America has lost confidence over the years.
You have lost confidence.
That is something I have learned over the past few months of trying to run a campaign for Senate while remaining true to myself and to my soul. I have learned that Americans are much slower to trust their own judgment than they used to be. And if they had that confidence in themselves, they wouldn’t be looking to politicians to resolve all of their problems.
Americans invented off-grid living. Americans invented the tiny house. But somehow we lack the confidence in ourselves to take these ideas and turn them into what they could become: a true social revolution that could bring extremely affordable options and the promise of a better life to so many of us who have been broken over the years.
We lack confidence in our votes. We become cynical at the idea that the hopes we express through our votes will have any real effect at the polls.
And we do this while a tiny fraction of our population run roughshod over the American people and their dreams.
I don’t mind that Karishma Manzur considers herself a Socialist. I become concerned when I hear words that suggest she may not fully understand economics or the moment our nation is in.
I don’t mind Chris Pappas’s openly gay relationship at all. I mind him sitting by and watching silently while his political donors attempt to exterminate another population.
I believe I am the best qualified candidate for this particular moment, not because I am generally the most qualified person in New Hampshire, but because I put my name on the ballot.
I have a good mind. I have good judgment. I understand history, economics, and technology. I believe those things matter enormously right now. Most importantly, I am willing to like and dialogue with anyone, anywhere, any time.
I am not rich. I don’t particularly want to be rich.
I am not a very good campaigner. I admit that.
I don’t want to beg for money. It makes me feel sick. And watching others turn the democratic process in New Hampshire into a game of high-stakes poker enrages me.
I believe in ideas.
My website is filling up with good ideas. I am doing my job.
If the democratic process in New Hampshire were a little more pure, and if the habit of reading hadn’t fallen out of favor, I believe that would be obvious.
If you think allowing abortion until birth is a good idea, and you are willing to set our country on a collision course with the religious right, don’t vote for me.
But if you believe we can put reasonable restrictions on late-term abortion, value human life, and take abortion away from political opportunists like Donald Trump, please consider this:
It is not that difficult.
Just vote.
A truly beautiful future awaits us. But it only belongs to those who believe in themselves and who believe in democracy itself.
If you have given up on democracy, if you have given up on your own vote, if you have given up on the belief that you have the ability to dictate your own future, the conversation ends.
And we go primal.
We have always had violence as a second option. And there are many people chomping at the bit for that moment to return.
You can feel it in the air.
Either way, I have already won this election. I learned to believe in myself again, after a long hiatus. I lost weight. I got all those worries about our country out of my subconscious and into the public eye. And my soul feels lighter, much happier.
But I worry about you. And I pray for you.
America, you have become far too cynical.
And make no mistake: Cynicism is death, one way or another.
So just vote your heart.
Vote your mind.
Vote, dammit.
Be the dream our country was founded on.
