Mostly just got my intro and basic videos posted. Hit a last-minute snag with GoDaddy DNS, but their tech support got me through it. Stressful. A good reminder of engineering tradeoffs — stability vs. cost. Noted.
Follow the campaign on this site for now. Email list sign-up coming soon, along with social media posts. Stay tuned!
But the big news today is: This is my last day at work — I’ll be retired as of this evening!
Now the campaign kicks into high gear, with district-wide visits, more interviews and appearances, new campaign materials, and regular site updates.
Tonight’s update takes us from roughly 20% complete (just the fundamentals) to about 70%, with the full shape of the campaign clearly mapped out. There’s enough to answer most of the ‘why’ and ‘how’ questions about the campaign.
There are too many additions and updates to list, but a few of note:
I hope to soon meet many of you in person! Keep in touch.
The home page is essentially complete, outlining what I and the campaign are about. Several supporting pages are also in place, plus some “coming soon” placeholder pages as I continue to flesh out my views for your consideration.
Of special note, I’ve outlined my plan for a District Advisory Council, a centerpiece of the campaign.
Still missing (not even placeholder pages) but also in the works: My bio, and my “positions” on issues. In short, my position on most issues is that a range of options are reasonable. I resist settling on specific solutions until time for debate has been exhausted — this is how I believe Congress should operate.
Happy Cinco de Mayo everyone. I’ll be 65 tomorrow, celebrating with family and friends in home town Berkeley.
I starting posting to social media, and dove right into issues around Voting (HANVA), which is a bit off base — I probably shouldn’t assume people immediately rush to spend an hour on the site. But social is fluid, I’ll post more today and later this week about the positive side of this campaign — how we can, in principle, pull back from the partisan mess we find ourselves in. That’s what it’s about, after all.
My interview on KQNY Quincy starts airing today, check it out!
With tonight’s update the site is ready to provide a solid base for the campaign. I’ll still be adding and refining up to election day, but now it’s time to focus on short messaging videos every day or so, and get the Social Media channels fired up.
One obvious change on the site is replacing “put people before parties” with “say NO! to partisan nonsense”. Of course I still believe in putting people before parties, but that message feels rather bland compared to what I’m hearing from constituents. It’s worse out there than I’d imagined — a lot of people are really fed up with what can only be termed nonsense, indeed.
A lot of pages have been clarified and expanded. Thank you to those providing helpful review and feedback.
One major update is A Tale of Two District 1s. This was in part because I think it’s important for voters to understand what’s going on, but it’s also a good example of how I operate: I work to understand complex issues and then do my best to help others understand as well. The page is a bit long and wonky, but I hope it’s also clear and interesting.
A significant campaign move is that I’ve nailed down No Fundraising. I had considered setting up for limited donations, but I went back to an earlier idea instead — I’d love to hear your take. I also hope you enjoy the strange and wonderful experience that in part drove the decision.
(this is verbatim what I put on the campaign landing page)
There are still “hours to go”, so spend that minute if you haven’t already.
I just posted my “Campaign Closing” video to social and my short-video catalog, take a look.
Many thanks to all who have supported me on this fantastic adventure. I’ll be posting a full retrospective in a week or so, after what I consider a well-deserved break. See you then!
Time flies! I’ve been talking to voters, and doing a lot of research, and have come to learn just how disheartened and disgusted so many of you are. It’s worse than I thought.
In this last phase I’ll be focusing on calling out bullshit of various sorts, because there really is a lot, and I’m convinced it’s what drives so many voters to just tune it all out. Not healthy for our would-be government of the people.
I’ve posted two related videos (short and long), based on the new focus. More to come as fast as I can produce them.
Outreach continues, along with various site improvements to make it easier for people to find what they need to know about me and this campaign. Onward to the finish!