Until recently, I'd never given money to a political candidate or a political action committee. Two things changed that: The FISA bill, and a guy named
Sean Tevis.
I've been interested in local government for a long time. In high school, I attended the
Massachusetts Boys State program where I learned about how our state government works by modeling it. We all chose offices to run for, campaigned, had elections, and created a piece of legislation. Recently, I've begun researching the town selectmen's job description in hopes of getting involved in my local political process.
Sean Tevis lives in Kansas and recently decided to campaign for state representative. I saw an article about him on
Boing Boing, read about his political beliefs on his website, and thought he'd be a great person to donate to. I saw that he was on Twitter and followed him, and began checking his website frequently for more information. Nothing was posted. I figured he was busy counting his money and needed more time.
After a week, I started searching through Google News, curious about Sean's progress. Was the whole thing a scam? I found nothing about Sean's campaign but blog articles.
In short, Sean has raised $96,512 with approximately 5700 online donors. I think this is amazing. As the Times article and Sigfreid's website show, we won't know until the election is this is a liability. Will his potential constituents be upset about out-of-state influence in their local business?
We need smart people in government everywhere. Sean will have the most direct impact on affairs within his state, but Kansas is part of the U.S. and that means their success is ours and vice versa. Also, if Sean is successful, Kansas might be a great place for him to gain experience that could transfer into a federal position.
Most importantly, it's not fair that legitimately qualified candidates are unable to participate in the political process because they're not part of the machine or don't have the funds. Our country was founded on the obligation each of us has to participate in our government. Interest in politics has increased recently, and we should encourage it. Political support should be able to come from anywhere within our country, as long as the final vote still lies with the citizens of Olathe. All the internet has done is level the playing field.
Sean Tevis has a political platform and opinions that I can relate to. I don't live in Olathe, or even Kansas. Regardless, I wish Sean the best and look forward to following the campaign as it moves forward.
