I’m running for office this year if I can get enough signatures to get on the ballot as an independent candidate for County Council.

I’m running because I was inspired by a book I read to run as a direct democracy candidate. I will be voting whichever way on the issues that the voters of my district tell me to vote. If I succeed, perhaps others will follow my lead and we can create a government that must answer to its people every day instead of once every 2 – 6 years.

Moneyed interests would be forced to spend money on commercials to convince voters, not to bribe our elected officials with campaign contributions. Political parties would be little more than think tanks offering persuasive arguments with which their representatives would try to sway voters. They wouldn’t actually be able to force them to vote against their constituents’ wishes.

If you are truly going to run for office, this may be an approach that could set you apart from other candidates.

If I get on the ballot I have a programmer ready to implement a database application that will allow all of this to become possible. All that needs to happen is for a few people to win and the system should do the rest.

If you pledge to run under this philosophy, I’d be honored to feature your candidacy on my organization’s web site: The Athens Project at http://www.athensproject.com

Good luck, and perhaps I’ll hear from you.

—William Jacobs
Coordinator, The Athens Project
athensproject@gmail.com