Candidate Contracts: Why Populist Candidates Will Want to Sign the Contract

When a completely new idea comes around, predictably there is misunderstanding and apprehension.  The more unique and original the idea, the greater is the reluctance to see it for what it is and recognize it's potential.  Call it the shock of the new.

Baffling as I find it -- since I'm intimately familiar with the candidate contracts, including their legal implications and their implementation in an electoral setting -- it's come to my attention that some of those who would most benefit from and are least threatened by my game-changing proposal, have been beset with a bad case of the jitters, mostly knee-jerk fear-and-trembling associated with anything "legal" or related to "signing a contract".

Of course and unfortunately, I refer to the populist/progressive candidates for whom the strategy was specifically designed -- the good folks for whom it is the sole purpose of the strategy to faithfully serve, serve by getting them elected to office, empowered to act on and implement the enlightened progressive agenda now totally ignored by our current legislators, and be widely acclaimed as the saviors of our democracy.

This particular article is meant to clear any misconceptions and dispel related fears about the candidate contract strategy.  I will be addressing the populist-progressive candidates themselves -- the only ones worthy of the strategy, the only ones worthy in my opinion of holding public office.

So . . .

What kind of candidate would sign the candidate contract?

A candidate who wants to win the election in November 2018!

The solutions for every single one of the issues offered on the contract templates are supported by no less than 62% of American citizens.  Most are in the high 70% range, some up in the 80% range.  These are the things people want done.  They're sick of the excuses and delays.  If they're convinced a candidate can deliver on any of those items, they most certainly will vote for that candidate.

What kind of candidate would not sign this contract?

Establishment candidates — I call them centrist/neoliberal candidates — can’t and won’t sign the contract.  While they don’t embrace the populist agenda of the contract, that’s not the main reason.  They'd sign away their own grandmothers if they thought it would help their political careers.  The main reason is that if they sign the contract, they will alienate their campaign donors — corporations, banks, Wall Street, the ruling elite — and lose the support of their major parties.  Those two things have assured victory in the past.  Why mess with a good thing?  They'll play it safe . . . and hopefully be sorry.

Having written off the establishment types who are in the pockets of the ruling elite, the rest of this goes out to you non-establishment, non-centrist, non-neoliberal candidates -- you folks on the fringes, you guys who aren’t getting invited to the party, because you want to run a good, solid, transparent campaign, then go to Washington DC to represent the needs and desires of everyday Americans, not be lapdogs for the rich and powerful.

There are two extremely important things, right at the outset, to keep in mind here in appreciating why you as a candidate should sign this contract.

First, your strict legal obligations ONLY embrace what’s in the contract. Yes, the contract delineates your activities in relation to those issues listed.  But in the entire range of other activities and legislation that you will deal with in office, you as a legislator will exercise your own discretion and judgment.

We of course assume that true to the intent and spirit of the contract, you will always defer to the majority wishes of your constituents, always doing your best to determine what your constituents want you to do, as their elected representative.

Second, you will determine what goes into the contract.  We're offering a valuable and powerful template, listing those causes which have the overwhelming popular approval of voters across the nation. But circumstances and conditions vary from district to district. If a particular issue is not relevant to your district, leave it off.  An effective campaign is built around three to eight decisive wedge issues.  You really only need one, but having a few more clearly adds punching power to your campaign.  You will tailor this contract to the specific conditions and requirements of your campaign and your local district.  Focus on those issues which are popular with your constituents but opposed in fact or by the voting record of your opponent.  You want your contract to be about the stands on issues that set you apart, make you look good vis-a-vis your sellout opponent, that will get you elected — not make you or your campaign staff feel good, or your family and friends proud of you.  Stay focused.  Make this contract work for you.  Having said that, we assume that you are a true progressive — not a faux progressive or a lip-service liberal — and therefore your final candidate contract will be consistent with the agenda reflected across the entire host of issued in the template offered here.

Now . . . here’s specifically why you as a populist/progressive candidate should sign the candidate contract.

1. It’s the right thing to do.  Think about it.  This is grass-roots democracy at its best.  If you get elected, this represents a mandate from your voters.  As a matter of fact, on the issues listed in the contract you signed, they are literally giving you your marching orders.  Voters have decided what they want done, you are responding directly to their wishes.  This is representative democracy in its purest form.  You should be PROUD!
   
2. It offers clarity, certainty, credibility to voters.  Campaigns are now fraught with garbage talk.  Fluff.  Nonsense.  Major campaigns actually hire psychologists to put together strings of words which sound good and make people feel great.  Campaign rhetoric has become a cheap form of manipulation.  Campaign promises now mean nothing.  Look at what you are offering.  A legally-binding contract.  No guesswork.   No hot air.  No feel good blather.  The real thing.  You really should be PROUD.
3. It gives you the ammunition you need to defeat your centrist/neoliberal opponents.  When voters see what you're offering, your opponents are frankly going to look very bad.  While they're hemming and hawing, you'll be offering a real commitment on the issues that make a real difference.  You have to keep pushing this out there.  You're on the side of the people, they're on the side of . . . well, who knows?  But it sure ain't the side of the everyday citizen.  If they were, they'd sign the contract.  You should be very PROUD to display your signed candidate contract wherever you go!
   
