Local Elections: Complete Our Straw Poll

We are giving our bloggers an opportunity to participate in a "straw poll" for three elected offices that will be decided on September 5, 2006. The three are:

1. School Board-District 4
2. School Board-District 5
3. County Court Judge-2

Please click on the link below and register your vote for each of the above:

http://www.insitefulsurveys.com/Survey.asp?SI=427524611885

If we have success with this polling, we will do the same for those offices being contested in the November General Election.

Happy Voting!!!!

Open Thread: CANDIDATES ONLY

We are going to try something new between now and the September 5, 2006 election. This thread will be dedicated for the use of any candidate (or Campaign Manager) for any office. You can post information about yourself, position statements on issues, speaking engagements, fundraisers, etc. Basically anything related to the conduct of your campaign. Our only requirement is to be reasonable in the use of thread space. After all, most bloggers don’t read long posts. Keep your posts to no more than 350-400 words.

Don’t forget, you can copy and paste items into the “comments” space or, if you prefer, just e-mail us what you want posted to politicallyhomeless@cox.net and we will do it for you.

If the Blog Master determines any postings on this thread are “inappropriate” (e.g. too long), we reserve the right to remove them. However, if everyone uses some common sense in posting information and comments, we doubt this should be required.

Assuming this thread attracts reasonable posting activity, we will open a similar thread for the November elections.

Remember: This thread is FOR CANDIDATES ONLY.

It’s Official: Townley vs. Kelly!

[NOTE: This thread of the blog is full. You can continue to review the comments made to date. However, to add your comments or start discussion on a new topic or issue, please go to: "New Thread: School Board Elections" (August 2).]

Yes, it is official. We just checked the County Supervisor of Elections website. Parnell Townley has filed to run against incumbent Kurt Kelly for School Board, District #3.

We believe this will be one of the hottest races in the County this election cycle. For the past two months, the PH Blog had many mentions of the possibility of this match up. Just read the comments on the School Board Elections thread below and you can get up-to-date on how and why the Townley/Kelly race has evolved.

Mr. Townley is a well-respected local businessman, former County Commissioner, and can offer much government/community service experience as a member of our School Board. We look forward to his entry into competition for this important position on our School Board.

What do you think about Mr. Townley entering the School Board race?

Happy Birthday Politically Homeless!

We started the Politically Homeless Blog just one year ago today. For our loyal followers, and those who have recently discovered the PH Blog, the following is a brief reminder of what our Blog is all about (from our very first posting on July 1, 2005):

[Who are the Politically Homeless? We are individuals who are frustrated with political parties and discouraged by what we are seeing as “politics as usual”. Many of us have no registered party affiliation. Others choose to stay registered with a certain party just to participate in primary elections, but do not really identify with the party’s current political direction. Herman Cain, in his book “They Think You’re Stupid”, provides an excellent description and discussion concerning our plight as the Politically Homeless. Both major parties are suffering significant defections, and the ranks of Politically Homeless are fast becoming a force to be reckoned with by the Democrats and Republicans. Both parties can no longer afford to ignore us. To do so will be political suicide for them! Each month we will post some important current-issue questions for you to offer your point of view. Occasionally, the “Blog Master” (or a guest Blogger) will offer a feature, thought-provoking opinion on a critical local issue. Open-mindedness and free speech are the only guidelines for your participation. Whether you agree or disagree with what your party is doing concerning the issues we discuss, we encourage you to offer your point of view.]

We have gained quite a few followers and contributors to the PH Blog over the past year. The number of posts and visits to PH is increasing significantly. We look forward to continuing our growth, influence and contribution to the discussion of political issues in Marion County. The upcoming 2006 elections should stimulate quite a bit of PH Blog discussion. It looks like the School Board election is already creating some hot and heavy dialogue! Check out the thread below-“School Board: Golden Opportunity For Dems?”

We are always looking for new ideas/topics and your suggestions for improving the PH Blog. E-mail us at: politicallyhomeless@cox.net or post your ideas anywhere on one of the Blog threads. Also, please spread the word about the PH Blog to your friends. We don’t have an advertising budget, so word of mouth is our best source.

Thanks for blogging with us and your help in continuing to grow our PH blogger population.

Winning An Election: Fat Wallet Required?

The days of putting up a few signs and hoping to win a local election are history. Ask candidates and campaign experts what it takes to win and you will hear: polling surveys, consultants, mailers, TV/radio ads, websites, blogs, interns, telephone banks, neighborhood cookouts, signs, billboards, etc. All of this requiring money, money, money…….and lots of it!

Be prepared to shell out $175,000-$250,000 to run for state representative, $75,000-$125,000 for county commissioner, and even $30,000-$50,000 for county school board or some of the city offices. Staggering and growing financial requirements.

Is running for office getting beyond the means of the average candidate? There are probably some local citizens who could afford to run a campaign without using the money of others. However, most of those individuals aren’t even interested in holding elected office. The average Joe or Sally wanting to run must come up with some big bucks, especially if they are new to politics and running against a well-known incumbent.

So we want to hear from you:

How is the increased importance of fundraising changing Marion County politics?