#1007 running for public office

I couldn't think of anything to write about today, so I went to the NaBloPoMo website to look at the September writing prompts. I've looked at it before, but I've never actually used one of the prompt. Today I will.

Monday, September 9, 2013
Would you ever want to run for public office? Why or why not?

I would not want to ever run for public office.  For one thing, you'd have to go out and meet people and try to get them to like you so they will vote for you. That is definitely something I would not enjoy doing. When I am in a big group of people, I don't feel comfortable. I much prefer to work with small groups of people that I know well. I don't care to be the center of attention; I'd much rather be the person behind the person who is the center of attention. I'm a background singer - not the lead singer!

Another reason I wouldn't run for public office is that I dislike the campaigning. I guess that actually goes along with my first point. :) In general, I dislike all the VOTE FOR ME signs that are all over the place. They are so clutter-y and annoying and I feel like those darn signs are always up. Maybe we are in a constant state of elections.  Hmm. I don't really know, which leads me to my third reason:

I don't like to watch the news, so I'm usually a little behind on local current news.  Although I have ideas about things that should change, I'm not informed or passionate enough to fun for public office to try to make changes.

And what if for some crazy reason I was actually elected? (Like if I was running against a pit bull or a baby?)  You say something and some people think you're great and some people think you're dumb as a bowl of oatmeal. No thank you.

Come to think of it, I can't imagine why anyone in their right mind would think it is a good idea to run for public office. I guess I'm glad there are people who are willing to do so because that form of government is how our country is structured and I think it's a pretty good system overall. I just get so tired of the right vs the left. Everyone believes that their way of thinking is the correct way, the true way. Usually the real truth lies somewhere in the middle, wouldn't you say?

It seems like people get into an election of good reasons at first, but then they become accustomed to the lifestyle. I think there should be term limits for senators. There is a certain senator from Utah who has been in office since 1977. That's 36 years. Because of his seniority, he is on many committees and I guess does lots of important things. (I couldn't tell you for sure because I don't watch the news, remember?) Still, I think that after 36 years you would become pretty much entrenched in the system; I don't really think that's a good thing.

Still, he can have the job because for every man like him that is a "public servant" there are probably ten people like me who couldn't care less about it.

Talking about politics just makes my skin crawl. Just a couple of weeks ago when we were in Pocatello, one of my brothers-in-law was just about to go off on Obamacare, but I said, "Stop right there, man! This is a politics-free evening!" (That BIL is red, but most of the rest of the family is blue and why ruin a perfectly good birthday party with voices raised in political argument? I guess I could have retreated to the basement and watched TV.) MT loves to talk about politics, but over the years, he has learned that I don't bite when he brings up political topics. If you want to talk about sports, I'm your girl, but if you want to talk about how the US should proceed with the situation in Syria, please find someone else.

Wow, I had more to say about that topic than I thought I would. This post is quite different from anything else I've written on this little blog. I guess that's ok every now and then, right?

Have an A1 day, everyone :)

Yeah, no public office for me. Heck, I don't even want to run for a position on the PTA board! I think there are effective ways to be a leader without having the notoriety or publicity of being an elected official.