A clean campaign

Dear Editor:

Politics. What a weird game. I am thinking of running for city office May 3 and boy, am I getting lots of advice. They all say you have to run to win, and if I decide to run that is exactly what I will do, but what does “run to win” really mean? I hate how politics is more about “name recognition” than anything else. I hate that the more money you have the more likely you are to win. I hate logos replacing issues and cute slogans replacing genuine meaning.

Isn’t it funny to hear about a candidate’s “strong environmental stance” and then see their trash strewn all over the community? If I run I will run a paperless campaign. No trash on lawns, in windows, or on cars. Sorry, I won’t be standing on street corners waiving my name in your face either.

What I will do, after April 1 (Fools’ Day and decision day on running) is talk to as many people as I can, go to all the debates I am invited to, go door to door, set times and places for people to come and meet me, answer all questions of the press, start a website with my positions, answer e-mails sent me, and write a letter to the editor as often as possible. I would hope to win spending not one dime (we’ll see, that may be too idealistic even for me).

If I run I will not be running because I want someone else to lose. I will not be engaged in any campaign that is one of those “Anyone but ____” gigs.

I will debate issues, but I won’t engage in tabloid campaigning where I use unfair sloganeering to belittle competition. I will run on issues I believe in, not against other candidates. I won’t know everything, nor pretend to; I will run as a citizen politician with ideas who is willing to serve; not because I need a job, to promote a movie or myself, or because politics is my life. I just simply love this place and think our greatest moments are ahead of us, not behind us.

Scott Writer

Aspen