I’m sitting up late on a Sunday night doing some campaign research and prep. I’m fortunate that I don’t have a primary opponent for the election on March 3. I think my life would be a lot busier than it is right now, which is pretty darn busy.
Speaking of candidates with a primary opponent, we had a knock on the door this afternoon from a volunteer canvassing for one of the Republicans running in the County Commission, District 4 race. My awesome wife answered the door and sent them on their way. If I had answered, I probably wouldn’t have given away that I’m his potential Democratic opponent like she did. I would have taken the opportunity to ask some questions. Probably just as well that the treasurer, rather than the candidate answered the door.
It’s going to be a busy couple of weeks in campaign world. Not just mine, but for all of the candidates. The primary is 36 days away. Early voting starts in 16 days and runs from February 12-25. But even for a guy with no primary opponent, there are things to be done and events to be attended.
Tonight, January 27, 2020 (it’s after midnight as I’m writing this), the County Commission has their monthly meeting where they vote yea or nay on things. And there are going to be some big votes taken this month. It’s a can’t miss meeting, so I’ll be there from 5 p.m. til they’re done (or I have to leave to pick up the cheer kiddo from practice).
On Tuesday, January 28, 2020, I’m attending the 4th District Democrats meeting. It’s at 6 p.m. at the Bearden library. I guess I’m the main course, as I’ll be talking about myself and answering all the questions that I can. I’m anticipating some tough questions, so I’ve been researching and preparing as much as I can.
On Wednesday, January 29, 2020, I’ll be visiting Community Television of Knoxville to record my 5 minutes of equal time. I’m a retired lawyer, so speaking in front of people isn’t too much of a challenge. But speaking into a camera? I’ve done it once before and that was 28 years ago. I’ve been writing and rewriting and practicing for this one, as you might imagine.
On Thursday, January 30, 2020, I’ve got a couple of tentative meetings with friends and colleagues to do some campaign strategizing for the next 8 months or so.
On Friday, January 31, 2020, there’s a Support Your Candidates Kickoff, hosted by Indivisible of East Tennessee from 5:30 to 8 at Barley’s in Knoxville.
Then after a weekend of cheer competition fun and campaign/life balance, next Tuesday, February 4, 2020, I’ll be attending the Knox County Commission Candidate Meet and Greet, hosted by the League of Women Voters. It’s from 6:30 to 8:30 at the Knoxville News-Sentinel Building. It’s not structured like a debate, since we won’t be going back and forth at each other. But I’ve been preparing for this one like a debate. It’s an interesting process trying to anticipate all the questions, general and specific that might be asked. There will also be introductory and closing remarks that are timed. I don’t know yet how long those remarks will be, so it’s hard to be prepared for it. I feel like this is a big deal event and I’m treating it as such. The good thing is that I have all of these other events where I’ll be speaking and talking. By preparing for those, I’ll also be preparing for this event.
I’m going to end this with a shout out to my best friend from high school, who is Professor at Newberry College, a fantastic author and a self-described “garage rocker.” He’s got a story in a collection of short stories edited by Lawrence Block coming out soon – preorder here. He’s taken the time to read most/all of my campaign website posts and gave me some good ideas and insight. He even used a little Aristotle on me and I figure I should share it with the small world of readers of my campaign website. “Remember, Aristotle says that while it’s best to have the facts (logos), establishing trustworthiness (ethos) and engaging the audience’s emotions and values (pathos) are also critical.” Good stuff. That’s why he’s the Prof.