4. It offers you protection from lobbyists, special interest groups, other wheel-and-deal legislators.  Every freshman congressman says the same thing.  They're under constant assault.  Everyone wants something, has something to trade, wants to make a deal.  It's a nightmare trying to keep focused on why you're there, and keep reminding yourself of the people back home who are counting on you.  Well, the contract is your Kevlar vest!  It's your bulletproof alibi.  On the issues in that contract, there's no room for wheeling or space for dealing.  You've got the perfect excuse for blowing off all of the hired guns and Washington DC insiders who will try to seduce and manipulate you.  Tell them:  "I've got a contract with my voters!  I have no choice."
5. You have everything to gain, nothing to lose.  Against the overwhelming piles of money and power of the establishment major party machinery, you will most likely lose this election unless you do something amazing.  The contract is that something amazing.  Will it put you at risk?  Will you get sued?  If you really really screw up and anger the majority of your constituents, they could organize a special referendum calling for a class action lawsuit.  But in reality, will this happen?  You tell me.  How easy is it to get a majority of the voting public to do anything?  Like vote for you?  Be realistic.  Yes, the possibility of a lawsuit adds enormous force to the contract.  That's why it's there.  To make people take you and the contract seriously.  But if you're a serious candidate, there's no room here for diffidence. You should be secure in your commitment, confident of your mission, PROUD of yourself and what you stand for.  What do you stand for?  Just read the contract.  It's right there in black-and-white.  Just do your job.  Stay focused.  Submit the legislation and do your best to support it.  That's all it takes.  It's what you'd be doing anyway, with or without the contract.  The only risk you face is losing the election because you didn't fight hard enough for what you believe in.  

To make sure we get to the bottom of any unwarranted and unnecessary apprehensions about this powerful and decisive electoral strategy, let me just add a tad more really blunt straight-talk about this last item.  A populist candidate has so much to gain with this, yet I'm sure it's the fear of a lawsuit which is the source of almost all of the anxiety with this game-changing approach.

Do you realize how easy it is to fulfill the obligations of the contract?  All you have to do is draft legislation, submit it to Congress through whatever procedure or established channel there is, then talk it up and vote for it if it comes up for vote.  That's it!  Maybe it won't get passed.  Others might sabotage it.  Congress might burn to the ground.  The Earth might get hit by a meteor.  But you've fulfilled the terms of the contract!

Let's say you give it your best shot.  But the bill you drafted gets hung up in committee.  You're still doing your job.  You're still fulfilling your obligations under the contract, as long as you keep trying to submit it for consideration and spread the good word about it.  You will not get sued!  If anything, you'll might eventually be acclaimed as one of the few people in Congress with integrity and determination, and most of all, genuine loyalty to the voters who elected you to office.  You might get on the cover of Time Magazine, but YOU WILL NOT GET SUED!

Now please pay attention.  Because I'm talking to YOU!  You dedicated progressives who want to do the right thing, who want to serve your country and work hard on behalf of the millions of good, decent, everyday Americans who right now are getting the shaft from a rigged system -- our sold-to-the-highest-bidder democracy.

I'm talking to YOU!  You populist candidates who are willing to buck the system, you who refuse to play by the anti-democratic rules dictated by our lapdog major political parties,  parties which kowtow to the ruthless, self-serving ruling elite.

I'm talking to YOU!  You candidates who truly want to make a difference . . .

Be bold!  Be strong!  Get a leg up on your opponent.  Demand honesty and integrity. Demand transparency and accountability.  Run a truly exemplary campaign in the best traditions of democracy.  Be the solution to the mess our electoral system is in, not just a perpetuation of the problem.  Help raise the bar and get rid of the crooks and liars.  Stand up to the tyranny of the anti-democratic kleptocrats -- the rich and powerful -- who are destroying our system of self-government and looting our country of its future.

Sign the contract.

Win the election.

Then start thinking about what you want to say in your victory speech late in the evening on November 6, 2018.

Make us PROUD!

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You can download the CFAR (Contract For American Renewal) template in the format of your choice using the following links, then get to work customizing it for your campaign, reflecting the constituent values and priorities of your particular district.  Or you may choose to adopt the entire contract as it is:
House of Representatives - Word
House of Representatives - PDF
House of Representatives - Text
Senate - Word
Senate - PDF
Senate - Text


[ This originated at the author's personal website . . . http://jdrachel.com ]


Candidate Contracts: Why Populist Candidates Will Want to Sign the Contract

Candidate Contracts: Weaponizing Populist Electoral Campaigns

Here we go again.  If you can handle my mid-Western whine, the above video offers a detailed explanation on how candidate contracts can be used to weaponize the electoral campaigns of populist candidates.  The entire text of the presentation follows here:

In my last article, I talked about the ethical and political basis for introducing candidate contracts into our electoral process.

Now I want to address their practical application, specifically how the candidate contract becomes a powerful and decisive weapon on the raging battleground that our campaigns for public office have become.

Let me be absolutely clear at the outset.  The candidate contract strategy can only be used to boost the effectiveness and accelerate the momentum of populist campaigns -- those which reflect the priorities and values of a majority of American citizens -- because the strategy is predicated on expressing the democratic will of that majority.  Therefore, using the candidate contract for narrow, niche activism, or unpopular causes is a non-starter.  In theory, candidate contracts can be drawn up for any reason, around any issue big or small.  But they are only effective in attracting voter support if they reflect enormous popular support.

Having said that, making the candidate contract the centerpiece of a populist campaign can be decisive -- it can win elections.

Here's how.

It's crucial to recognize, the candidate contract by embracing a number of pivotal populist policies, then requiring focused and unwavering dedication by whoever signs the contract to inaugurate those policies, is not intended to constrain or control the 'good guy' populist candidate.  These items are the things he or she would do anyway if elected.  In fact, within each district the 'good guy' populist candidates themselves each tailor the contract for their particular constituents, literally designing the contract he or she can and will deliver on. 

While my template lists eleven issues where vast majorities of Americans want decisive action, I recommend, that based on a familiarity and understanding of each local voting jurisdiction, only those "wedge" issues unique to a particular district and the campaign taking place there, be included in the contract for that district.  It's hardly necessary or even productive to put an entire campaign platform in the contract.  Less is more.  Three to eight decisive issues is sufficient.  Just enough to defeat the establishment opponents and assure victory.

For example, if the demographic is relatively older, Social Security and Medicare likely would be incorporated, whereas free college education may not be consequential enough to include.  If the demographic is young and working class, most likely the $15 per hour minimum wage clause should be adopted.  And so on. 

The 'good guy' populist candidate must know where the voters stand, and fashion his or her candidate contract accordingly.  Specifically, he or she is looking for those pivotal, high-visibility issues which have major voter support, but are not championed by the opposition candidates!  If an incumbent has, for example, voted in Congress against an increase in the minimum wage, and there's enormous support among low wage voters locally, that divergence is exactly what the populist candidate is targeting.

