Personal Endorsement

Last election cycle (2012) a gentleman approached me about supporting him. After some questioning, I determined he was running on the same values I held as dear and important. I agreed to put his sign in my yard and talk to my neighbors about him.  Of course, being the political overachiever that I am, I did better than that.  I talked my neighbors into placing signs in their yards, too!  I felt pleased when at the end of the general election my candidate won the day and would be going to represent me in the next legislative session.

It didn’t take long for that good feeling to wear off. I watched in disgust as that next January my elected representative voted contrary to how he represented to me and others that he would vote when he was campaigning for the position. When I called to talk to him about it, he only took a minute to discuss my concerns. I didn’t hold my breath as the second session rolled around. I knew what I was getting this time so I wasn’t surprised to find he once again voted quite differently than he had originally indicated he would.

Endorsing people is a dangerous business. You have to take their word that they are going to vote in a manner you agree with, (and I’m not even expecting that 100% of the time!) especially if the individual has no previous record to examine.

With that concern front and center in my mind, I’ve decided to take the step toward personally endorsing a few candidates.  It must be noted that this is personal and not from the Idahoans For Local Education group as a whole.  Here are my personal choices this primary season:

Russ Fulcher – governor

John Eynon – superintendent of public instructional.

Jim Chmelik – lt governor.

Chris Troupis –  attorney general

Lawrence Denney – Secretary of State

Todd Hadfield – State Controller

We have met with most of the above candidates personally to discuss Common Core and feel that these gentleman give us the best opportunity to rid our state of Common Core.

(I was going to do a longer write up on each candidate to explain why I chose these people, but my role as mother took precedence over my role as rabble rouser this week.)

Please, if you’re serious about kicking Common Core to the curb, look into these candidates. I truly feel they are the best hope we have this political season.

Back to my story above.  The neighbor I talked into putting a sign in her yard last election was heckling me recently because I wasn’t campaigning for the incumbent, but rather for the new guy, instead.  She asked me, “What are you going to do if this guy does the same thing to you and doesn’t represent our district as he says he will?”  My answer?  “I’ll campaign against him in the next election cycle.”

That goes for the men listed above, too.  If they don’t govern as they’ve stated they will, then I will work on the campaign to oust them next time around.  My loyalties lie with principles and values, not politicians.

Don’t forget to vote on Tuesday!

(Mila Wood, Common Core warrior mom extraordinaire, also endorses these individuals.)