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Thursday, 7-25-2001

Getting the Show on the Road

Dear Political Diary,

The piles of paperwork are still on the floor of my office. I still haven't gotten around to diving into them but I did something else which put me in a very good humor. I put a page on my campaign website this morning that I meant to put together two years ago for the Senate campaign. Its now done and I have no doubt that it will be a great boon for our local newspapers.

This breakthrough isn't the only thing that has put me in a good mood. I only have a few pages to read before finishing the Grant Biography. There's nothing like finishing a book to give me a sense of well being. As a Republican I've felt defensive about the corrupt Grant, Harding and Nixon administrations for years. I now have a lot more respect for  Ulysses. Its a good thing I read Perret's book rather than McFeely's which, though a Pulitzer winner, is apparently hostile to Grant. I've been trying for the past couple of years to make more sense of Reconstruction its aftermath and the era's political landscape. Its starting to come together. The Edmund Morris bio of Teddy Roosevelt also helped even though I only heard an abridged version on tape.

But exercising my flights of fancy and delving into history aren't all that I have to rejoice about today. I'm rather pleased to have started up the old diary again. Its true that I get almost no feedback on the diary but its gratifying to put my thoughts down day by day nonetheless. Darlin let me know she was glad I wrote something for yesterday but I didn't make any promises about how long I'd stick to it.

And that's still not all. After today's visit to my campaign mailbox my campaign has $2,000 in its treasury. I hope to raise over twenty thousand so I've got a long way to go but this is a very good start. Thanks Mom.

I sent out my fundraising letter pretty late. I could have started fundraising back in January but I wanted to make sure my enthusiasm for the race wouldn't flag as I approached the filing date. I also wanted to see what the new districts would look like. I didn't want to hit up people who would be in some other district. Of course, I didn't expect to lose the Republican endorsement and now I will have to compete for dollars with another Republican who will no doubt get the Party funds.

My friend Patt was quoted as saying that I may have lost the endorsement because it didn't seem like I had "the fire in my belly." Well, losing the endorsement certainly stoked the furnace. 

To my delight Donny the College Republican who I got to know at the Republican State Convention decided to stick with me. We seem to be on the same political wavelength. When he was over helping me stuff the fundraising letters into envelopes he nodded approvingly at one particular note I had posted by my computer. It says, "I will be the least partisan politician in the legislature." After reading about the Stalwart and Liberal Republicans and Democrats that Grant had to deal with I can't help but think a non partisan point of view is long overdue. Fortunately, the vast majority of the voting public probably agrees.