Planning On Running For The House in OR-3 In 2014: Advice? Where to Start?

[JordanL]

I'll be 25, the minimum age to run for the House, in about 10 days. I can't really mount a credible campaign (without over $1.5 million) against the incumbent this cycle, so I'm deciding to wait until the 2014 cycle to try.

This will not be an easy district. OR-3 covers a large portion of the Portland Oregon Metro Area, and is currently held by Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D). He has been the Rep since 1995, and the Oregon GOP has essentially not contested the seat for almost a decade.

I think I have a shot at it though, especially if I plan on running in two years and have the support of the liberty movement for what will be a very expensive (comparatively) Congressional campaign that I don't have any of the wealth to finance.

Where should I start with this? I'm very young for a Rep, (will only be 27 at the time of the election), however I am a very good public speaker, and very good at relating to other people and making them care about what I have to say.

Not sure if this is the right forum either.

[trey4sports]

do a lot of charity work and get some good publicity in the next two years.

[tsai3904]

Did you consider running for a State House or State Senate position first? Having experience and a record of votes in state government will make it a lot easier to make it to Congress.

[JordanL]

Did you consider running for a State House or State Senate position first? Having experience and a record of votes in state government will make it a lot easier to make it to Congress.

A couple of things with that:

-The people here in Oregon for local races, at least this section of Oregon, just check the "D".
-The people here for this district don't really pay attention to the local races much at all.

I've considered it... the minimum age to run as a state senator or rep is 21 in Oregon... but it actually seems to me like it would be a harder campaign.

[oyarde]

A couple of things with that:

-The people here in Oregon for local races, at least this section of Oregon, just check the "D".
-The people here for this district don't really pay attention to the local races much at all.

I've considered it... the minimum age to run as a state senator or rep is 21 in Oregon... but it actually seems to me like it would be a harder campaign. I know you are right about checking the D .I cannot believe I am saying this , but your best shot could be running as a D in a primary.

[JordanL]

I know you are right about checking the D .I cannot believe I am saying this , but your best shot could be running as a D in a primary.

It's possible... here's the full situation:

-I have been registered Republican since 18, and have voted Republican in most elections.
-I have been involved in the PR for Occupy Portland between October and early December.
-I have completed about 1.5 years of college, which I refused to take out loans for, but have been working as a programmer without attending college for the last four years.
-I have a professional relationship with most of the news broadcasters and some of the print media in the city because of the PR work I did with Occupy.

I think the Occupy stuff would play well if I ran as a Dem, although I would still be preaching liberty instead of socialism, just like I was at Occupy. It would be very hard to be Blumenauer in a primary though... he won the one this year with 91% of the vote.

[oyarde]

It's possible... here's the full situation:

-I have been registered Republican since 18, and have voted Republican in most elections.
-I have been involved in the PR for Occupy Portland between October and early December.
-I have completed about 1.5 years of college, which I refused to take out loans for, but have been working as a programmer without attending college for the last four years.
-I have a professional relationship with most of the news broadcasters and some of the print media in the city because of the PR work I did with Occupy.

I think the Occupy stuff would play well if I ran as a Dem, although I would still be preaching liberty instead of socialism, just like I was at Occupy. It would be very hard to be Blumenauer in a primary though... he won the one this year with 91% of the vote. What about knocking off a State Senator or State Rep , also , the US Senate seats are weak in your neck of the woods , for later down the road.

[oyarde]

It's possible... here's the full situation:

-I have been registered Republican since 18, and have voted Republican in most elections.
-I have been involved in the PR for Occupy Portland between October and early December.
-I have completed about 1.5 years of college, which I refused to take out loans for, but have been working as a programmer without attending college for the last four years.
-I have a professional relationship with most of the news broadcasters and some of the print media in the city because of the PR work I did with Occupy.

I think the Occupy stuff would play well if I ran as a Dem, although I would still be preaching liberty instead of socialism, just like I was at Occupy. It would be very hard to be Blumenauer in a primary though... he won the one this year with 91% of the vote. Being a Republican previously will not hurt you ( I think ) . What is your Mayor like ?

[JordanL]

Being a Republican previously will not hurt you ( I think ) . What is your Mayor like ?

Sam Adams was a City Council member for years, and widely liked. He ran for Mayor, which was a bit historic (he's openly gay). He got screwed by a reporter with a grunge who essentially fabricated a story about him having an affair with a staffer (male obviously) when the staffer was 17. The affair was true, but it happened when he wasn't underage.

He's a very, very Liberal Mayor. A fair guy for the most part though. He's a very environmentally conscious guy, who is very focused on making the community better... doesn't really spend any energy on anything other than the local matters.

EDIT:

Merkley's seat may be possible, but I don't think Ron Wyden could be easily knocked off, especially after he essentially single handedly stopped PIPA in the Senate this summer.

[ronpablo]

Maybe if you positioned yourself as a protest candidate, the economy should be even worse by 2014, and focused on the issues that northwesterners eat up, public transit, green tech, organic foods, local economy.

