A season of change
seasons of change
It has been several months since I last wrote. In February 2014, my wife and I decided that we would run for the vacant seat that Dr. Tom Coburn opened up by retiring early from the United States Senate. I filed for this office on April 11, 2014 and have spent the last 90-120 days campaigning for United States Senator here in Oklahoma. The primary was held on June 24, 2014 and I received 2425 votes.
I intended to resume updating my blog and website after the election. I had a change of plans when my father passed away on June 28, 2014.
Suffice to say, I’ve had some changes these last few months.
The question for me now is where do I go from here? I learned a lot from my campaign and the election, much of which I still don’t have the proper words for. I have grown as a result of my campaign and am very grateful for my experience.
The platform on which I ran was one of restoring the traditional core values on which this great nation was founded within our leadership. This idea or concept is still very close to my heart. As a result, I am refocusing on what I am writing and what I am talking about.
What I have discovered is my passion and zeal for this great nation and the roots of this great nation. You see, this nation was founded on Judeo-Christian values by our Founding Fathers. Each of our Founding Fathers was very conservative and very committed to his Christian principles. In my opinion, our nation’s leadership has strayed from these core values on which we were founded.
It is our core values that determine where we go. Our core values determine what we look at and what we don’t look at. What we do and what we don’t do. Who do we help and who do we not help?
I like to use the example of a fruit tree as an illustration and a word image. If you want, visualize an apple tree. Imagine the root system of this tree. This tree and its fruit depend on a healthy root system. When the tree has a healthy, vibrant root system, it bears large, juicy, luscious, delicious fruit. However, when the root system is diseased and neglected, the fruit becomes small, full of holes and worms, and otherwise undesirable. But, when this diseased root system is given proper attention, it becomes healthy and its fruit becomes healthy again.
This is where our great nation, the United States of America, currently stands. The image of the fruit tree with a diseased root system is where we are now. The fruit that we have right now, the question of marriage and what marriage is like, the question of when life begins, our current financial situation with our debts and deficit spending, and any other issue that one would like to address, is the result of our root system or core values that we hold in the leadership of our nation.
These core values must be restored. Once these core values are restored, our fruit, all the issues we want to discuss, will also be restored.
During my campaign, I spoke of three core values that need to be addressed. There are more than three of these values but these are the three values that I highlighted:
Commitment: do what we say we are going to do. We as Americans too often send an elected official to do a particular job. When our elected official returns to Washington DC to do this job, in many cases our elected official has promised to do A but does B. We must recommit and deliver on what we have promised.
Personal Responsibility: Every decision you and I make has a consequence with it. We have positive consequences and we have negative consequences. When we make a decision or a choice, we must own that choice. No one else should be blamed and the influence of that person that resulted in the choice that was made. When I am personally responsible, I own my choice and the benefits and consequences of that choice. I don’t blame anyone for my choice.
Confidence: We as Americans have lost confidence in our nation’s leadership, and for good reason. Our elected officials must re-earn our trust. We as Americans are very cynical about our government. I think this is because the first two points I addressed, Commitment and Personal Responsibility, were not met. I believe that when our elected officials adhere to these core values, and other core values as well, then our confidence will be restored.
As I mentioned before, these are three core values out of many more that need to be addressed. There are a total of 10 core values that I would like to see addressed. These 10 core values come from a book called “The Compassionate Samurai” by Brian Klemmer. Brian was one of my mentors and this was his last book before his passing.
Once these values are reset, as mentioned above, all other issues we want to discuss will be addressed. It will take time, because just like with a fruit tree, it can take a season or more for that route to produce the right fruit, but it will happen.
From my point of view, there are two paths for this restoration to take place. We can educate or re-educate our elected officials or we can replace our elected officials. I think a combination of these two options is ideal. I think we have elected many officials who have been in Washington DC for too long. We must thank these people for their service to our great nation and send them home to move on to the next phase of their lives.
We need new blood in Washington DC. We need new ideas. We live in a time where change happens very, very quickly. I think we need term limits both in our House and in the Senate. With new blood and new ideas in Washington DC, I believe that every problem we face in this nation has a solution.
My campaign and election is over for this year. However, I am by no means finished running for office. I firmly believe that I am called to serve the people of this great state of Oklahoma and the people of this great nation of the United States of America in some form of elected office. What that office looks like at the time of that office is a question to be answered later.
So for those of you who have wondered where I’ve been, here’s your answer. I am alive and well and refocusing my efforts and moving forward.
If you want to learn more about my platform and campaign, you can visit my website at http://www.VoteAndyCraig.com.
For the people,
andy-craig