of effort, but that just makes the reward greater and the celebration more fun. Change the world, vote, run, get involved and have fun!
Cast Of Characters
Chris Will — Libertarian Candidate, AZ State Representative LD 26
Amanda Mae Viers — Campaign Manager
(Currently nameless and hardworking) — Campaign Interns
Sean and Catherine Will — Biggest fans and instig-oops-inspiration
Alice Nelson — Wardrobe and Make-up consultant and Photographer
Msc. Friends and critters — Cheering squad and general bad influence
And finally— the Libertarian Party as — Itself
Legalize Freedom! Vote for Liberty, Vote Libertarian!
Quotes
Tired of politics as usual?
Vote for a real person.
~Me~
‘We are letting the well run dry, allowing little bits of our civil freedoms to be chipped away by paranoiac governments who assure us we can trust them – and consistently betray that trust.” – Brian Eno
A government is a body of people, usually notably ungoverned. (Firefly)
“The spirit of resistance to government is so valuable on certain occasions, that I wish it always to be kept alive.” — Thomas Jefferson
“To compel a man to furnish funds for the propagation of ideas he disbelieves and abhors is sinful and tyrannical.”
– Thomas Jefferson
In a democracy it’s your vote that counts; in feudalism, it’s your Count that votes
I’m a mom, I can do anything. ~Me~
“Start by doing what’s necessary, then do what’s possible, and suddenly you’re doing the impossible” St Francis of Assisi
“Reputation is what other people know about you. Honor is what you know about yourself. ” Lois McMaster Bujold
“Just because you do not take an interest in politics doesn’t mean politics won’t take an interest in you.” Pericles 430 B.C.
“Don’t hit other people, don’t take their stuff and keep your promises.” — David Boaz
Just because you can doesn’t mean you should. (That could come back to bite me…), but just because you haven’t doesn’t mean you can’t, so try. ~Me~
“What this country needs is more unemployed politicians.” Edward Langly, Artist 1928-1995
“I prefer dangerous freedom over peaceful slavery. ” — Thomas Jefferson
“The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary.” H. L. Mencken
On a battlefield the flies don’t care who wins. (anon?)
Probably, no nation is rich enough to pay for both war and civilization. We must make our choice; we cannot have both.~Abraham Flexner
“It is not propaganda’s task to be intelligent; it’s task is to lead to success,” Joseph Goebbels
A government big enough to give you everything you want, is strong enough to take everything you have. – Thomas Jefferson
I don’t make jokes; I just watch the government and report the facts. – Will Rogers
“Do not attribute your own motives to others. At best, it will break your heart, and at worst, get you dead.” *J Bethancourt
“Qualifications? Don’t you worry about that. If you hire me you’ll be glad you got me.” James Garner in Support Your Local Sheriff
“Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something else is more important than fear.” ~ Ambrose Redmoon
Imagination is essential. It is a door to insight of possibilities and an avenue to the truth. ~Me~
Don’t bail! The best gold is at the bottom of barrels of crap. Randy Pausch from The Last Lecture
‘I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand.’ Confucius
It’s not who you are that holds you back, it’s who you think you’re not. Anonymous
Family is whoever is around the dinner table. (??)
There is nothing impossible to him who will try. – Alexander the Great
Where is it written that all our dreams must be small ones? – JMS
“The war we fight is not against powers and principalities, it is against chaos and despair. Greater than the death of flesh is the death of hope. The death of dreams. Against this peril we can never surrender.'” – JMS
Hello world!
Me and my dog
Hi.
I should formally introduce myself. I’m Chris Will and I’m running for state representative in Legislative District 26 on the Libertarian ticket. Basically that’s NW Mesa, NE Tempe, a tiny bit of Phoenix and all of the Salt River Pima Maricopa community. I’m a 2nd generation Arizona native, born in Phoenix and 5th generation resident.
I’m named after my Great-great-grandfather Christian Hanny (my maiden name) who came here with his kids Florence and Vic in the mid 1880’s. My kids weren’t born here but my grand-kids were. I’m divorced, have 2 grown kids, 1 dog, 2 cats, 5 chickens and a garden. I currently work at Wal-Mart and I’m an artist, potter, photographer, a writer and I’ve been working with and learning from local independent filmmakers for the past 3 years. I know first hand about the financial challenges we face every day.
To run in this election I’ve taken advantage of the $500 exemption, which means I can’t spend over $500 unless I want to hire an accountant, file lots of paperwork with the state and run a bunch of volunteers ragged just raising money so we can post a bunch of signs you won’t look at and make a bunch of commercials you won’t listen to. So I have this free blog. And I’ll be attending the Clean Elections debate and any other election events I can find out about. And knocking on a lot of doors. And blogging.
I know, sounds crazy (and cheap) but think about it. We’ve been electing (hiring) people to spend our tax money and most of us aren’t especially happy with how it’s been turning out. That’s a lot of money to play with and a lot of responsibility. Do you really want to hire (because that’s what you’re doing when you vote) another person who’s going to spend thousands (or tens of thousands of dollars in some races) to get a job that pays around$24k/yr? If someone is willing to go to all the trouble of raising thousands of dollars from other people to spend YOUR tax dollars how careful do you think they’ll be with those tax dollars? Where did their donations come from and what do their donors want for their investment?
So, you say some candidates spend bunches of their own money too. Right. Did you know candidates can LOAN bunches of their own money to their campaign and win or lose, when it’s all over they can get most and sometimes all of it paid back from their ‘war chest’. What about the Clean Elections funds? That’s TAX MONEY that YOU PAID so THEY can run AND it’s also money raised from fines imposed on prisoners incarcerated in our prisons. (Just an aside, prisoners usually can’t vote and if they get a job in prison they usually make between .10 and .45 cents per hour.) Whether you want to vote for the candidates or not, that’s a lot of our tax dollars being spent by people who aren’t even in office yet. How careful do you expect them to be with your money once they’re in office if they’re willing to spend it before they’re even elected?
I know it’s a long shot, but give me a try. Watch my posts, they’ll be up as I get a chance to write, depending on how busy I am. I’m rather opinionated, and I sometimes type fast late at night, so I’ll apologize in advance for typos or oopsies in grammar especially as the November election approaches. I’ll blame it on spending too much time with the grandkids. But really, give me a chance. Vote for me in November and we’ll turn this state around.
If you want to know more about me personally and how I view the world, check out my other blogs at http://briellethefirst.wordpress.com and http://ouravalon.wordpress.com
Vote for ChrisWill 