Into politics? Thinking about making a run for office? Let’s talk about this. The left needs serious discussions on whether and how to win power electorally.
I’ll get directly to the point. All things being equal, running for office is a bad idea. I’ll say a bit about why. Along the way, I’ll make some recommendations for what to do about this.
The background to this post is that there’s a special election for a vacant city council seat in Iowa City. I live in Iowa City, and I’ve spent some time evaluating whether running for office here might be a good use of time. The city council, in particular, appears like it might be an outlet one could use for positive results.
Despite the obvious localism, I’ll draw out broader implications.