Defending Our Rights

The short version of why I am not running for County Commissioner is that I missed the filing deadline.  I thought it was by end of day on the 29th and it was noon.

The long version about why I am not running is because 1) I really don’t want the bother.  I am a businessman and a family man.  My business is not very old and like all infants it requires a lot of time and energy.  I didn’t want to take time away from my business to politic. And 2) I really don’t like politics or politicians.  They have a strong tendency to say whatever will get them elected (or stay elected) and then they will do things that conflict with what they said they were all about when they were campaigning.

For those of my friends and associates who strongly encouraged me to run, I have this to say.  Put your activity where your mouth is.  Instead of just encouraging good people to run for office and voting for them, volunteer to help on their campaign.  Any campaign needs at least three people on the team.

1) the candidate

2) a campaign manager

3) a campaign treasurer

You don’t have to hold a PhD. for any of these roles, but it does take time and energy.  The candidate, in running for office, is taking on at least a part-time job (campaigning) in addition to everything else going on in his or her life.  This extra set of demands is why the other two roles are critical.

The campaign manager needs to stay on top of all the political events being held and let the candidate know where they need to be and when.  If necessary the manager needs to get the candidate invited to events where he or she can speak and win voters. Also, at the events, the campaign manager needs to make sure to take pictures and videos of the candidate that can be posted on the web to reach voters who weren’t at the event.  The campaign manager makes it possible for the candidate to actually keep living their life AND campaign for office instead of having to choose between the two.

The campaign treasurer, at heart, needs to be able to balance a checkbook.  That is the bare minimum for a treasurer.  Once again without a treasurer, the candidate has another complexity added to their life, keeping track of the donations and expenses and associated reporting that go with a campaign.  Without a treasurer, the candidate’s life is even more complicated than needs to be.  At best, a treasurer works with the campaign manager to help arrange fund raising events for the candidate so that they can afford all those awful signs, stickers, hats, t-shirts, flyers, brochures, and post cards that are needed to reach voters and raise name recognition for the candidate.

Although I reached out last year to those who were encouraging me to run, none of them were willing to do more than promise to vote for me.  I don’t believe that if I cannot muster enough support to form a campaign committee of me and two other people, then I really have no business trying to lead the people of Cabarrus County, regardless of how strongly I feel about some of the things going on here.

So, for those of you who expressed support and encouragement for my campaign, my apologies.  And here is my encouragement to you - next time you encourage someone to run for office, step up to the plate and offer some of your time and energy to help them get elected.

You don’t have to be the campaign manager or treasurer - you can put up signs in your part of the county or city.  You can knock on the doors in your neighborhood and hand out flyers for your candidate.  You can go to the Board of Elections and hold up a sign for your candidate during the early voting days.  In short, there are many, many things you can do to make it easier for your candidate to campaign and dramatically increase the odds that she or he will get elected.

In keeping with what I have told others to do here, I am publicly telling everyone here that I am going to volunteer to help Larry Pittman’s campaign for the NC Legislature.  So, if I knock on your door, or hand you a flyer you will know why - I am practicing what I preach.

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Thomas K Sheppard is a businessman and average citizen living in Cabarrus County, North Carolina. Tired of complaining about the direction of the country, in the Spring of 2010 he ran for a spot on the ballot of the Republican Party as a County Commissioner. Although this, his first attempt to get elected did not succeed in getting him through the primary, his influence on the issues was significant and he has determined to remain active in local politics and to run for office again in the future. His web site is www.thomasksheppard.com and he can be reached at sheppard4commissioner@gmail.com