I can't stress this enough . . .

The contract should identify those issues with popular local support which differentiate him or her from their opponents.  The progressive candidate is on the side of the people, whereas the opponents -- establishment/centrist/neoliberal candidates from either major party -- are on the wrong side of these issues.

This now points us to how the candidate contract weaponizes the populist's campaign.

The contract draws a massive, unmistakable line in the sand.  The populist is on one side -- the side of the people -- and his or her opponents are on the other side.  The populist candidate offers the voters something substantial, powerful, unprecedented, a guarantee in writing in the form of a legally-binding contract, declaring in no uncertain terms, what he or she will be doing from day one when arriving in Washington DC, for those same voters who voted them into office.

What can the establishment candidates put on the table?  More vague promises, more empty rhetoric, more nice campaign slogans and pleasant sound bites?

Recognize this . . .

Establishment candidates cannot and will not sign the contract.  Why?  Because if they do, they will lose the fat checks from their deep-pocketed campaign donors -- corporations, Wall Street, big banks, the ruling elite -- and the corrupt pay-for-play major parties will withdraw their support as well.  The major party campaign machine will be put to what they judge as better use supporting someone who knows how their bread gets buttered.

Thus, the establishment candidates effectively surrender to the populist candidate exactly what's needed to put up a great fight and turn the tables.  The candidate contract becomes a weapon of mass destruction which can be aimed at the opposition, to gain the advantage and turn the whole campaign on its head.
 

The candidate contract, used properly and relentlessly, destroys the message, credibility, viability of anyone who won't sign on the dotted line.

Without any hesitation, it should be displayed proudly and prominently at every public event.

"Here it is, good people.  My guarantee to you the voters.  Look at this!  This is not some wishy washy campaign promise.  It's a legally-binding contract, spelling out in precise detail what I'll be doing for you, the voters, when I arrive in Washington DC.  That's my signature there at the bottom."

The other side of that is at every public appearance, town hall meeting, press event, photo op, the establishment candidates should be confronted with their lack of courage, honesty, and commitment to voters.  Using the candidate contracts, they should be called out by campaign and citizen activists who want real action, not posturing and prevarication.

I'm dead serious!

Vilify, demonize, discredit the establishment candidates for their disloyalty to the people.  If they were serious about serving the vast majority of citizens, they'd sign on the dotted line.  Not signing the contract means only one thing:  They're blowing smoke.  All their nice-sounding speeches and wonderful TV ads are just more vaporous, hollow blather.

Let me offer three examples.  Use your imagination and you'll come up with many more.

Get the FightFor15 crowd at campaign rallies for the 'bad guy' candidate.  Wave signs that say:  Why won't you sign the contract for the $15 minimum wage so I can afford to live?

Line up old people on the sidewalk in front of his campaign headquarters.  Beautiful old folks in rockers, wheel chairs, leaning on aluminum walkers.  Have them wearing t-shirts saying:  Why won't you sign the contract to protect my Social Security and Medicare?  Make sure the local press and TV stations are there to cover the geriatric insurrection.

Have the Veterans For Peace and Code Pink at his campaign rallies.  Hold up big banners:  Why won't you sign the contract to bring the troops home from Afghanistan?  No more American soldiers in body bags!

Is this negative?  Is this mean?

No, it's not negative.  And it's not mean.  It's a public service.  Voters need to know what they're getting when they vote for someone.  If that person won't come clean, then we need to come clean for them.  Not signing the contract is a BIG DEAL!  It's a BIG RED FLAG!  Voters deserve to know.
Especially with incumbents, it's absolutely our public duty to call them out on their false claims and excuses.  They haven't in the past demonstrated a basic understanding of their duties and responsibilities to their constituents.  And judging from their refusal to sign a simple, straightforward contract -- which reflects the will of majorities of citizens across the nation on issues that have now reached crisis levels -- these establishment candidates will not in the future be working for the everyday people of this country.  Instead they'll be working for the Wall Street banks, the multinational corporations, the rich and powerful. Instead of passing the legislation to address the critical problems we face, they'll be drumming up more campaign contributions for their next run for office.

The candidate contract allows honest, committed 'good guy' candidates who have integrity and are willing to answer directly to the good folks who elected them, to blow off the doors of calculated deception and treachery, and expose the corruption that has become endemic in American politics.  Corruption which silences the voice of the people and locks everyday citizens out -- individuals just like you and I -- preventing us from participating in our democratic form of government.
At the same time, it opens other doors.  And through those doors will walk representatives who represent, public servants who serve the public, determined, hard-working elected officials who will begin reinstating accountability, transparency and integrity, to a good system gone bad -- a unique promise of self-rule by all citizens, corrupted and co-opted by the crushing anti-democratic forces of unlimited money in politics, and unchallenged power by an autocratic ruling elite.

It's time we fight back.  Candidate contracts are the weapon of choice.

[ As a footnote, let me add one highly encouraging recent development.  Revolt Against Plutocracy is building an entire campaign around the candidate contract strategy which will constitute a major thrust in an effort between now and the 2018 election to challenge centrist/neoliberal candidates, and promote genuinely progressive/populist campaigns.  The folks there integrated the candidate contracts, which they call CFARs -- Contract For American Renewal -- with what they call their leverage strategy.  Keep a keen eye out for some significant electoral activism from this excellent organization, of which I'm now a board member and contributor. ] 


[ This originated at the author's personal website . . . http://jdrachel.com ]



Candidate Contracts: Weaponizing Populist Electoral Campaigns

Candidate Contracts: A Democratic Renewal

If you can handle my tinny, nasally mid-Western voice, the above video offers a detailed explanation on how candidate contracts take the guesswork out of voting and set a whole, new standard for electoral integrity in our country.  Or you can just read the entire text of the presentation, which follows here:

The candidate contract idea is simple and straightforward.

