I'm finally getting around to doing some research for the upcoming general elections... well, at least those in my own state ^^". It's time to elect our House Reps... I was planning on voting for the incumbent, Rush Holt, but I'm starting to like this independent candidate Kenneth Cody too.
Now, there are a few pretty big problems with this... Well, 1 big one really. Independents never stand a chance. (Plus he went to community college, which may or may not sit well with some people... He'll be up against Ivy Leaguers. His writing tends to be a bit simplistic, & his spelling could use some improvement
but enough nitpicking...) He sounds like a great guy overall... Rep material? Can't say just yet. He may be new to the scene, but he has heart, and for me, compassion & brains are the most important traits any candidate can have. He's a Democrat-turned-Independent (as I will be, once I remember to fill out my form & unaffiliate!), believes in bipartisanship & finding common ground to get things done for the betterment of all Americans; finding a path to universal health care; supporting small businesses; environmental responsibility & protection; limited campaign contribution & spending (something I was actually thinking about just this morning-- why there's such a need for insane amounts of money. I was thinking of issuing a challenge-- run a complete, legit campaign on a $50 budget. It's possible, just takes a little creativity... I know how I'd do it. This guy has a tally of how much he's spent: $234.40, of his own money, no contributions whatsoever. His website is a tripod.com site! :-D Frugal and fiscally responsible are very good.); his platform/slogan is Truth, Vision, Hope. It's a good place to start. Why not try something different? That being said, I do think he needs to be a bit stronger... especially because he's an indie. My advice? Take a stronger stand on positions, give more detailed answers... I get where you're leaning, & that you're open to compromise, but we like to know that you have ideas of your own to contribute too.Though really, I still like Holt too... [<--click link over there for his positions on issues]. He's a Quaker (a religious group for which I actually have a great deal of respect), he supports everything I've ever asked him about, including environmental issues; opposes all the things I oppose, works well with our senators & OB's other rep Pallone, & other nice things... (The 4 of them got together to write a letter to Obama opposing offshore drilling... couldn't ask for a better team!) I'd say he's pretty progressive, especially compared to our other options... (Too many NJ tea party candidates -_-") He's tied for 1st place for most liberal Dem in the House (with 6 others, as of right now... someone needs to update the list!). And he has a PhD. in physics (not that it's really relevant to politics, but physics gets impossibly hard at that level, so he must be quite intelligent...Plus he was a 5-time winner on Jeopardy. Useless knowledge sometimes does come in handy...) Another plus, we pretty much match up exactly on the political compass tests (Hardcore Liberal! W00T!). Very rare find indeed...
Anyway, my Reps & Senators are awesome :-) and I'll be very interested to see how this plays out...
As for Mr. Cody... I'll be keeping an eye on him... (By the way, the Republican guy for my district is basically a cookie-cutter poster child for Wall St. In fact, he even wrote a mystery novel about Wall St...)
Links:
His opinion piece on MyCentralJersey.com
Kenneth Cody for Congress (his campaign website)
Views on Healthcare
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