How to become a Politician?

[Sjmfury]

I have a strong desire to hold public office after serving in the military. My ultimate goal being a United States Senator. I seek to reestablish the Foundation and Principles that made Our Country the Greatest on Earth. What are some things I can do, read, study, accomplish to increase my chances of becoming a Politician?

Specific Books?

Specific Colleges/Degrees?

Anything Else you may find Essential.

How great would it be if some of our forum members holding parts of public office and Restoring America back to the principles it was founded on. Perhaps our own little secret ;-)?

Any suggestions would be great, thank you!

[realtonygoodwin]

I am in the same position you are. PM me if you like, and I can share my ideas with you.

[CaptUSA]

There are so many avenues to becoming active in politics, there's really no one answer. My advice is to become extremely successful at something. You can choose what's dearest to your heart.

It helps to be a great public speaker, so I'd practice as much as possible. (You can do this while supporting Ron Paul, BTW :))

Unfortunately, it also helps to be "connected". Get to know your local party leaders and impress them with your success and communication skills. They will have to believe you can attract people to donate money.

A law degree is useful, and there's a route to office that way as well, but it's not really the way to attract the folks to whom you are trying to appeal.

I hope this helps a little. Good luck! For liberty!

[smartguy911]

Are you good at lying? practice lying to family, friends, coworkers? If they start buying your B.S, you are almost there.

[fisharmor]

Get one of those sealed bubbles for kids with immune problems, and live in it.
When your own farts start to smell good to you, you're ready for politics.

[Nate-ForLiberty]

Are you good at lying? practice lying to family, friends, coworkers? If they start buying your B.S, you are almost there.

ummm...Ron Paul?

[TCE]

ummm...Ron Paul?

His Congressional Campaigns when he was running against the incumbent were noticeably different than his campaigns when he had the seat safely in tow. I'm not saying he lied, but it was a very different Ron.

OP, look at either your city politics or the State House. If there is an open seat State House opportunity, it doesn't cost that much to run and win if you know what you're doing. Look at Gunny. Extremely difficult to jump from nowhere to U.S. Congress, though. Most of them have law degrees as a fallback.

[eduardo89]

Good luck with your endeavors in politics. I'm thinking of jumping in myself in Mexico...to bad I'll have to run in as part of a socialist party if I want any chance of getting elected. Got to infiltrate them and educate them from the inside ;)

[Rocco]

I'm in this position as well. My ultimate goal is to be in congress.

[satchelmcqueen]

please elaborate these things to me. i want to hear them. but please provide proof. PM me as i dont subscribe to threads. i seriously want to hear what you have got to say.
His Congressional Campaigns when he was running against the incumbent were noticeably different than his campaigns when he had the seat safely in tow. I'm not saying he lied, but it was a very different Ron.

OP, look at either your city politics or the State House. If there is an open seat State House opportunity, it doesn't cost that much to run and win if you know what you're doing. Look at Gunny. Extremely difficult to jump from nowhere to U.S. Congress, though. Most of them have law degrees as a fallback.

[Sjmfury]

Thanks for all the answers! Much appreciated, I'm in contact with a couple of you. You know who you are. :)

[heavenlyboy34]

Remember, politics is the second oldest profession...and has a lot in common with the oldest. ;)

[ClayTrainor]

Remember, politics is the second oldest profession...and has a lot in common with the oldest. ;)

Forgive my ignorance :o

What's the oldest? :confused:

[ClayTrainor]

I have a strong desire to hold public office after serving in the military. My ultimate goal being a United States Senator. I seek to reestablish the Foundation and Principles that made Our Country the Greatest on Earth. What are some things I can do, read, study, accomplish to increase my chances of becoming a Politician?

Specific Books?

Specific Colleges/Degrees?

Anything Else you may find Essential.

How great would it be if some of our forum members holding parts of public office and Restoring America back to the principles it was founded on. Perhaps our own little secret ;-)?

Any suggestions would be great, thank you!
Take notes from this guy... :p

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQ5cGYBV2TQ

[ForLiberty2012]

You just have to work at appealing to a mass of people using charisma. Which means being "political" aka dodge questions and lie... with a smile!

[heavenlyboy34]

Forgive my ignorance :o

What's the oldest? :confused:
Prostitution. ;)

[eduardo89]

This is a candidate you should emulate.

http://www.hulu.com/watch/11930/saturday-night-live-update-sen-tim-calhoun


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hcI8kKWr264

[TCE]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Members_of_the_111th_United_States_Congress

Want to become a U.S. Congressman? Get elected to your State House/State Senate or get a law degree.

