I got a phone call last night. It came on the phone I established for my campaign. You have to have a separate phone if you run for office. Election officials don’t want you to enter a personal phone number on the election forms. So I got a separate phone. The number is 608-628-1313 in case you’re interested.
I didn’t get to the phone in time, so the caller left a message. It came from the Dane County labor union, AFSCME; the one that represents unionized county workers. I filled out their four-page questionnaire last month and interviewed on a Zoom conference call February 17. I thought it went rather well. I once belonged to union.
The message last night said the county union will not endorse me. They will endorse my opponent for the Dane County District 7 seat on Board of Supervisors.
I’m grateful.
What I mean by that is simple.
As I campaign for election and as I visualize a seat on the Dane County Board of Supervisors from District 7, I am not beholding or indebted or influenced by the presumed authority of any politically established entity. As a non-partisan candidate without party affiliation or otherwise pledged to uphold the expectations of any group interested in preserving and enhancing their own agenda, I am free to faithfully serve the needs and values of the one group above all I seek to represent – The Individual Tax Payers of Dane County Who Vote, the ITPDCWV. That’s the endorsement I seek above all others and it comes one time and one time only, at the polling booths on April 7 in the Spring Election.
Otherwise, I’m not sure who belongs to what group or whether they even live in District 7, but I know this. If I crave and court the endorsement of every group outside District 7 and don’t convince the voters of District 7 I can do the job, it won’t matter anyway.
Those voters sit at their kitchen tables with their check books and balance taxes against utilities, insurance, mortgages, dental bills, prescriptions, health insurance, car payments, credit cards and Aunt Betty’s birthday present. Or maybe they pay on line. Or maybe they simply push away from the table because they can’t.
So I’ll go door to door and tell people who pay or worry and try to figure out how they’re going to pay, “I’m in It For You.” That’s the simple truth.
I’ll ask them to tell me their greatest concerns in this District, in this City, in this County and I’ll ask them what they think we should do about it.
That should keep things simple.
That’s the way I like it.
I’m grateful.