Arizona Gubernatorial Debate – #samforgov

I’m not happy with Arizona. Not happy with the makeup of our economy, our outlook on future growth and our attitude toward those different than us. And last night’s Arizona Gubernatorial Debate proved that we aren’t making any progress.

I’m mad as hell, and I’m not going to take it anymore. Neither should you. So who’s at fault? Is it our real-estate-driven economy? The far too common attitude of wanting to be left alone? Our intolerance of anything different than the way things have always been? It’s every single one of those and more, and the only way to drastically affect change is to take leadership. I read yesterday that democracy exists to protect the smart from the strong. If that’s true, and I think it is, what if we are both smart AND strong?

The new generation of Arizonans needs to step up. We can’t keep bending over for developer interests and follow the lead of out-of-touch old people who seem to still think of Arizona as some western outpost that’s fighting the “good” fight against anything that might make our state a better place to live.

It’s time to get rid of that empty bags at the top and TAKE authority. It’s time to write in Samuel Isaac Richard for governor. Why? Why not? A vast majority of voters in Arizona are over the age of 50, which says to me that those under 50 either don’t care, don’t want to care or are too stupid to vote correctly. Those that are smart enough to vote correctly but don’t care can start. They can start right now.

I’ve watched and participated in seeing social media connect the Valley like never before. Compared to other states, two-way online communication has benefitted our spread-out state in a way similar to the telegraph or long-distance phone calls did back when the entire country was sprawl like Arizona is today. And the social media people are getting really good at holding conferences that talk about social media and we’re really good at retweeting messages that we like, so let’s use our power to actually achieve something.

Let’s write in Samuel Isaac Richard for governor. Make a statement. Make a stand. Let’s do more than bitch and complain about our leaders, let’s elect one of our own.

#samforgov because we need someone better.

(I can assure you that Samuel did not pay for, nor did he ask me to write this. He is a friend of mine and asked me to help him run for Phoenix City Council in a few years. I can’t wait that long for him to actually do something. Check back later this week for an outline of his issues and a plan that he can show Jan Brewer.)