The candidate contract takes the guesswork out of voting.

It sets a new standard for deciding where a candidate stands on crucial issues, how serious that candidate is about solving problems which are important to us voters, how serious that candidate is about representing his or her constituents.  In fact, it sets down in writing what exactly that candidate will be doing when they arrive in Washington DC, right from Day One.

Every candidate says the right things.  They always say what they think the voters want to hear, the things that will get them elected.  Everyone understands this.

But talk is cheap.  And after they get elected, when these folks arrive in our nation’s capital and get inside that DC bubble, amnesia sets in.

How do I know?

That’s simple.  It’s so obvious anyone can see it.  You just have to look.

Just consider a few of these items.

63% of Americans want a federal minimum wage of $15.00 per hour.
That means more than 6 out of every 10 citizens want the minimum wage hiked to $15 per hour.  Mind you the minimum livable wage in urban areas like New York, San Francisco, Boston is over $22 per hour.  But $15 per hour would be a good start in the right direction. What is it now?  It’s equivalent in today’s dollars to what it was in 1950!  It’s a paltry $7.25 an hour.  It hasn’t increased since July of 2009.  That’s eight years ago!

75% of voters want fair trade agreements protecting jobs, workers, the environment.  75%! That’s a huge majority opposed to the trade bills which now give corporations enormous advantages, are responsible for exporting our jobs, destroying our unions, replacing good permanent employment with low wage temporary jobs.  Is Congress listening?  It doesn’t matter which party is in the Oval Office or even on Capitol Hill.  We still get NAFTA, CAFTA, TTIP, WTO.  Last year our pay-for-play legislators in the deep pockets of the multinational corporations fast-tracked TPP, the worst trade bill in history.  These neoliberal lapdogs won’t quit until we’re all back to being hunter-gatherers!
76% of voters want a cut back on military spending.  So what do we get next year?  Trump proposes an increase of $56 billion in the official defense budget with members of Congress from both parties cheering him on like a bunch of snarling pit bulls.

76% of voters want the U.S. completely out of Afghanistan.  We’ve been fighting that miserable pointless war for 16 years, folks!  They promised to get U.S. troops out of the country by 2014.  Now it’s 2017 and they’re putting more troops back in.  We’re going to be there forever!  For what?  To waste another $600 billion dollars and have more of our best and brightest come back in body bags?
79% of voters want no reductions in Social Security.  70% support expanding it.  79% of voters want no reductions in Medicare.  Here we have two of the most successful programs in our history, loved and supported by the people.  Yet every new session of Congress, there’s talk about cutting benefits, raising eligibility age -- slash slash slash.  Or they talk about “privatizing” it, which is doublespeak for turning it over to Wall Street so they can gamble with the money we’ve put away all our lives.  

It’s truly a crime!

There are many more.  So far I’ve just scratched the surface.

But there’s one last one I’ll mention that truly tells the story, that shows what a sad state of affairs our faltering democracy is in.  Get this: 93% of Americans want GMO labeling.  Mind you, they’re not saying GMOs must be banned.  They’re just saying that the labels for our processed food should say whether the product contains GMO ingredients or not, so that a shopper can make an informed judgment about whether they want to buy it — a mother who wants to be prudent in planning the diet for her kids, a person who may have severe food allergies which requires them to pay attention to the ingredients on a label.  93%!  That crosses all party lines, ideologies, religions, liberal, conservative, all ethnicities, visitors from outer space.  93%!  And Congress won’t pass a bill requiring GMO labeling.  That really says it all, doesn’t it?

Okay, we’ve got a range of different issues on the candidate contract we’ve prepared.  They are the things millions and millions of Americans want done — huge majorities of U.S. citizens.  As different as these items individually are, what do they all have in common?  You've got it!  NONE OF THIS GETS THROUGH OUR DEADBEAT CONGRESS!  Well, I shouldn’t say they’re deadbeat, because they’re not.  They are actually working hard to make sure none of these things gets passed, working hard not for you and I, but for their rich patrons, their deep-pocketed Wall Street donors, their Koch brothers and defense contractors, investment bankers and hedge fund buddies.

Like I said, candidates always say the right things.  Take minimum wage:  “I believe everyone deserves the right to make a decent living. This is the richest nation on earth. Every person deserves a good life.”  Sound familiar?  What’s he going to say? I think some folks should starve to death on slave wages?  Of course not.  But he used a lot of words to say nothing.  The candidate contract makes it a simple but powerful yes or no question: Will you commit in writing to raising the minimum wage to $15 per hour or not?  Yes or no.

So . . . all we’re saying to a candidate is this:  "We love your TV ads, you’ve got a lovely family, your t-shirts and bumper stickers look great!  But running this country is serious business.  So from now on, we want it in writing, in black-and-white, in a legally-binding contract what you will be doing to serve us, the folks who are sending you to your cushy job in Washington DC.  No ambiguity.  No compromise.  No equivocation.  We want it spelled out as an 'employment contract' and we are asking you to sign it.  We’re not forcing you.  It’s your choice.  It’s a straightforward deal here.  You sign the contract, you’ve got our vote.  You don’t sign the contract, we’re looking for a candidate who has the integrity, courage, and responsibility to sign it.  We’ll be voting for that person.  Understand this:  There’s no room for negotiation.  This is final!  That’s the way it works now."

You see, professional politicians have gotten spoiled.  They get so much attention, so much money, so many favors lavished on them once they get in office, they forget the most important single aspect of their job description:  THEY WORK FOR US!  We’re not casting votes for them to talk to lobbyists and rich campaign donors.  We’re casting our votes to have them go to DC and work on behalf of us, the people, the everyday Americans that make up 99% of the population.

Please. Just read the contract.  Everything in it is what at minimum 62% of us regular folks want done.  On many items, it’s even greater.  75%.  78%.  80% and above.  Right now those things aren’t getting done.  Year after year, our elected officials ignore the will of the people, the very citizens who vote them into office.  The candidate contract will make sure they start paying attention.

