The Young Turks

Tim,

 

Sorry for the delay in response, the campaign, family, career, and other expectations are, at times, downright stifling.  Too, your message deserved an appropriate response, which can take awhile to formulate while as busy as I've been.

 

Thanks for the suggestions, all indeed very sound for any conventional political campaign.

 

I'm not writing anything off so much as people are writing me off.  I'm spending every weekend campaigning across the district, meeting people in person and trying to win over voters one at a time.

 

Though disappointing to most of the politically active, I have no intention of running a conventional political campaign.  With no formal support from the state or national arms of the Democratic party, I am very much a common citizen making my own way in deep and unpredictable political waters.  I had been under the impression, going into this race, that an impassioned, educated, sane, hard-working candidate could find more support from, at the very least, the DPO.  The party, however, at neither the state nor national  levels, has any interest whatsoever in involving themselves in an "unwinnable race."  

 

Political campaigning is extraordinarily expensive, even more than most people would guess.  I'm not willing or able to spend the money necessary to truly change a race and the Democratic Party is nowhere to be seen.  I hold no resentement or animosity whatsoever; nobody promised me anything.

 

However, seeing as though I'm adrift on my own, I have only my own gut instinct on which to rely.  What that gut instinct tells me is that even if every single Democrat voted for me in this district, I still would not stand a chance of winning.  For me to win this election, I need to be able to represent all of the voters in this district.  While I am a Democratic Party loyalist, I'm not politically suicidal; ardent efforts to market myself conventionally will do nothing but allow my opponent to paint me in a light that many Second District voters will find offensive.  

 

The Democratic Party at both the state and national levels seem to want their cake and eat it too; they want me to bang the Democratic drum, in a Republican district, loudly and conventionally, despite the fact that I could only assure my loss by doing so.  Let me tell you, being a Democrat in Republican country is difficult enough, I'm hardly eager to become a Democratic martyr merely for the sake of it all.  Rather, I intend on presenting the real me to my prospective constitents...reasonable, hard-working, honest, and tempered, with an ability to engage "both sides of the aisle."  &nb sp;

 

Essentially, I have become disappointing to the poltically active in this state.  Ironically, however, I stand as the only person willing to take on this race.  If I had a dollar for every time somebody has told me that they had "thought" about entering this race, well, I might just have a campaign coffer to speak of.  The point, though, is this is very much a no-win situation for me.  My odds in the race itself are admittedly long, the Democratic Party will have nothing to do with me, each party has their expectation of what I'm supposed to be, and no matter how I approach this race, people will be left wanting for more (even though without me they'd have nothing). 

 

I reply to you with this diatribe because I would like you to know that, first, I appreciate your interest and passion but, second, that conventional wisdom is entirely out the window in this race.  My presence is but a reminder that you have to, as the old saying goes, "dance with the one that brung 'ya."  Everyone wants a pretty dance partner, but few actually know the dance. 

 

I'm not going anywhere, I'm staying in the race until November 4.  And, as I mentioned earlier, I'm spending a great deal of time meeting people around the state and traveling the district as much as possible.  When, however, my efforts are lost on the Democratic Party, or when influential people within the district begin referring to me publicly as a "placeholder," well, I'm much more inclined to feel as though I'm not quite part of the team.  It's very hard to spend much time courting the influential Democratic figureheards when they've written me off both publicly (unacceptable) and privately (tactful).  Truth be told, my time, energy, and resources are much better spent, and far more likely to be rewarded, off of the traditional political path.

 

The short of it, really, is that I have no plan for marketing myself conventionally...none.  ; The reality is that I have enough campaign money to try to make a splash for about thirty days.  That's it.  If I peak too early, I'm as good as done.  While not ideal, it is the reality for an over-worked, under-funded, un-supported, political nobody.  

 

But, in the end, even an "unorganized placeholder" can serve a vital purpose; democracy is founded upon the principal of choice.  Without somebody "placeholding," then seats go unchallenged.  Considering our party was willing to not challenge this race in the first place, it should come as no surprise that the only inspired candidate would be kept at arm's length.  Not to worry, however, my arms are long enough to return the favor and strong enough to go it alone.  

 

I thank you very much for your correspondence, I apologize for any amount of disappointment I might elicit, and I promise nothing but hard work on behalf of the citizens of the second district should I be elected this November.  

 

Thank you for your time and consideration.

 

Regards,

 

Noah Lemas (noahlemasforcongress@gmail .com)

Democratic Nominee

United States Congress

Oregon, District 2