I Wish I Had The Chance To Write This First. . .

But Can You WIN?

Written by: Andrew Nappi

Posted By Andrew Nappi, FL TAC State Coordinator
Written by Ken Matesz, Candidate for Governor, State of Ohio

Recently, I had a brief email exchange with a tea-party member. He likes everything I have to say, but says he probably won’t vote for me. According to him, tea-partiers must unite around the candidate who a) most closely matches the tea-party ideals and b) can win. He wrote to me and asked very plainly, “Can you win?” Here is what I wrote back:

DearSir:

Until voters realize that this is not a horse race, liberty-minded constitutionalists will never win and never get any significant votes. Not this cycle and not the next one either, nor even the next. I find it incredible that thousands of tea-partiers will go out and circulate a petition to nullify Obamacare with a constitutional amendment, then steadfastly promote the idea that they must vote for the candidate who can win, though that candidate has clearly shown himself to be only slightly less statist than his opponent. That amendment is 100% unnecessary when you have candidates who support the Ohio Constitution, which already nullifies much of what Congress does.

People keep asking me, “Can you win?” as if this is a foot race. When I was in high school, I ran track and was one of the fastest in our district. If someone then asked me, “Can you win?” I could confidently answer, “Absolutely.” It was all up to me and I was a great runner.

This one is not all up to me. In fact it is only marginally about me at all. It’s about you. You say you want liberty. You say you want elected officials who are constitutionalists. You say you want representatives who will nullify unconstitutional acts of Congress. You say you want regular citizens to be elected. You say you don’t want career politicians. You say you want reps who aren’t funded by special interests.

But when the jig is up, to you, it’s all about who can win. So, fair go. Vote for Kasich! He can win! Before the primaries in April, he had over $7 million in his campaign coffers. I haven’t checked what he has now. (You might do that; it’s very educational.) He’s been bought by all the usual suspects. His donations largely come in blocks of $11,000 at a time. Are you one of the people donating that money? How about all the unemployed people, are they the ones donating those huge amounts of money? This scam has been going on for 100 years, and you’re still buying into it after all your recent activism.

While Kasich and Strickland circle the state in their expensive tour buses and do full-time campaigning, I’m here in Northwest Ohio running a small family-run business. I’ve done more to create jobs in the last month than either of these two clowns have done in twenty years of politics, because I participate in capitalism and attempt to operate in this not-really-free free market that the likes of Kasich and Strickland have slowly destroyed over decades.

I’ve found that people such as yourself are completely immersed in the veil of party politics. Though you attend tea parties and write to your Congressman, when it comes to candidates, you cannot step out of the two-party, special interest-supported system in existence. People ask me, “Why aren’t you getting your name out more? Why aren’t you doing radio ads? How come I never heard of you till today? Why don’t you show up in any polls?” And my favorite: “Your PR person is doing a terrible job of getting your name out.”

Sir, going constitutional and back on the route of our founders means stopping. It means quitting the game, and entering reality where the only wasted vote is the one you give to someone you don’t really believe in. It means actually doing what Madison expected when he wrote his share of the Federalist Papers: Just elect your neighbors who are upright individuals – they might be farmers or merchants. Once upon a time – like with George Washington – people were elected because of who they are, not by how well they do in the horse and pony show or the three-ring circus we call campaigning. Once upon a time, it was not about who can win. It was about people and their rights.

Do you know what? Getting elected doesn’t take ANY money. It doesn’t take millions of dollars wasted on unproductive (from the market standpoint) radio or television ads or campaign literature that all goes to the dump after November 2. Getting elected only takes votes. All it takes is for normal people to say, “I’m done with party politics, I’m voting for ____________________ because it’s clear he’s a good man who isn’t on a power trip and making his living off the public dole.

Other people say to me, “Run for mayor first. Get some experience. Then maybe I’ll vote for you.” Experience? The job of governor or mayor or house member or senator is a job of making decisions. Every person on God’s green earth makes thousands of decisions every day. We all have experience. The only pertinent question when it comes to candidates is HOW will they make their decisions. For me, it’s easy because it has nothing to do with popular opinion. Here it is. Are you ready? If it coincides with the original intent of liberty and freedom as outlined in the Declaration of Independence and the US Constitution and first ten amendments (Bill of Rights) then I ratify it. If it violates any of these, I vote against or veto it. It’s that simple. I dare you to figure out Kasich’s criteria.

So, again, go ahead and vote for Kasich! He’s got a good chance! And in 2014, vote for the next statist Republican (they’re all morphing into statists, the more we support them.) By 2014, even more people will be dependent on government for unemployment benefits, welfare, social security, medicare, Medicaid, health insurance, home loans, auto loans, etc. etc. Who wants to vote for the constitutionalist then? No one, because more millions will be getting their monthly check from the government. Why would they cast a vote that puts that in jeopardy? This is why Kasich, for example, supports the smoking ban: it’s a populist position; wholly unconstitutional, but popular. Who cares about private property rights when it means votes? Same with gun control. And as for the economy? I bet he actually believes we’re in a recovery and he actually thinks that jobs can be created by government acts.

I wish you well, sir. As I stated in my one essay, on my website at _______________________, you get what you elect. I’m polite enough, that when the time comes, I won’t even say, “I told you so.”

Sincerely,

Ken

Andrew Nappi is the State Coordinator for the Florida Tenth Amendment Center. He lives in the Tampa Bay Area with wife Tammy and dogs Emma and Bud Lite.