Here’s the simple truth.  Here’s what’s happening on the ground in real time right now in America.
Voters are tired of slick campaign rhetoric and empty campaign promises.  They’re fed up with a system that’s rigged.

They’re fed up with being left behind, forgotten by their elected officials.

They’re tired of everything getting done for Wall Street, the big banks, the corporations, the wealthy.

They’re fed up with nothing getting done for the PEOPLE — honest, hard-working everyday citizens.
Folks!  We need to DRAW A LINE IN THE SAND!

No negotiation.  No excuses.  No mercy.  No fear.

That’s exactly what the candidate contract does.  It lets us know exactly who’s on our side and who isn’t.

Okay, one last point:  People sometimes ask me, “What kind of candidate would sign such a contract?”

The answer to that is very simple:  A candidate who wants to win the coming election.  The contract spells out what the voters want by huge majorities.  Voters are sick and tired of compromises. They want the job done and want it done right.  Therefore, voters need to stand united and stand strong.  Vote only for candidates who are on their side, who will work for them!  And that being the case, the reason why a candidate should be running full speed with pen in hand to sign the contract is because they want to get elected and be sent to Washington DC to serve those who elected them honestly, faithfully, transparently.

Let me add some beautifully twisted logic to illustrate further why a candidate would want to sign this contract.

We all know there are some good people in politics, decent human beings who truly want to do the right thing.  But politics is often more about power, money, twisting arms, bullying, than about doing what’s good for the people.  So let’s say our candidate — who has signed the contract — arrives in Washington and right off the bat, there’s some lobbyist at his door.  The lobbyist gives his pitch, the typical let’s-see-what-we-can-do-here, the usual I’ll-scratch-your-back-if-you’ll-scratch-my-back blah blah blah.  He’s got some mega transnational corporation paying him big bucks to wax the slide with Congress and get some favorable legislation passed.  Well, here’s the beauty of the contract: Our guy, the one who got elected because he signed on the dotted line with you the voters, can say:  “Hey, I sure appreciate your coming in and talking to me about this.  But here’s the deal.  I’m under contract to my constituents.  I have no room to negotiate, no room to trade or bargain on any of this.  If I go against my constituents on this, I’ll be on the streets without this job, I’ll have to refund all my campaign contributions — and hey, the money is spent, how will I begin to do that? — and I’ll probably get my ass sued for more money than I’ll make in a lifetime.  So even if I wanted to go along with what you’re proposing, I have no choice.  I am legally-bound by contract to answer only to those who voted me into office.  Thanks for stopping by.  Don’t let the door hit you on the way out.”

See how this works?  See why this introduces an unprecedented level of honesty, transparency, integrity, back into voting?  Do you see why at least in terms of good, decent, honest politicians, we’re actually doing THEM a favor with this contract.

Okay, I’ve talked your ear off.  Let me wrap this up.

Yes, the candidate contract is a new innovation.  But it’s a necessary innovation.  Before there were cars, we didn’t need traffic lights.  Before big money and unprecedented concentration of wealth and power into the hands of a ruling elite, we didn’t need an enforceable contract with our elected officials.  Times change and we need to change with it.  Candidate contracts are the answer to the dismal state of our democracy. 

Granted, we have a lot of work to do to repair the mess we’re in.  But good work depends on good dependable workers.  Let’s put some real public servants in office who will serve the public, not just the rich and powerful. Let’s put some representatives in Congress who will represent everyday Americans, not Wall Street banks, corporate CEOs, not the incomprehensibly rich.  Let’s put some integrity back into our elections by electing only those with the integrity to sign on the dotted line, guaranteeing they will work for you in creating an America that works again for everyone.

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Here is the link to look at the version of the candidate contract for a progressive running for the House of Representatives:  Candidate Contract - An American Renewal.

If you're interested in getting into the real details of an independent campaign using the candidate contract strategy -- and it is an entire electoral strategy, not just a slip of paper with some legalese -- I recommend reading the two books which got me noticed by the progressive activist groups now adopting the candidate contract for future campaigns.

 

"Candidate Contracts: Taking Back Our Democracy" was published in June of 2015 and is available worldwide from all the usual suspects:

Amazon (Kindle)  . . . amzn.to/1QJRiNZ
Amazon (Print) . . . amzn.to/1Cuq0du
Apple (iTunes) . . . apple.co/1BXnPcy
Barnes & Noble . . . bit.ly/1GpTTLq
Kobo (Indigo) . . . bit.ly/1OEI2xj
Smashwords . . . bit.ly/1B4DQCp
Direct from printer . . . bit.ly/1MGjDnN

 

"Fighting for the Democracy We Deserve" was published September 2015 and also is available both in every popular ebook format and as a deluxe paperback:

Amazon (Kindle) . . . amzn.to/1VMf2Ft
Amazon (Print) . . . amzn.to/1L9SdIC
Apple (iTunes) . . . apple.co/1JD1YAg
Barnes & Noble . . . bit.ly/1ZUJUpn
Kobo (Indigo) . . . bit.ly/1IX6rO4
Smashwords . . . bit.ly/22PXWLf
Direct from printer . . . bit.ly/1i7ISFM

[ This originated at the author's personal website . . . http://jdrachel.com ]



Candidate Contracts: A Democratic Renewal

No Contract No Vote

 
Asking our current political leadership to reform itself is like expecting a rabid dog to seek out medical treatment and find a path to full rehabilitation.

It's quite obvious our "professional politicians" are now infected and controlled by an anti-democratic brain-eating virus, are well-compensated, septic purveyors of raging, exponentially-spreading corporate tyranny and ruling class oppression -- a tenacious systemic disease which the brilliant, unfortunately late, political theorist Sheldon Wolin called inverted totalitarianism.

Which means if anything is to get done on behalf of the everyday citizens of this country, it will have to be initiated, engineered, and advanced by "outsiders" -- that would be you and I, working with future political office holders who have not so far been and will not ever be sucked into the slipstream of the neoliberal, rapacious capitalism-at-all-costs juggernaut.