[JordanL]

Maybe if you positioned yourself as a protest candidate, the economy should be even worse by 2014, and focused on the issues that northwesterners eat up, public transit, green tech, organic foods, local economy.

In the NW, we have some very odd electorate demographics... a very liberal group, but they are also very individualist. I think it could also help to play up the individualism...

(Sample speech snippet I wrote)

Demagogues on the right need enemies to stay in power. Demagogues on the left need victims. What I need to be elected is free people, individuals who don’t want to see others as enemies or be seen by their elected officials as victims. What I need is people who are tired of being a man, or a woman, or a Republican, or a Democrat, or being rich or poor. What I need is people who don't want to be defined by those things any more, for people who want their government to see them as people.

[ronpablo]

In the NW, we have some very odd electorate demographics... a very liberal group, but they are also very individualist. I think it could also help to play up the individualism...

(Sample speech snippet I wrote)

Demagogues on the right need enemies to stay in power. Demagogues on the left need victims. What I need to be elected is free people, individuals who don’t want to see others as enemies or be seen by their elected officials as victims. What I need is people who are tired of being a man, or a woman, or a Republican, or a Democrat, or being rich or poor. What I need is people who don't want to be defined by those things any more, for people who want their government to see them as people.

that's good, maybe you can start out getting into some local political positions that aren't as hotly contested and build your way up with the help of the local liberty movement. it's funny, the only reason sam adams is mayor is cause a beer shares his name and portlanders love beer, and he's probably "serviced" enough people to the top. he happens to be in the stephen malkmus video gardenia.

[JordanL]

that's good, maybe you can start out getting into some local political positions that aren't as hotly contested and build your way up with the help of the local liberty movement. it's funny, the only reason sam adams is mayor is cause a beer shares his name and portlanders love beer, and he's probably "serviced" enough people to the top. he happens to be in the stephen malkmus video gardenia.

He also has a likable personality. He feels very relateable to people here.

[KingNothing]

Create a brand for yourself.

Make people know who you are by being the most honest, the most pro-Liberty, the most-populist, the most decent, the most humble, the most intellectual, the most empathetic person they've ever met. And meet everyone.

Talk to them about the issues they care about, and relate to them.

The people have to know beyond a shadow of a doubt that your brand is something they want, because they know they can trust it.

[JordanL]

Create a brand for yourself.

Make people know who you are by being the most honest, the most pro-Liberty, the most-populist, the most decent, the most humble, the most intellectual, the most empathetic person they've ever met. And meet everyone.

Talk to them about the issues they care about, and relate to them.

The people have to know beyond a shadow of a doubt that your brand is something they want, because they know they can trust it.

Hmmm... I'll have to think about how to go about this. At some point I'm going to have to find a couple thousand dollars some where to put the infrastructure for collecting donations and putting the campaign together... probably around the end of this year...

[JordanL]

Question: What kind of person should I have as a campaign manager? Obviously someone I trust, but what kinds of skills should I look for there?

[Krugerrand]

I'll share two of my general thought on politics.

So much of it is pure name recognition. If you plastered an area every year or so with your name and a simple slogan "John Jenkins Cares About Workers" then eventually ran for office .. people would vote for you simply because they know the name. Plus, you wouldn't be subject to any sort of campaign laws since you wouldn't be campaigning for anything. As an added touch, throw a great big "Thank You!" over your billboards after the election. That puts in people's minds that you're a winner.

An alternate plan which could work perhaps even better. Legally change your name to "NoneOf TheAbove" or "Somebody Else." You get that on the ballot, and you'd be surprised how many votes you could garner. Plus, you could run ads ... "are you unhappy with candidate A and Candidate B ... then vote for Somebody Else if you'd like to see x,y, and z happen."

[JordanL]

I'll share two of my general thought on politics.

So much of it is pure name recognition. If you plastered an area every year or so with your name and a simple slogan "John Jenkins Cares About Workers" then eventually ran for office .. people would vote for you simply because they know the name. Plus, you wouldn't be subject to any sort of campaign laws since you wouldn't be campaigning for anything. As an added touch, throw a great big "Thank You!" over your billboards after the election. That puts in people's minds that you're a winner.

An alternate plan which could work perhaps even better. Legally change your name to "NoneOf TheAbove" or "Somebody Else." You get that on the ballot, and you'd be surprised how many votes you could garner. Plus, you could run ads ... "are you unhappy with candidate A and Candidate B ... then vote for Somebody Else if you'd like to see x,y, and z happen."

Hahaha... your second idea is brilliantly devious.

[JordanL]

So for the campaign website, I'm planning on having a section that allows constituents to post reddit-like topics that they would like my campaign to respond to or take a position on.

If elected, I'd want to turn this into a tool that has one full-time staffer processing congressional notes, bills, etc. into things that the general public can relate to and digest so that they can create informed opinions.