| Peter Vickery gave me chills today, when he painted the picture of what will happen on October 18th this fall, when Mark C. Miller becomes the first-ever Green-Rainbow Party candidate elected to the State House. Mark, who received an extraordinary 45% of the vote against an incumbent Democrat in his first time running for office, spending just over $3,000, would raise $20,000 this go-round, and run a 90-day sprint to reach the 4,000 Unenrolled voters in his district.
Mark followed up this grand introduction by pointing out one key difference from his 2010 run -- this time he'd have a campaign manager, Peter Vickery. He then proceeded to outline what he was struggling with as a candidate, and what he was yearning to bring to the 3rd Berkshire District. And there was no simple rhetoric available to him, no campaign playbook for messaging his vision for Pittsfield, the Berkshires, and the Commonwealth. He is looking to run a transformative campaign, sparking the economic, cultural, and political transformation that Pittsfield and the rest of the state is burning for.
Transformation is what we need, and Mark's victory will indeed be a transformative act. It's easily within our grasp if we rise to this exciting -- joyous was Mark's word -- 90-day challenge and make it happen.
Part of the challenge will be communicating the idea of a transformative campaign in a way that connects with the average voter in Pittsfield, and re-connects with those who have given up on the political system entirely. It will be a crowded field for this open seat, and there's a mountain to climb to win it. But we have 93 days in which to do it. 93 days to change Massachusetts politics forever. |