[Keith and stuff]

I have no idea how to become a US Senator but if you want to become a State Rep, let me know. I know exactly how you can become a State Rep.

[european]

Most important: be true to yourself. I don't agree with the others that you have to lie. I don't believe that is needed, in fact I believe thats exactly the opposite of what people are looking for these days. But even more important, that is exactly the opposite of what you probably believe in.

Read books and follow courses on the following topics:
- debating
- networking
- public speaking
- presentation giving
- communication models
- speaking techniques
- bodylanguage
and maybe fundraising
but start small and learn the basic skills in your own town or city i'd say.


hint: there are many websites on each topic I just mentioned, also with tutorials and examples. Websites like youtube also can help with them. From there you can filter out books people wrote. Or you can look up what books universities sell/advice on the subjects.

[ChaosControl]

Specific Books?
You don't need much actual knowledge as has been demonstrated from many politicians, just be good at influencing people and appearing friendly. Maybe that "How to win friends and influence people" book. I have it, but haven't read it so I don't know if it is exactly how it sounds or not though.


Specific Colleges/Degrees?
Law.


Anything Else you may find Essential.
Sell your soul.

Seriously, being an evil scumbag is essentially a prerequisite for higher level office. You could become a state representative without having to be too bad, but you probably wont keep your seat too long. But only in complete flukes and special years do people with any degree of integrity win higher office.

It isn't that you necessarily need to know how to lie, just learn to be silent about the truth a lot. Essentially be the exact opposite of blunt.

I'd like to get into politics too, but more as an adviser. I am not a people person and I value privacy so I'd never run for actual office beyond maybe city council. Remember that too, be prepared to lose any and all privacy in your life when you run for higher office.

[Keith and stuff]

I have no idea how to become a US Senator but if you want to become a State Rep, let me know. I know exactly how you can become a State Rep.

I posted about this in detail below. However, to supplement my ideas, I recommend this information provided by the NHLA, http://www.nhliberty.org/sites/default/files/becoming_a_rep.pdf

[gerryb]

Run for Sheriff

Read the book "The County Sheriff, America's Last Hope"
http://www.sheriffmack.com/index.php/books-by-richard-mack

Take the future candidate school, and campaign manager school at Leadership Institute, as well as any other classes you can make it to. These are the most effective training classes you can take, beating college political science degree's...
http://www.leadershipinstitute.org/training/

Attend YAL campaign bootcamps and network with folks in your area;
http://www.yaliberty.org/campaignbootcamps

[Keith and stuff]

Run for Sheriff

Read the book "The County Sheriff, America's Last Hope"
http://www.sheriffmack.com/index.php/books-by-richard-mack

Take the future candidate school, and campaign manager school at Leadership Institute, as well as any other classes you can make it to. These are the most effective training classes you can take, beating college political science degree's...
http://www.leadershipinstitute.org/training/

Attend YAL campaign bootcamps and network with folks in your area;
http://www.yaliberty.org/campaignbootcamps

Good advice but if he is running for Sheriff he should be a cop for years and develop a good reputation with many of his fellow cops and the community as a whole.

[John F Kennedy III]

I have a strong desire to hold public office after serving in the military. My ultimate goal being a United States Senator. I seek to reestablish the Foundation and Principles that made Our Country the Greatest on Earth. What are some things I can do, read, study, accomplish to increase my chances of becoming a Politician?

Specific Books?

Specific Colleges/Degrees?

Anything Else you may find Essential.

How great would it be if some of our forum members holding parts of public office and Restoring America back to the principles it was founded on. Perhaps our own little secret ;-)?

Any suggestions would be great, thank you!

Run under the name "Slim Jim Fury"

[John F Kennedy III]

I would like to eventually be a U.S. Senator.

[John F Kennedy III]

I imagine it would help to read books on Austrian Economics and the U.S. Constitution.

[Keith and stuff]

http://www.ronpaulforums.com/entry.php?471-How-to-Become-a-Pro-liberty-State-Representative


How to Become a Pro-liberty State Representative

Do you like liberty? Do you want to get involved with the system and make a difference? Would you like to be a State Representative? If you answered yes to all three questions, continue reading because I know how to make it happen.

I’ve been involved with dozens of campaigns. Many of those campaigns were successful campaigns for State Representative in New Hampshire. Before I go into the how to get elected part, I’ll explain why you have the best chances of getting elected in NH.

