Naked Ambition and Its Price

I believe very strongly in calling out our leaders that were when they were not the powers that be.

Voters need more, though, than an angry candidate. They need more than someone who can make jokes are share their frustrations.

And they need candidates who are candid without being caustic.

I believe that is not a balancing act, but a unified certainty. You can be bold without being brazen, you can be real without blasting.

Some people may differ with others based on personality, and others may have personal reasons for not supporting a candidate, either.

Putting aside the person and the political, and entering into the purposeful, what is it about "naked ambition" which is so frustrating?

Neel Kashkari:
Out for Self

What a minute -- what is "naked ambition" anyway?

A local Congressional candidate explained to me that some candidates for office have "naked ambition". They talk tough to the crowds, and they talk rough about the failed leaders of the past. They ramp up the rhetoric, blasting the establishment, the insiders, and position themselves in the conflict as outside of the problem entirely.

I have also found that they do not listen to others very much, and do not disagree agreeably, either.

Very frustrating.

I want to talk to some people, whether voters or candidates, and I find out why they believe what they believe. I may not agree with them in the end, and candidates may not get my vote, but at least I heard their views on key issues.

At any rate, character matters as much as ideology, and being connected and competent is just as important as being consistent in one's conservatism.

Donnelly talks issues
More than "Naked Ambition"

Just today, the Kashkari campaign released an offensive poster trying to conflate a US Senate
candidate from Missouri with Tim Donnelly. This kind of guerilla politicking is useless.

And it's not working -- at least for me.

Other local candidates have called for voters to look into the scurrilous past of competing candidates. How does that invite me to vote for them, though?

No one should compromise on their principles, and everyone has a right as well as reason to expect informed voters to make wise choices, not just follow the ballot and look for whoever is an incumbet (or who is not, as I used to vote in elections past)

Above all, candidates of "naked ambition" seem to be out for themselves, and they do a terrible job of covering up their self-interest -- hence the "naked ambition".

I am not voting for such candidates.

It's not enough to tell people who not to vote for. It's time for people who run for office who tell people why they are running and why the voters should vote for them.

Tell me the truth, not what I want to hear, but tell me the truth about why I should vote for you.

As for naked ambition, it has its price: losing votes, and taking on desperation and fear-tactics for vote getting. Kashkari is cashing out, and local candidates who pull the same stunts shouldn't expect a lot of votes, either.