When I watch national news, it’s so often I shake my head and wonder how did society get ... so stupid.

I know part of it is that media has a pattern to follow, and it involves highlighting the stupidest thing possible and then turning it into a matter of national priority. That’s how the nation elected a grifter into the White House in 2016. As much as Fox News was responsible for that, CNN and MSNBC did their part as well, and they’re doing it again with the current election cycle of ... stupid news.

So, what’s that got to do with me? It’s about my good intentions for our nation’s future, for the future of all the young people I run across through reporting on high school sports, and small college sports, and community sports . That’s a big part of this, and those young people and communities include my wife and two kids. And, the neighborhood we’ve lived in for 20 years.

All that stupid news needs to change, and change fast, and it isn’t going to do that through one voice from Oregon. Or a bunch of protest from Portland. It’s going to happen with a voice on Capitol Hill, even just a simple freshman Representative.

My getting there, with how I have to get there - through a write-in campaign, is going to give me a much louder voice than most of the people who are already there. Louder and less stupid.

So, I’m running for the US House of Representatives District 3 seat in Congress. It’s the seat that represents most of Multnomah County East of the Willamette River, the Northeast corner of Clackamas County, and all of Hood County. It’s the seat held by Democrat Earl Blumenauer for the past 28 years, and in order for me to replace him I have to get every voter to write my name on the correct line on their ballot when they start to arrive in the mail after Oct. 16.

A write-in campaign has never worked - not even once - to victory for a seat in the House of Representatives. My campaign is going to change that, and feeding off the general vibe of mistrust in government is a key asset for this campaign.

It’s in my head that if there start to be more people in Washington, D.C., who spend time on things that are meaningful in helping their communities be healthier and happier - and less time on addressing the stupid stuff that goes on there - that’ll have an impact on getting things to happen - good things.

It’s a big enough challenge that I’m calling it a revolution.

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Make America Amazing Again

Revolutions happen around the globe and throughout history all the time, but they all involve force and usually bloodshed. My idea for revolution here, and now, is that it’s just through democracy and finding people to step up and be better people than the ones who are already there. Or get the people who are there now - in Washington, D.C. - to be better people, and right now.

Covering sports as a journalist and campaigning for office are two very different things - a journalist is trained to cover things like political campaigns not be the campaign. And, I’m doing both at the same time.

Separating news coverage from campaigning is going to involve some good planning to be a journalist covering a prep football game or volleyball match, and not be campaigning at the same time. I’ve worked on how to actually do both, but at different times. The way to do both is focus on a topic that’s key to the future, and not make it political: the senior class. The Class of 2025. The upcoming graduating class is a way to test where society is because it’s about to go into literal sports free-agency once that graduation certificate comes along in June. Then, is it off to college. Or get a job first, then go to college. Or find a career that doesn’t involve a college degree. And, what’s your view of the world that’s been created by the generations you’re following?

Answering these questions, and starting to ask ones like them or yourself and the people around you is what I see as the first steps toward making America amazing again. This is going to be part of my campaign as well: Make America Amazing Again. I certainly do not have the funding to make it as big a deal as making the nation great again, but it’s a lot easier to describe what’s amazing that’s been lost as opposed to what greatness is that needs to be found again.

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