Run for Office!
YOU should run for office. Active and informed citizens improve America and Utah. Greater involvement improves political outcomes.
Let’s get the negative stuff out of the way first. Reasons you might not run include that you don’t have time or expertise or that you will be overworked, underpaid, criticized, and asked to give opinions on things you know little about. Also, you could reason that your children are too young, your job will be impacted, your relationships will be stressed, other interests and activities will have to give way, and your privacy might suffer. (Hmm. That’s actually an impressive list now that I look at it. Let’s see how the other side of the ledger balances.).
Because the reasons to run are so powerful, each deserves its own paragraph. Here they are:
1. You are needed. Your talents, insights and expertise are specific to you. And they are needed by the community to analyze and prioritize issues. Running for office forces your thinking on issues specific to the community. If you don’t know everything at first, who cares? No one really expects you to know it all. In any event, few things will make you more informed on a broader set of subjects than running for or serving in office.
2. Many ideas are needed. Over time, issues are revisited many times by your community. We try to problem solve in a variety of ways. When you run, your problem solving skills will be applied to a variety of topics. To get it right, problem solving needs to come from many different sources. Be one of those sources.
3. Many hands make light lifting. Public service can be satisfying, but many aspects can be draining. We help others by jumping in to do the work, just as others help us. Throwing your hat in the ring, indicates to people watching that you want to get your hands dirty. Even if you don’t win a race, you have self-identified as a worker, and chances are, you’ll be called on to help.
4. Elections require choices. Our system of government works best when there are more people in more races for the electorate to choose from. Far too often we have uncontested races. Contested races force candidates to work harder, to be more thoughtful and to listen more. The way you run determines the way you serve in office. So by forcing a candidate to work harder, she is being trained and prepared for harder work once elected.
5. Empathy. Running for office, win or lose, makes you and your family members more empathetic to current and future public servants.
You are promoting healthy political conversation by talking with others as you consider a run. Putting yourself and your house in order to make a run for office is a grand gesture to your community, your family and your neighbors. When we all take our turn to do a little more,the world is a better place.