• NH has 400 State Reps (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Hampshire_Legislature). No other state has even close to 400 State Reps. NH has a State Rep for every 3200 people. No other state has anything close to a State Rep per person ratio as low as NH.

• Many State Reps in NH are in very large, multi-seat districts (http://azcapitoltimes.com/news/2011/07/11/six-senators-one-legislative-district-eastern-states-wrestle-with-moving-away-from-multi-member-districts/). Some of the districts include fourteen seats. The number of districts and sizes of the districts encourage large swings in which State Reps are elected from election to election.

• Because of these factors, being an incumbent is a less important factor in determining reelection in NH than anywhere else. Nationally, state legislators are reelected at a 94% rate (http://www.followthemoney.org/press/ReportView.phtml?r=420&ext=1); in 2008, NH’s turnover was 34.5 (http://www.calwatchdog.com/2011/04/18/how-to-dilute-politicians-power/)%.

• NH has the most competitive State Rep races. In 2008, nearly 10% (http://www.followthemoney.org/press/ReportView.phtml?r=424&ext=8) of all competitive legislative races in the US were in NH.

• The average State Rep in the US costs $68,490. In NH, State Rep races are the least expensive at just $4,472 on average (http://www.followthemoney.org/press/ReportView.phtml?r=420&ext=2). To put this in perspective, the cost of all 400 State Rep races in NH is nearly equal to the cost of just one State Rep race in Texas.

• State Reps in NH receive a salary of $200 per term instead of over $100,000 per year (http://www.ncsl.org/default.aspx?tabid=20117) like in several other states. With such low pay, the legislators are more like volunteers, not career politicians.

• Being born in NH isn’t a factor in an election. 57% of Granite Staters were not born in NH. Around 300 NH State Reps (http://concordfactcheck.com/fact-check-sen-shaheens-comments-on-speaker-obrien-incorrect-hypocritical) were not born in NH.

• Most importantly, liberty candidates are more likely to get elected in NH than anywhere else. In 2010, 119 pro-liberty State Reps (http://www.nhliberty.org/2010/endorsements) were elected.

• NH is the freest state according to 2009 (http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/05/29/americas_freest_states_96717.html) and 2011 (http://mercatus.org/freedom-50-states-2011/NH) surveys.

• NH voters vote for anti-tax candidates for legislative offices. In 2009, adults were asked if they would be more likely to vote for a candidate if the candidate wanted to increase property taxes, sales taxes or income taxes. Only 6%, 24% and 31% (http://www.unh.edu/survey-center/news/pdf/gsp2009_winter_tax21109.pdf) of NH adults said yes to the questions.

• Perhaps you do not agree with my assessment. Here is an alternative point of view (http://www.jbartlett.org/bigger-is-better-at-least-for-the-new-hampshire-legislature) which basically reaches the same conclusions.

How to Run for Office

1. The easiest way is to move to a multi-seat district that leans overwhelmingly Republican in elections. These are typically large towns in NH that don't have wards. So for example, if a town had 19,000 people but didn't have wards it could be a 5 to 7 rep district.

2. Become well liked in the town by political insiders by attending GOP political events and being nice to everyone while having a nice appearance and not saying anything radical. So for example, if you have 38 pro-liberty bumper stickers on your car, take them off. Do not yell, berate, curse at or preach to people. I cannot stress this enough, you must be genuinely accepted by the community. If you truly are a good neighbor and want to do what is right for the community, you will be accepted.

3. Volunteer in the community on a local board or two. Network with various community organizations. Before you run for office, help on a campaign of a near-by pro-liberty politician that is liked by the community.

4. After a few years, run for office the way the Leadership Institute recommends; there is a 5 day training event that LI gives for people considering a run for office. Attend this event. Also, attend the New Hampshire Liberty Alliance or similar training events with your campaign manager.

5. Fill out the surveys for the local gun groups, the Republican Liberty Caucus of New Hampshire, NHLA, New Hampshire Republican Volunteer Coalition, Americans for Prosperity New Hampshire and sign the Tax Pledge. If you do this right, you should get a lot of endorsements, some campaign donations and even volunteers.

6. As long as you do all of that and actually run for office the way the LI recommends, which is time consuming, you are very likely to get elected. Keep in mind that it may take a couple tries to get elected.

Of course, regardless of what position you run for or where you live, don't lie. Be honest with yourself and with the voters. Run you campaign on popular issue that both you and the voters agree on. In New Hampshire, most voters support things such as no increased property taxes, no increased sales taxes, no increased income taxes and medical marijuana. Find out what other issues are important in your community and become a leader in those issues.