We must particularly remain keenly aware of and rigorously vigilant against spoilers in our midst.  For example, we shouldn't for a single, inattentive moment think we can count on any of the pseudo-progressives who are now, with the Trumpenstein monster's ball in full swing, capitalizing on their resurgent popularity on dance cards of the desperate.  There's no question, we're in big trouble.  Our democracy is in the middle of an existential crisis.  That hardly suggests we should turn to those who have been participating in, have often been instrumental in engineering the mess, to see what their latest bright ideas are.

Time for some new blood!  Some fresh thinking!

We especially must not be fooled or sidetracked by what has been appropriately dubbed the McResistance, those who would lead a false challenge and short-lived charge against the current order, then in the end just cave to more crippling, insidious compromises on behalf of the ruling elite.  We might not want to admit it but we do know who they are.  They include such political rock stars as Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders.

How, then, do we know who to trust?  How can we determine who is merely engaged in another round of the tomfoolery that has destroyed our democracy, buried the American Dream under mountains of jingoistic puffery and comic book exceptionalism, gutted the hopes of everyday Americans, keeping them from participating in the enormous potential and opportunities which our country is supposed to represent for all its citizens?

There are times when 'bold and simple' are better than 'nuanced and complicated'.

Yet, there is always a temptation to make something bold and simple more tentative and complicated than it needs to be.  However, there's no need here for wishy-washy thinking, waffling, Aristotelian cogitation, or utopian daydreaming.  So . . .

Let me be clear about the purpose of the candidate contract strategy.

This might sound insultingly simplistic to some but I'm going to say it anyway.

The purpose of the candidate contract strategy is to get the good guys elected and throw the bad guys out of office.

Period!

And since in my view most of the current legislators and certainly the president falls into the 'bad guys' category, most of them should and -- if the strategy is successful -- will be replaced by a whole new freshman class of 'good guys'.  Yes, I'm talking about . . .

Regime change in Washington DC!

REQUIRED DEFINITIONS:

While the candidate contract strategy is certainly applicable at all levels of government for any position chosen by electors, 'elected' and 'office' for my immediate purposes refers to federal openings -- membership in the House, membership in the Senate, the President.

A 'good guy' is an elected official who is honest, transparent, and wholly responsible for representing the needs and priorities of those constituents who by majority vote have chosen him/her as their congressman or president.

A 'bad guy' is an elected official who does not consistently and unwaveringly represent the needs and priorities of his/her constituents, probably is beholden to or strongly influenced by campaign donors, corporate lobbyists, well-funded special interest groups, in a phrase, 'the ruling class' of this country.

Having said that, let's get down to the nuts and bolts of how the candidate strategy works.

BASIC BUT CRITICAL Q & A:

Q.  Who would want to sign such a candidate contract?

A.  Any candidate running for office who wants to get elected.

 

Q.  How can signing a candidate contract guarantee getting elected?

A.  Of course, there are no absolute guarantees. At the same time, please refer to the title of this article.  If a candidate does not sign the contract, we don't vote for him or her.  If a candidate does sign the contract, he or she deserves, thus will get our votes. Of course, this means voters must unite and take a firm stand.  But why wouldn't they?  It's in all of our best interests and the best interests of our country as a whole to be strong and take back our democracy.

Q.  Why is the proposed contract in our best interests?

A.  The contract as offered, subject naturally to minor adjustments which reflect the specific needs and priorities of each voting jurisdiction, embraces those things which by huge majorities everyday citizens want done and aren't getting done.  Poll after poll shows support for all of the items which are addressed in the contact of 65% or more of everyday American citizens.  Most of the initiatives are supported by more than 3/4 of those polled.  The people have spoken.  The contract just takes their concerns and priorities and puts it in writing.

Q.  Why should the voting public demand candidate contracts?

A.  Because at least on key issues which are important to the voting public, they take the guesswork out of voting.  There is no ambiguity, room for negotiation, or even margin for error.  The contract stipulates in no uncertain terms what an elected official must and will do on those key issues from the day he or she arrives in Washington DC.  Voters are fed up with hot air campaign rhetoric and broken promises.  In one master stroke, the contract gets rid of the smoke and breaks the mirrors.
Before we go on, let's look at the contract I'm offering.  This is the comprehensive catch-all version, based on critical issue polling and Bernie Sanders' campaign platform.

Now . . . back to the nuts-and-bolts.

The candidate contract or contracts are initially introduced to the electoral process -- a campaign for public office -- from two directions, eventually to meet in the middle.

CANDIDATE CONTRACTS FROM THE PEOPLE:

A citizens group or citizens groups representing certain constituent causes can and should put up a candidate contract which reflects issues of concern, then present them to those candidates running for office in their district.

For example, minimum wage workers in a congressional district should challenge anyone running to sign a contract boosting the federal minimum wage.  There already are many "FightFor15" activist groups around the country.  The appropriate candidate contract turns their pleas into a concrete demand -- a forceful, decisive ultimatum.  If a candidate signs such a contract, he or she gets not only the endorsement of the group, but the members of the activist group take it upon themselves -- after all it's in their best interests -- to actively and enthusiastically campaign on behalf of that candidate, reinforcing his/her own official publicity and whatever media coverage can be generated.

Senior citizens groups may likewise prepare a candidate contract to protect Social Security and Medicare.  The candidate who signs such a contract again gets the full support and backing of such senior citizens groups.  They highlight the candidate's loyalty to them in all of their newsletters, at their shuffleboard club meets, bingo contests.  They wear t-shirts or put bumper stickers on their cars and golf carts:  Future congressman Godfrey Goodman signed on the dotted line to protect SS and Medicare!

CANDIDATE CONTRACTS BY NON-ESTABLISHMENT CANDIDATES:

At the other end of the equation, an independent or third-party candidate, or a candidate running as a dissident major party candidate, for example in a primary, would make the candidate contract central to his/her campaign.  Based on research and polling in the local district, a contract which reflects the priorities of voters in that district would be drawn up, which highlights those key issues which have broad public support.  Such a contract would look like the one above, making solid, unambiguous commitments on a range of popular, critical causes.

