ALSO SEE: Part One: How to Run for Public Office – for Those Who
Score Low on the Narcissism Scale

ALSO SEE: Part Two: WTF Is That Red Scare Loyalty Oath
in My Candidate Packet?

How to Not Go Nuts When Running for Public Office

By Angela Watters, Reader Supported News

20 November 19

Part Three of “How to Run for Public Office When You Score Low on the Narcissism Scale”

know, I know, the unrelenting, daily existential crisis that is living in Trump’s America feels like it is enough on its own. But, I assure you, you can and should put yourself out there and run. Running for office is stressful, but you will in no way end up like the Minnesota woman, who allegedly gave Trump’s victory as an excuse for a DWI causing a three vehicle collision. According to police the woman said: “I am upset over the outcome of the election and you should let me go home.” I remember hearing about the woman on the radio from some jackass morning D.J., who used her arrest as a punchline in the days following Trump’s election. I had a very “there but for the grace of God” moment and totally empathized with the woman. I don’t drink and drive, but I felt similarly unhinged after 2016 results. In 2019, I choose to learn the cello. 

Mugshot of the Minnesota woman. (photo: AP) 

If you look into the story of the Minnesota woman though, not everything is as it appears. Unlike us, she doesn’t care about politics. Later, she claimed that she said the Trump bit in passing, made a “fleeting comment,” which was meant “sarcastically.” It was the cops who blew it up by posting about her arrest on Twitter. I think they just wanted to own us sad, broken, Libtard snowflakes who dared to feel upset about the election of a racist, sexually assaulting, real-estate grifter. In short, you will not become her. I did not become her. But you have to take care of yourself to take care of your community. 

I’m a fine one to preach about what I have trouble practicing. I’m terrible at self-care and I have a miniscule family and am terrible about asking for help. My parents are dead. I’m a transplant in the town in which I ran for office. My support system is comprised primarily of other working moms with young children, who scramble around all day wearing messy pony tails trying, just like I do, to make it through the day. I felt like I couldn’t ask my support system to help, but I was wrong. It makes running for office so much harder, when you lack appropriate support. Once you are elected, people will treat you either in a strange new deferential manner or much more harshly than before you took office. So you will need friends for frequent therapeutic bitch sessions.

If you have a better support system than I do, then use it. One of the primary criticisms during the wave of articles condemning post-election pieces promoting self-care was that a radical proposal by queer theorist Audre Lorde was co-opted by vapid Instagram influencers and GOOP’s Gwyneth Paltrow. The focus, said the criticism, was on “the self,” and consumerism was anathema to caring for others and reflective of late-stage capitalism. Friends, it doesn’t have to be like that. 

Proper self-care must include a support system. A fellow school board member from “Coaltown” is quiet and introverted, and she used the time between filing for election and knocking on doors to hand-write letters to friends and family asking for $25 donations. It worked. She raised enough money to fund her campaign, gained a team of supporters who felt part of the effort, and has enough money left over if she decides to run again. 

Organizations like She Should Run have created online communities for those who are considering running for office. I joined one of these, probably too late to help very much. My suggestion is that, if you have even the slightest inclination you might run, you join an online community or organization like Our Revolution, Run for Something, Emily’s List or She Should Run as soon as possible and preferably before you file. All of these organizations have training and offer communities of support for office seekers. 

The period between filing for election and actively campaigning is a stressful time, because much of it involves sitting around and waiting. You’ll want to get started, but you’ll need to preserve your energy and enthusiasm for canvassing and community forums. Trust me, you don’t want to run out of gas too soon. Relax, the stakes are low, and by going through the process you will benefit – win or lose. If you win, great, the work begins. If you lose, you will now know how to run a campaign and can run again next cycle or become a campaign manager for someone else with similar views. 

Use this downtime to start a Facebook page for your campaign, run an online fundraising drive, or write letters like my colleague on the school board did. If you are more of a people person, throw a party at a local bar and pass the hat for donations like another school board member did. Then meditate, get lost in a T.V. show, play video games, or pursue other healthy ways to distract yourself from your anxiety about running for office. 

Look at all the idiots on the GOP side in Congress’s impeachment hearings of Donald Trump. Do you really think they possess some superior quality that makes them more qualified than you? They don’t. You can do this. You just have to take care of yourself. 

Part Four – Campaigning: The Unbearable Exposure of Seeing Your Name on Yard Signs

Angela Watters is the Managing Editor for Reader Supported News. She was elected to the school board in her town in April of this year.

Reader Supported News is the Publication of Origin for this work. Permission to republish is freely granted with credit and a link back to Reader Supported News.