This may be why Minorities and Women don’t run for major Political Offices

Picture this, you feel very strongly that you can bring the change your local, state or Federal government needs by seeking and obtaining a governmental office.  You’ve studied the issues, looked at hundreds of plans and have come upon the answer you think would greatly increase your area government service to the public.  Now all that is left is to enlist help to get to that next level and you know you will need those with experience to help secure the funding it will take to get you to that level.  The problem, you do not personally know the movers and shakers in this arena and by the time you finally get a few names of those who could possibly help propel you to that next level, the time limit has expired and your dream of making a real difference has passed.  You think of tomorrow and begin early to put together this powerful group of people but for minorities and women, there is another major issue you have to consider that no other class of people have to.  You have to consider if those who say that they will stand by you will stay through thick and thin or are they going to desert you like rats leaving a sinking ship.  You have to consider are you being lied to as they praise your name and listen to your every word or are you a mire token being used to show others that they are not like others have described them, simply put are you being used?

This thought comes to mind after reading an article titled “NH staff at pro-Carson super PAC quits to volunteer for Cruz”  written by John DiStaso.  Now maybe it’s just me but for anyone to claim that you have their undying support but because you make a decision not to follow their every wish pertaining to where you go and how long you stay or the way you dress or the words you say, they renege on their support and haul tail to another saying that now they no longer see you as the winner they first thought you were.  Mr. DiStaso reports in this article that “All five paid New Hampshire staffers at the pro-Ben Carson 2016 Committee super PAC quit their posts on Sunday to become volunteers for U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, WMUR.com has learned.  Jerry Sickles of Keene, the spokesman for the staff, said he and the other four staffers recently came to the conclusion that Cruz is the conservative most able to win the GOP presidential nomination and the presidency. He also noted that Carson has spent very little time campaigning in New Hampshire, which became frustrating to him and the other staffers as they tried to build support in the state.  “We hold Dr. Carson in the highest regard,” Sickles said. “This is a man we revere, but we think it is important that our party nominate a conservative and get behind a single conservative who can win, and we strongly believe that candidate is Ted Cruz.”  The 2016 Committee began as a national effort to draft Carson to run for president, with the theme “Run, Ben, Run.” When Carson became a candidate, the group continued working on his behalf but independent of the Carson campaign operation”.

They first saw the need to have him in and once they succeeded in getting him in, they now see him as unwinnable and cast their lot with another.  How believable are those who backed Carson now that he was the best of the field to now having to convince voters that they made a mistake and Cruz is now the man?  It’s like people enthusiastically inviting you to a party, calling you every five minutes to make sure you are going to show and when you finally arrive, they all leave.  To feel that you are surrounded by real friends who would defend you with their dying breathe only to finally learn that those friends had other names but the one name that stands out most by their actions is Judas.  You give up a paycheck and working to elect the one you most revere to volunteer for a man you think has the best chance to win and those you speak to after are supposed to trust your judgment.

Our parents used to warn us about how we choose our friends and there is a saying to keep your friends close but keep your enemies closer, well I guess in this case and so many other cases when it comes to political operatives, this is not so hard when it turns out your friends is your enemies.  No other group besides minorities and women have to be concerned as much about the fact that their take and solutions to the problems plaguing the public will only be advanced if those standing behind, beside and with you also have a chance for advancement.  In other words, who's using who?