Now it's important to understand, the establishment candidates may give lip-service to what's in that contract or an appropriate variation of it.  But the reality is, they will not sign it.  They can't!  If they did, their major parties would abandon them, their campaign funding would dry up, they would be targeted -- as Bernie Sanders was by the Democratic Party -- for marginalization and defeat.

This makes the signed contract a huge public relations coup!  It effectively gives the 'good guy' anti-establishment candidate the high ground, the right to legitimately say and be able to prove, he or she is on the side of the people.  Putting the contract front and center in the campaign takes the guesswork out of the voting for the public.  They can see in the starkest terms exactly where the candidates stand and who's really on their side.

INTRODUCING HONESTY AND TRANSPARENCY INTO THE GAME:

I don't know how to say this gently or with Zen dispassion.  So . . .

The candidate is not a magic wand.  It's a sledgehammer!

Signing the contract will not create some harmonic convergence of metaphysical forces which will usher people into the voting booth and make them vote for a candidate.

Signing the contract does, however, provide a powerful tool to beat up an opponent and discredit a 'bad guy' candidate in the eyes of the voters, while portraying in stark relief the candidate who does sign the contract, as an individual who has volunteered a bulletproof guarantee, if elected, of service to his constituents.

This is no trivial matter.

Right now, campaigning is a house of mirrors in a bank of fog.  Words are chosen with a lawyer's eye and a Madison Avenue ear.  I'm not sure the candidates typically even know themselves where they stand on much of what's important to the public.  But if they do, they sure aren't telling us in clear, unambiguous terms.  Thus expectations and performance are secondary to image and appeal.  The same shallow devices, cynical psychology, and stealthy methodologies, are used to "sell" a candidate as are used to sell any other products out there, from eyeliner to soda pop and fast food to automobiles and fantasy vacation cruises.

The candidate contract puts back front and center what a political campaign should be -- but rarely is -- all about, which is what exactly can we expect the candidate to do once he or she arrives in Washington DC.

Having the candidate contract be the new standard for electoral integrity, particularly having it arrive simultaneously from the two critical participants in the voting mechanism -- the advocacy groups among the voting public and enlightened candidates themselves -- means it reflects the best traditions of the democratic process.

It represents a long-lost level of honesty and transparency, reintroduced into the requisite and most basic communication that is the foundation of a robust democratic system -- the vetting process for identifying and selecting elected representatives.

The voters can and must probe the candidate:  "Where do stand on this?"

And the 'good guy' candidate gets to reply:  "Glad you asked.  Just read my contract with you, the voters.  It's all spelled out in black-and-white.  And yes, that's my signature at the bottom."

If we as voters and those among us who aspire to be elected representatives turn our backs on this idea, during such divisive and perilous times, when we're starting to hear the initial portents of a death rattle from our sick and dying democracy, we will deserve the brutally totalitarian, crassly authoritarian, wantonly fascistic debacle our government-by-the-corporate-ruling-elite is fast becoming.

The time is right for candidate contracts.

Unless you have a better idea . . .


[This originated at the author's personal website . . . http://jdrachel.com ]



No Contract No Vote

I Love Japan Redux

 

What were you doing on Sunday morning?

I can tell you what I was doing.  I was enjoying what I consider to be one of the most charming aspects of living where I do in Japan.

Sasayama is a tiny, traditional, rural city that sprawls over a large area, having absorbed five other towns into it many years ago.  There are about 50,000 people living within the city limits.
But Sasayama is split into a number of small villages.  Ours is called Noma.  Each village has its own shrine -- ours honors Benten, the goddess of arts, literature, music, and dance, quite appropriate for my wife and I -- its own community center -- exactly what it sounds like, a center for holding a variety of community meetings, get-togethers, barbecues, and so on -- its own sports team for the annual sports day competitions with other villages -- a funny and endearing event which deserves its own separate article.

During good weather, meaning only excepting the brutal winter months, the village gets together once or twice a month to . . . are you ready? . . . clean up the neighborhood! 

Actually, since folks here rarely litter, going around to pick up gum wrappers and empty soda cans is kind of a pointless task.  So usually we do other much more useful things, like tend to the vast system of irrigation ditches and channels, cut weeds, clear excess bamboo and other unwanted wild growth.



Today's job was working on a wall which always sprouts all sorts of destructive weeds and shrubs.  While men with weed-whackers cleared the undergrowth from the surrounding area, the rest of us chopped away at what was growing on the wall.  Note that we don't take the easy way out -- using carcinogenic Roundup -- but just do it by hand.  Chop chop!

Our work sessions last from 3 to 4 hours.  After nearly two hours, we take a short break.  The village provides rolls and tea, and we just lounge about and talk, resting up for the final assault on the day's project.



After cleaning up the wall, everyone returned to the community center, potted flowers for beautifying the neighborhood -- they are placed all along the major paths and lanes which wind through our village -- and were given flowers and potting soil to take home for our own personal use.



Today's work was fairly easy.  Other times I've been up to my ankles in snake-infested, muddy water, or clearing thick brush which intrudes on the rice and soybean fields if left unchecked.  But it's always good exercise and overall a pleasant experience.

People here ask me if I did this sort of thing in America.  That's easy to answer.  Never! 

I think back on life in the U.S. spanning many decades and the lack of much community spirit, the obsession with privacy, and what would appear to be a pathological devotion to avoiding personal contact with all but the most familiar in one's personal circles.  There is a paranoia, a distrust, a suspicion that overshadows normal, natural social proclivities.

How sad!

People like to blame it on modernity, technology, industrialization, the new economy.

But Japan is about as modern and technologically advanced as any country in the world.  People are consumers par excellence here.  The shopping malls are always packed!  Japan has unfortunately embraced the Western economic model as well.  Certainly it's not casino capitalism, but definitely a tamer version of it -- look at its frightening debt to GDP ratio!

