Vote For TOD*  (The Other Dude) 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 How Bad Is It?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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 Well, this sleeping giant, the American people, are now fully awake to the antics of this congress, and, boy are we pissed!  We are also born with an inalienable right that is more powerful than any sword to do something about it.  Yet it is something that the Congress of the United States would simply have us hand over to any foreign national that might wander across our border wrapped in his own flag and demanding we give him equal rights.  Ensconced in this inalienable right is something that will be played out in every city, county and state in our nation during the next ten months.  Uniquely wielded, it can be very powerful

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 It is the VOTE!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 can understand all the complaining illegals.  The following is a short refresher.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 There are 435 congressional districts (CDs) in the United States.  Each one is headed by an elected official, a United States Congressman, who is a Member of the U.S. House of Representatives.  These individuals are elected, or in the case of our overly exclusive system, re-elected every two years.  Many of them are opposed, but the list of contested races becomes fewer every year because it generally takes at least a million dollars to be competitive in a congressional race.  The incumbent almost always has at least this much money in their campaign account because sitting congressmen spend far more time raising money than they do legislating. It is also far easier for a sitting congressman to raise money than it is for a challenger, even a well qualified aspirant.  This is because people who contribute heavily to congressional campaigns, they are called ‘fat cats”, like to give their money to the candidate they think most likely to win.  With a re-election rate in the congress of 93% or so, even including attrition such as dying in office, becoming senile and retiring, or worse, not retiring, or going to jail, it’s a pretty sure bet that the incumbent always wins because the playing field is far from level.  On the other hand, a challenger to a seat must either fund his or her campaign themselves, of raise the money from family or friends, which is tough because their initial thought is that you have lost your mind, or solicit contributions from acquaintances or political junkies who pity you.  Believe me, I have been there, done this.  Oh, yes, this job that requires at least a million dollar buy-in pays about $170,000 a year, and requires a lot of overnight travel.  Some hotly contested races such as an open seat between two well known candidates, as in war heroes, sports notables, celebrities, or porn stars easily go into the tens of millions of dollars, funded usually along party lines by party “fat cats” and Political Action Committees (PACs).  Senate campaigns follow the same basic principles, but there are only two senators from each state and they are allowed to serve a term of six years instead of two.  The challengers to senate races are usually better known and generally possess a strong political resume and they have usually been carefully recruited to run by the Republican or Democrat party.  The reason the senate terms are three times as long is because they must raise at least ten times as much money to make a creditable bid.  A senate campaign can cost $100 million[4] .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 But…. What If?   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 What if your opponent had only an 11% approval rating?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Could this candidate win?  America’s future might depend on it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 First, we must sell the idea that the ONLY way to bring about meaningful change in this country is to, ideally, elect an entirely new congress[5].   Secondly, we must rely totally on the internet to get this message out there and keep it out there.  We must rely on the bloggers to insure that every voter in this country knows what is coming down and why this is necessary for the future of our country.  Then we must get enough voters to buy into it to pull it off.  The basic premise is very simple. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 On November 4, Republicans, Democrats, and Independents must all agree to vote for only the candidate who is not the incumbent in all 435 House of Representative races and 33 Senate races throughout the entire country.  This means that Republicans might be required to vote for Democrats, and Democrats might be required to vote for Republicans. This may be a little easier on Independents because they don’t necessarily have a political affiliation; however, the Independent vote is extremely critical to the success of this plan for that same reason.  There will be a lot of hard-core party members who will not buy into this plan at all.  There is a cadre of politically astute citizens in every county and congressional district in the country who work hard to support their respective party.  Each party has a virtual army of like-minded partisan citizens who serve as precinct captains and who hold fundraisers, and who attend state presidential conventions and, if they are well enough connected politically,show up as delegates and alternate delegates to their respective party’s national convention every four years, all on their own nickel, I might add.  I know about these tireless believers because I am one of these tireless believers.  I have worked the precincts and the polls at election time, I have attended the state and national conventions, I have run for national office under my party’s banner, I have worked in the trenches during the infamous hanging chad hand count in Florida following the 2000 General Election, and I have never voted for a candidate from the opposition party in over fifty years.  Nor will I cross the line on November 4^th in the presidential race.  I will vote for my party’s nomination for president, and I will work on their behalf throughout the election cycle, just as I am working to support my choice in my state’s primary election, and who might not necessarily be my party’s nominee for the office of president.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 That doesn’t matter. We are demanding change.  All of the presidential candidates have promised to give us change.  I haven’t heard one voice from our congress promising that they will give us the change we demand, and frankly should I hear such a voice I would not believe it, such is their dismal 11% record for even attempting to change the direction in which our country is heading.  That is what this movement is all about.  If only 25% of the party members from each party agree to cross party lines for the good of the country in the congressional races only, those votes and the votes of the independent voters will in all likelihood be sufficient to get the job done. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Third Party voters, such as the Reform Party also have a special role in this plan, perhaps even the most difficult role.  It will be very tempting for the third parties to run their own candidates in some of the races.  Injecting a third candidate would give an incumbent a better chance of retaining that seat, and it would lessen the chance of making the kind of meaningful impact on the entire effort.  Most readers should agree that if the best that a two-party system can produce is a congress with an 11% approval rating,  then the time might be about right to seriously entertain a third party in our political process.  If there is indeed a “pony in there somewhere” it might have a third party’s name on it.  Just so that the “pony” does not turn out to be of the "one trick” variety, it is appropriate to touch on a few other nuances of this potential movement.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 It is suggested that if this plan is even mildly successful it will be repeated in subsequent election cycles until there is sufficient purging of the long-standing congressional membership that a third party would be more viable, or even welcomed.   It is also a distinct possibility that some of the newest members, especially of the House, might be inclined to change their party affiliation to the newly established Third Party, even sooner rather than later. This possibility would be greatly enhanced with a Third Party looked upon as a coalition builder, rather that as a “spoiler”, as has often been the case under the current status quo.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Finally, it is speculated that, other than the sitting Members of Congress, the other biggest opponents of this plan would be the two primary parties themselves.  These entities, or more likely the county executive committees who oversee all 435 congressional districts, might be reluctant to recruit, or sponsor new candidates in an attempt to limit non-incumbent candidates. That would seem very shortsighted, but strange things happen in politics.  It is rather speculated that if this movement gains traction throughout the country, these executive committees will strive even harder to field a challenger for every single race just to stay even.  This movement might just turn out to be the best game in town.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Time will tell.  This document will enter the cyber-world, and time is very compressed in this new world, perhaps as much as word of mouth to the tenth power.  I predicted in a book I wrote ten years ago[6] that the internet would make it possible to run a political campaign from the comfort of ones own home without ever even getting dressed except to attend a candidate forum every now and then.  Little did I know.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Is it possible that bloggers, given as simple, or as complex a concept as “change” can compete quite effectively with the power of the national media for the attention of Americans thirsty for the elusive product know as “truth”.  My contribution has been to merely recognize that change is at hand, identify the obstacle that must be overcome to grasp it, and define the mechanics of pulling it off.  It comes down to “how bad do you want it”?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Jim Jacobs

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

South Florida

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

All Rights Reserved January 2008