Campaign Manager

The Convention was Great. Ned and Drew Ryun were wonderful speakers and the topics were great.

I went with the intent to run for president, but instead I ended up running someone's campaign for them. It was a BLAST! It was probably the most spur of the moment thing I have ever done that didn't include picking up a magazine or book. I was sitting in front of a girl after having just found out the Ned was allowing write-in (or independent - they were treated the same) candidates!! I told her that, and then she started discussing what platform she would use if she ran. I liked it, and immediately saw an opportunity and said, "You just found yourself a campaign manager!"

I immediately took out my note book and started ripping pages out and making poster's out of them. Then, an hour or so later, Ned informed us that we weren't allowed to use any thing that wasn't "sold" by GenJ using our "GenJ Bucks" which we received by lobbying. He also informed us that if we did it would cost us a fine (he was very nice and told me that as long as we didn't do it again, we wouldn't be fined). So, we took down the pieces of notebook paper and lobbied. we had to have 20,000 dollars and 40 people sign a petition by 12:00PM the second day to be allowed to run.

My candidate did not win... but neither of us expected anything different. She hadn't (if I understood her correctly) ever campaigned before, but she did an awesome job! They had a presidential debate... she had never done a speech or a debate, but she really did quite well in front of a crowd. I was very pleased with what we were able to do.

It was SO fun to run a campaign. It was insane, tiring, and multiplied to the hundredth power because of the Lyme, but I again thanked God for giving us adrenalin and Chocolate and somehow kept going. Finding people, talking to people, making a fool of myself trying to get people's attention, walking a LONG, LONG, LONG, way between the exhibition hall and the room the GenJ'ers were using at least twenty times a day, including campaigning through the exhibition hall itself (a HUGE room), Eating on the run, forgetting to eat, forgetting which candidate you were with because they were all being yelled so loud around me....that was the experience. WOW!!! Campaigning to the MAX!!

On the way home from the second day Mom asked me, "So, after this experience, do you still want to perhaps run a real campaign someday?"

"Well" I said, "I think I would want to work VERY closely with someone who was actually running a campaign, and then run one. But sure, it was great!"

Let alone that it's something I would enjoy, with a real candidate and the opportunity to actually affect the issues on that candidate's platform, I could easily see myself doing that someday... perhaps sooner than later.

Today I'm really worn out from it all. More than I thought I would be. I think a lot of it is a post-campaign gloom that I always seem to get. my kite gets so high and I'm so excited, that once it's all over I just fall, dent one of my corners and feel a little gloomy. But I'll get over it in a day or two. Until then, I have Math and a bunch of books I need to finish, and some that I'd like to start.

Speaking of which, has anyone read the book The Ezekiel Option? I bought it at the convention. any thoughts on it? (That won't give it away... I haven't started it yet! to many things on my book list as it is.)