Despite that, they have kept alive some traditions which promote sense of community, and the shared responsibility of living in that community.  They create opportunities to work together for the common good, get to know one another, and just enjoy other folks who happen to live in the same geographical setting.  Like our clean up days!

What a powerful and rewarding ritual this is!

Another reason for me to say . . .

I love Japan!  



[ This originated at the author's personal website . . . http://jdrachel.com ]



I Love Japan Redux

How do we confront abuse of power and restore democracy?

 

People accuse me of being confrontational.

I say:  Absolutely! Guilty as charged.

If your neighbors are throwing garbage over the fence into your yard, what do you do?  Sit back and watch it pile up?  Or . . . lean over the fence and demand that they stop?

That demand might begin as a calm, friendly but firm request.  As your neighbors continue to dump their trash into your yard, it will become increasingly forceful and eventually take on the flavor of . . . guess what? . . . here it comes . . . a confrontation!

Our demands -- based on rights and privileges guaranteed in writing in the Constitution -- that our elected officials represent us and serve the interests of all American citizens, not just the rich and well-connected, have for decades been respectful, polite and measured.

The response we've gotten from those same elected officials has been more abuse of power and position, and the veritable destruction of representative democracy in America.

Time to get tough.

Time for confrontation!

How do we confront power?  How do we specifically confront those officials we choose at the polls and gift with cushy jobs in Washington DC, which heighten their prestige, inflate their egos, and fatten their wallets?

My strategy is so simple, so obvious, so potentially effective, I am totally baffled why often people don't get it.

Recognize . . .

We have been handed the most powerful instrument in the arsenal, the assumption being we'll never get it together to use it.  Of course, so far we haven't effectively used it.  But that doesn't mean we can't or won't.  It's right there ready and waiting.

What is this weapon of choice?

It's the illusion of democracy.

It's the illusion that our voting makes a difference.

Granted . . .

Right now it doesn't, because we've been playing by a set of rules that rigs the game.  The  fix has been in because, even though it is well within our power as citizens to do so, we haven't successfully challenged those rules.  We haven't even tried.

In the most simple terms, right now we elect individuals to positions of power based on what often turns out to be hollow promises, campaign rhetoric which is highly flattering of the candidate, believable and appealing on the surface, thus sufficiently persuasive to win the trust of voters and get him or her elected.

Once elected, these individuals basically do what they're told to do by their deep-pocketed benefactors, the rich and powerful elite who fund their campaigns, proffer tacit promises of highly lucrative rewards once they leave office -- refer here to Obama's $60 million book deal and $400,000 fee for making one speech to those he served so magnificently while in office -- and shield them from any legitimate challenges by candidates who don't faithfully dance to the beat laid down by the plutocracy -- refer here to the blatant sabotage of Bernie Sanders' primary campaign by the corporate stooges of the Democratic Party.

But . . .

This mockery of "representative democracy" still depends on us to go into the voting booth and like the brainwashed, gullible, trusting sheeple that we are, to cast our votes for these carefully groomed and coddled ruling class shills.

And that's where we can change the rules.

We must stand united and be unshakeable in our resolve . . . but here's how we do it.

We demand that any candidate running for federal office sign a legally-binding contract, listing a number of issues which must be addressed within 180 days of taking office.

Or . . .

We will not vote for them!

Rather, we will put up our own candidate, or find one from an independent or third-party, who will sign the contract!  That person will get our full support during the campaign and our vote on election day.

Case closed!

The contract will be drawn up around those items where there is at least 62% agreement among the American public.  Yes!  There is that level of public consensus on a whole host of critical issues!

While this is not written in stone and should be adapted to the unique circumstances and needs of each local voting jurisdiction, here is what such a candidate contract looks like.
This changes the game alright, decisively putting voters in charge -- at least on a number of key initiatives and policy decisions -- of what comes out of Congress.

Isn't that the way it's supposed to work?  Government of the people, by the people, for the people?  Representative democracy that truly represents the desires and priorities of the constituents?

It's a shame that our system has become so corrupted by money and power games that we must resort to a legal document to get done what's supposed to get done in the first place.

But that's the way it's worked out.  We have no other choice now.  We either take charge or suffer even more indignity and abuse at the hands of the ruling elite and their pay-for-play lackeys, the folks we send to Washington DC to do a job but who end up entirely ignoring the citizens they're supposed to be working for -- that would be you and I!

It's simple.  It's straightforward.  It's powerful.  It's decisive.

Either candidates sign on the dotted line or we don't vote for them.

Which means that we then turn to some good, decent, honest candidates who realize what their ultimate responsibility is, where their true loyalties lie, thus will sign the contract.  We give them our unqualified support, both in the campaign and in the voting booth.

Using this simple, powerful device . . .

We'll finally get a glimpse of what representative democracy really looks like.

---

 

 "Candidate Contracts: Taking Back Our Democracy" was published in June of 2015 and is available worldwide from all the usual suspect:

Amazon (Kindle)  . . . amzn.to/1QJRiNZ
Amazon (Print) . . . amzn.to/1Cuq0du
Apple (iTunes) . . . apple.co/1BXnPcy
Barnes & Noble . . . bit.ly/1GpTTLq
Kobo (Indigo) . . . bit.ly/1OEI2xj
Smashwords . . . bit.ly/1B4DQCp
Direct from printer . . . bit.ly/1MGjDnN

" 

Fighting for the Democracy We Deserve" was published September 2015 and also is available both in every popular ebook format and as a deluxe paperback:

Amazon (Kindle) . . . amzn.to/1VMf2Ft
Amazon (Print) . . . amzn.to/1L9SdIC
Apple (iTunes) . . . apple.co/1JD1YAg
Barnes & Noble . . . bit.ly/1ZUJUpn
Kobo (Indigo) . . . bit.ly/1IX6rO4
Smashwords . . . bit.ly/22PXWLf
Direct from printer . . . bit.ly/1i7ISFM


[ This originated at the author's personal website . . . http://jdrachel.com ]




How do we confront abuse of power and restore democracy?