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Chapter 13
Letters continued to come in as the
days past, and we were astonishing in content.
They also came in with money. Lots
of money. Now that a couple of
weeks have passed, we have received thousands of letters encouraging me to
run for President of the
United States
. President of the
United States
! Many suggest running under
an independent ticket to also separate me from the traditional choices,
and they would vote for me. It
is difficult to imagine winning enough states in popular vote, and the
electoral votes would seem to be virtually impossible, as that is the
system of thinking I have not been so friendly to in my statements.
I have only a very few thousand letters, and it would take millions
of votes. There is a big
difference. In no way is a win
in the bag. Think of all the
slams in ad campaigns. Democrats
and Republican parties both would spend a tremendous number of dollars
trying to smear me. It would
be the biggest smear campaign in history if indeed I was remotely
successful in getting any substantial level of attention.
This smear campaign could be the combined campaign revenues of all
other candidates that would be running. Then
there are the threats. That is
also a possibility. We have
seen that in just the first statements we made, knowing that is why our
house and business burned down. It
is difficult to prove who would have done it though.
I really don’t have any personal enemies that would do something
like that. With the statements
I have made it is a scatter shot of possibilities.
Think of Margie, and what would she think.
Without her, I would be very lonely, as well as having to do
everything with what normal life requires much less an undertaking like
this. I couldn’t do this
without her, nor would I want to. I
need her approval. And this
money! Nearly $625,000 to date
and still growing! This is a
huge sum of money in my eyes. The
wild part about it is I have not even solicited the running for office!
This is the only real thing that makes me consider it at all!
Seeing that much money, what would one do with it if I didn’t
run? I can hardly take it for
myself. If I did run, it
wouldn’t go very far with the twenty five plus million typically spent
on an election like this. I
run such a tight line on expenses and income in my little business.
The thought of spending this money on the start of something that I
would not be able to see it through with funds; it just baffles me to even
think in the seven digit cash flow figures.
Way bigger than this average Joe can comprehend.
And what if I won? That
again is a whole new commitment, ballgame, a reality that will never set
in until I finished my term. I
have seen the presidential approval polls drop recently from the top half
of approval, to the bottom half of the scale, in just a few decisions or
events. I am not sure anyone
can sit back and relax when they get to the office of President.
I am a sensitive and conscientious person that would probably never
relax. I get really worried
with my own cash flow, and my own problems with the business.
There are insurance companies working on you, taxes working on you,
business climates playing with your numbers and success level, no matter
how good your business is. Fuel
prices have shrunk our markets; I just tear my hair out with the daily
concerns of our business; much less what would running the country be
like? That would be an
incredible undertaking. There
would have to be a big adjustment in my own mental thought process, just
to consider running. It all
makes my head swim. I
haven’t even touched on the different countries around the world that
would have different opinions of me. Some
would maybe embrace me, and some parts of the world population would maybe
want to see me dead. It is a
tough thought to think a large number of people have a hatred for you as
an individual, for the chair you sit in as President of the
United States
, and what you stand for. I
stand for good and fairness! How
can anyone dislike that! They
sure do. And sometimes there
just is no rationale in the convincing of otherwise.
And why? I just want to
help folks, and be a nice guy. It
doesn’t matter. It is the
judging of the book’s cover is a common way of life today.
It seems really cool to have a shot at being President, me being an
Average Joe with the good ideas. This
is just a whole lot bigger than I could imagine.
“What are you thinking Goldie?”
Startled by her entrance, my heart jumped hard, and now thumps hard
with what feels like an irregular beat.
“You scared me to death Margie!
Warn me when you come in like that!” “I
see you are thinking hard honey, so what is up?”
“This is overwhelming sometimes Margie.
I can’t believe all this response that we are getting.
I sometimes feel after receiving this money, that I owe it to
everyone that sent it to give it a shot.
Then I think of all the things that are involved, you especially,
and it can be overwhelming. It
is overwhelming!” “I have
been deep in thought as you Goldie. What
are you thinking you are going to do?”
“I really don’t know Margie.
I really do not even have a clue? Do you realize what you are
asking me? It is just out of
any normal reality of what I would have called a decision in life.
You are in a nutshell asking me if I am going to run for the
position and role of the President of the
United States
, the most influential man in the
United States
!” I realize that Goldie.
I know exactly what I am asking you.
I too have been reading these letters you have been receiving.
I believe at last count there are about 3400 of them; and they are
not letting up. The amount of
money is astonishing too. I
have it all in one place, like you asked me to hold, and have not done
anything with any of it. Checks
are still checks, and the same cash bills are still all there.
It is just overwhelming to read all of these letters and see this
amount of money coming in. It
is coming in to you Goldie. Golden
Simms, my husband. I have
known you for so many years, and it astonishes me probably more than you. By
the way, we got our insurance check today too, on both the house and the
store building. We are
personally OK so we will hold this donation money aside until you decide
what you want to do.” “Are
you serious? You think I
should really consider this?” “Well,
sure Goldie. I have been
thinking. With the insurance
payment we are fine, so with what we owned which was mostly paid for, we
will be OK for a while. Our
house and building went up in value much more than I thought.
Our house was worth $265,000, and the building, $210,000.
And Goldie, we have no bills right now.
Everything was paid for.” “That’s
nearly a half a million dollars in the bank Margie!”
“You don’t have to work for a while Goldie.
Does it feel good?” “Not
good enough to want it this way on purpose.
If I had it to do over again Margie, I would go back to our old
humble life. I sure would stop
the fires from happening if I could.”
“We can rebuild Goldie if you really want to, but now is your
chance to do something else. What
does Golden Simms want? How
many people can say that, including the actual choosing to run for
President?” “What do you
think Margie?” “Well
Golden, (she paused) I have been reading the letters, one after another.
What if you were to go ahead and do this?
I trust you and know you better than anyone.
Spend what you have in your contributions, and if you run out of
money, stop, and see how far you go. We
can keep our money separate, use this contribution money as your campaign
money, and not go past it. I
can be your campaign manager and help you.
We have the RV so do have the ability to hit the campaign trail,
and really have nothing else to do with our lives at this point.
The way I see it, what do we have to loose?
I haven’t seen anyone ruin their lives because they lost an
election, just the election. Maybe
someone will catch the ideas that you have and it will really help things
in this country, the world. You
are a natural when it comes to seeing answers to complication situations.
You amaze me. I look
forward everyday to hear what great idea you have next.
I have been the devils advocate in my own thinking so many times,
to end up on your side. Golden,
you are right. A lot!
Even if the ideas are the things that catch on, it is a
contribution you can be really happy with, even if it is only these ideas
that win, and not you. Focus
on the ideas Goldie. Not your
personal win. That is the real
winning goal, even if you don’t get to the White House with them.”
Wow.
Was I really hearing Margie say go for it?
I am getting the nod of approval!
This is amazing, and incredibly a big part of the decision to run.
Step one would actually… be done...
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