Today is Sunday, June 19, 2022. It is the Juneteenth holiday, although the designated Federal holiday will be tomorrow on Monday, June 20. Federal holidays are almost always on Mondays to give people an extra day for a long weekend. There are a bunch of events today celebrating the day, and lots of crowds. It would be a good day to be out petitioning, and being a candidate.

I made a deal with my wife when I started this campaign, that I would not campaign on weekends. I made the deal with myself, too. Partly, I am afraid what G*d might do to me for breaking the covenant. And realistically, I need the rest. It’s tough petitioning. I really don’t think people should be working 24/7.

I will be out there tomorrow at the Great Arch, Gateway to the West, petitioning. That is if it isn’t raining. And if I feel like it. And I will be celebrating Juneteenth with the songs. “All Aboard, America” has so much to say about American freedom. And so does, “Blowin’ in the Wind”.

This is the first year with the regular Juneteenth holiday. Last year, the bill was passed by Congress and signed by the President.

I found an interview with Clair McCaskill and Jack Danforth. The article from March 18, in the Columbia Missourian, was entitled “Danforth and McCaskill not giving up on democracy” and reiterates the Nixonian theme that the vast silent majority want stability and the political center. It is about “hyper-polarization”.

The root causes that they identify are “they agree that the primary election process allows party extremists greater influence than they deserve.” and “most senators have only a single up-or-down vote on a finished bill…senators end up preaching partisan speeches to the empty Senate chamber rather than working out a compromise…”

“Danforth briefly referred to his recent search for a centralist Republican to run as an independent who, once elected, could avoid being stuck in the same party adding to the nastiness of modern-day poor institutional performance. Danforth said he expects there would be ample campaign funding made available for such a person, but so far, a suitable candidate has not been announced.”

Currently, as of this late date, there are 3 candidates who are running as Independents — Steve Price, Rick Seabaugh, and I. I would have heard if Danforth had endorsed any of these, or even if “ample campaign funding made available”. Certainly, I have not received funding. I must deduce that to Danforth I am not a centralist Republican, nor a suitable candidate.

What is the center of today’s Republican party? The 2022 platform of the Texas GOP is downright scary. It rejects the 2020 election and brands Biden as illegitimate:

1586 We reject the certified results of the 2020 Presidential election, and we hold that acting President Joseph
1587 Robinette Biden Jr. was not legitimately elected by the people of the United States. We strongly urge all
1588 Republicans to work to ensure election integrity and to show up to vote in November of 2022, bring your
1589 friends and family, volunteer for your local Republicans, and overwhelm any possible fraud.

These are not friendly, compromising, middle of the road kind of people. They are “hyper-polarized”. It’s easy to see why I am not a centralist Republican, why I don’t fit in to the GOP and why I declared as an “Unknown” party.

It will be interesting to see what happens to the Gun control regulation compromises being worked through in the Congress this week. Ten Republicans are reportedly trying to work the bill, and make it better. Roy Blunt, our current Senator, is a strong advocate of the Second Amendment, and he is a hard worker and listener.

What makes a candidate suitable? Who is that Independent that Jack Danforth looking for?

I tell you that what this is saying to me is that, now more than ever, there is a desperate need for people like me. I am a moderate. I actively listen to all sides. I am not “hyper-polarized.” I have a sense of humor, and can work well with people I disagree with / and who disagree with me.

If I had declared myself as Democrat, the GOP would brand me as “illegitimate”.  As the GOP says, “Democrats are sneaky and don’t run fair elections. They are cheaters.” If I had declared myself as GOP, I would have tried to to fit in today’s extreme GOP.

That explains why I am petitioning. Is petitioning a plausible avenue for progress? After a year, of slogging it out, I must say that it is a lonely, difficult — maybe impossible road — running as an Independent.  I think that here in Missouri, we need more people like me, petitioning and trying to show that there is a middle road. We won’t get on the ballot, we won’t get elected. But we can send the message that all hope is not lost.

I am reminded of Abraham pleading with God not to destroy Sodom. “Peradventure there shall lack five of the fifty righteous: wilt thou destroy all the city for lack of five? And he said, If I find there forty and five, I will not destroy it.” Genesis 18:28. Even God compromises.

Added <2022-06-20 Mon> In today’s St Louis Post Dispatch the article “Missouri political group eyes former prosecutor to run as independent for U.S. Senate” has the news that Danforth supports a possible Independent run by John F. Wood for the open U.S. Senate seat. Assuming he gets ample campaign funding, he will still face the hurdle of getting 10,000 notarized signatures by Aug 1.  In my political philosophies (which are subject to change), he is a welcome entrant in this race. He has worked with Liz Cheney and the Jan. 6 committee.

I don’t look at races as a blood sport between adversaries. I look at more like a bicycle peloton where we are all fighting the race course, the wind, and our own endurance. Or a running marathon. When I was in college, I ran one semester on the cross country team, and I found running together great.

In terms of ideology, people talk about right and left. Another metaphor is down and up — like heaven and hell perhaps. Milton in Paradise Lost, talks about Pandemonium as the capitol of Hell. In Pandemonium, the sky is tar and brimstone. I imagine it must look like a sixteen lane highway. So what is the right direction? I would suggest that you follow the bubbles. That will lead us up.