Considering running for public office in Alabama

This will be a bit different from my other posts. I have been thinking about running for public office of some kind for a while, and recently had a bit of a push in that direction. One of the senators from my state is not going to seek reelection, and I thought about what it would be like to try to run for that particular office.

I'm not at all commiting to this, and will have to think quite a bit about the particular office that I might someday run for, but I've decided to take at least the first step, formulate a complete policy. I plan on looking at all of the major issues and formulate my own reasoned thoughts about them.

To explain myself simply to those who might stuble on this later, I consider myself a moderate Republican. I was born in a small town in Idaho. My dad at the time was studying to get a degree in Engineering, my mother was working in a fabric store. When I was 6 my dad graduated and became an engineer for the Public Health Service, mostly working on the design of sewer and water systems for the Indian Health Service. During this time I frequently lived in small towns, including in Oklahoma, Kansas, and Arizona. I continued in my education, and eventually graduated from High School, got a degree in Electrical Engineering, and eventually even a Master's Degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the Univesity of Arizona.

I believe we are all more similar than we are different. Both political parties seek to find solutions to help those around us have better lives, to make this country greater, to reduce abortions, increase education and prosperity, protect the enviroment. The priorities might be different for the parties, and the methods certainly are, but the goals are many times the same. I like to really get to the bottom of these issues, seek commonality, and find common ground.

One thing that I will certainly do is be willing to convinced that another position is right. There are very few subjects, and none of which are relevant to politics, that I can't be convinced are the right course. I will see what is best for all of those in my realm of responsibility, and seek experts to understand better. If the bill is one of energy policy, I will talk with various power plant and grid operators. Education, I will talk with educators to understand what the problems are, along with some students. I will try and talk with as wide of a variety of such people to better understand. As a result of this, I may be a "flip flopper", but that is an acknowledgement that I don't know everything that I would need to know now.

We will be exploring things a bit more in the future, including some of the ideas and thoughts on how we should deal with these issues. I believe in seeking common ground, and will always seek to improve those around us. I seek to look at the science, not just the popular science and thoughts but what the real science is behind issues, and some of those might surprise some people on both sides of the aisle. Come join me in this journey!