The waning days of a brutally negative election season seem to be an odd time for two local politicians to be asking their online friends this question: “Would YOU ever run for office?”
But that’s the challenge posed by Mayor Jon Tucci of Weston, W. Va., and a Texas centrist named Mark in today’s “Hot Loop” at HOTSOUP.com. Though they live hundreds of miles apart and have never met each other, Jon and Mark join forces in a national call to service.
“We need fresh new blood from top to bottom and coast to coast. Be the vanguard of the revolution,” writes Mark, a former congressional candidate who has served on his local city council.
HOTSOUP.com is an issues-based community geared toward people who, for whatever reasons, tend to influence their friends, family and associates. They are curious, opinionated and trusted – and they don’t need to be famous. Indeed, Americans are increasingly skeptical of political, business and other national institutions, and thus they turn more frequently to people in their communities for advice. It’s happening at HOTSOUP, an online public square.
“What can I do to being cultivating myself with in the party, develop a following, and plant the seeds for a future campaign?” asks one community member.
“I would love to run for Congress if you could tell me how to do it without a million dollars,” says another. The Loop is full of advice:
- Get involved: ``Right now, the best thing you could do would be to attend a meeting … and just observe the process,” writes Jon, the mayor.
- Take a chance: “I was elected mayor with a $5 application fee.”
- Never give up: “Sometimes, it takes years to accomplish something,” the mayor writes.
- Do your homework: “Educate yourself on the issues,” Mark writes. Says the mayor: “It would be nice if we could stick to the issues instead of (negative) comments, don’t you think?”
- Don’t be a cynic: “Remember,” the mayor writes, “public service is a privilege and a social skill that can only be taught through participation.” Join his loop at www.hotsoup.com and get involved.