No More Incumbents Blog

This Week we added a new writer Chris Bumeter.  He will be covering the state of Missouri where he lives.  Chris is working his way through College.  He is studying marketing and he also has been playing in a band for several years.

But like many people in their late teens and early twenties politics are hitting very close to home.

Many US citizens and their families are paying a very heavy price in the War on terror.  I served in the US Army during the first Gulf war.  I personally have the opinion that people can server in the military if they choose to do so.  I do think that a volunteer army functions better than a transcript or drafted army.

When you are in the military you can not question the orders of your commanders, especially the Commander in Chief.

However, the Commander in Chief serves at the pleasure of the American People and the US Constitution a fact that seems to have escaped our current President and perhaps his predecessor as well.

While I do not feel it should be requird for every person to serve in the military, I do feel that it is absolutely necessary for every American citizen out of uniform to keep a close watch on the politicians elected to serve our country.  The oversight starts with us.

If we fail to pay attention, then the troops that have volunteered to protect will be exposed to a very dangerous situation.  It is our responsibilty to take care of our troops, and that job starts by making sure that our politicians are doing their job according to the constitution.

The Bush Administration had a strong start to the War on Terror, but they have become very lost and confused especially in the last couple of years.  A war can not be won with good intentions, nor can a moral war be won by immoral means.  The Bush Administration does not seem to comprehend this lesson of world history and we are losing troops every day because of it.

Here is some useful information from Alan in Toronto.  He suggests that opting for a new candidate might not really bring change and that power does not corrupt.  He believes that people can be corrupt from the start, but you can read more . . .

1. If everything else were the same about 2 candidates, would you vote for an incumbent or a new candidate?

I would vote for the incumbent over the new candidate. 

2. Why?

There would be no point in appointing someone new when they are not going to bring anything new for the Country or State. Most people are believers that change is good, if it is not for the better then people won’t be optimistic. Don’t fix what isn’t broke and if it there is a problem with the incumbent and the new candidate is the same…move.

3. Do you think that politicians become more corrupt as they stay in office or Washington longer?

I don’t believe politcians become more corrupt as they tay in office longer.

4. Why?

I am strong believer that it is more about the person being corrupt because that is who they are and not the power. People who want power usually want to use it for different things before they actually get the power.

5. What State and Country do you live in?

I live in Toronto, Ontario, Canada a more liberal province though I know much more about American politics then I do with other Provincial governments. 

6. What is your first name and last inital?

Allan C. (Cheng I don’t mind having my full name out there)

7. Do you have a blog and if so what is your url?

Yes I do have a blog and it’s url is http://www.allansworld.info though you will never see politics being discussed if only for the result. I vow to stay out of politics.

We are making progress here at NoMoreIncumbents.org.

We launched a very successful feedback survey yesterday, and we had a new writer sign-up to write for us covering the state of Missouri. our columns covering New Hampshire and New Jersey are both doing very well and we are making very significant progress building up our sites within the search engines.

One of our goals is to make it to the top 10 anytime someone does a search with the word incumbent in the keyword mix. That is a tall order and it’s not going to happen overnight, but I am pleasantly surprised at how quickly we are moving up!

Even more importantly the number of our readers is increasing week after week. I need to do more work to make it easier for our readers to subscribe to our columns and to our newsletters. We have a lot to do and a lot of ground to cover. There are so many details that I have to keep up with as we prepare to launch this site that I need to go buy more computer memory for my computer.

Seriously we are making very good progress, and one of the things that is going to make us very successful is the power of the blogosphere. We have contacts with a literal army of bloggers. We have the ability to reach out to over 10,000 bloggers and growing on any single day of the week.

Furthermore any one of those bloggers has the power to reach out to us. The 2004 presidential campaign helped to identify the potential power of bloggers in politics. That potential has barely been tapped by any political party today. We are definitely going to tap the potential and use it to its maximum.

We are going to leverage the voice of tens of thousands of bloggers by the time the 2008 election rolls around to help get our message out, to promote candidates running against incumbents, and to work towards the day when politics aren’t so corrupt that we need NoMoreIncumbents.org.

George provides a great point that the power causes strange changes in a politician (I’d compare it to puberty in teenagers when their brains are literally going crazy.)  He also mentions that it would be better if politicians started serving more and asking to be served less.  Kennedy asked us “what we could do for our country” but that argument only holds water if our government services are also doing for our country and not doing for themselves!

1. If everything else were the same about 2 candidates, would you vote for an incumbent or a new candidate?

1. I generally vote for the non-incumbent.

2. Why?

2. Once they have been In office for awhile, it seems to start going to their head. There are a few exceptions, but for the most part I like to see people in office that have REAL jobs and real lives to get back to after they have done their SERVICE for the community. We aren’t supposed to be here to served them, it’s the other way around.

3. Do you think that politicians become more corrupt as they stay in office or Washington longer?

3. Yes, most of them

4. Why?

4. It’s like with anything else. You get used to whatever you are around the most. If you are accustomed to making $100k+ a year it’s really difficult to go back to making $40 or $50k. Unfortunately a lot of politicians get used to the buddy-buddy system. It is a lot of hard work but it’s nothing compared to the people that work for me whose income is measured in $ per hour.

5. What State and Country do you live in?

5. Georgia, USA

6. What is your first name and last inital?

6. Richard M.

7. Do you have a blog and if so what is your url?

7. Shadowscope – http://www.shadowscope.com