Several years ago I got involved in a Green party effort to put Mr. Nader on the ballot in MD - which if memory serves required some 10k signature. The strategy planning meeting was to be held in a church (UU if memory serves) in the vast wasteland of Baltimore-Washington suburbs (Columbia to be exact). The directions sent to the participants were wrong - I was able to find the place because I took a heroic effort of stopping my car, getting out, and knocking on closed doors to ask for direction. Most of those who opened their doors looked at me with utmost suspicion - I was lucky they did not call the cops or simply shoot me - but eventually I got the right directions. Most other prospective participants did not make such sacrifices and missed the meeting.
Last year I attended a community meeting for prospective candidates for the city council seat. A number of Democrats, two Repugs, and one Green candidate showed up. I was quite happy to see the Green among them, until the guy opened his mouth. Every candidate had 5 minutes to present his/her agenda - and then could answer questions at the end of the meeting. Every candidate but one used that five minutes to convey as much information about his/her agenda and programs as humanly possible. The candidate who departed from that pattern used about 3 minutes of his time to make a goofy comment that "Baltimore is overdeveloped" and that "we need less development" (since decaying infrastructure and buildings is a serious problem in Baltimore, I was wondering if he meant more boarded up houses or something more elusive) and stopped. When the moderator reminded him that he has two more minutes he looked confused and said "Well that's all I have to say, so I can give these two minutes to other people." Lest you wonder, that one candidate was the Green party candidate.
Now a question to you, John. How serious, in you opinion, is a political campaign organized by people who have problems giving right directions, come up with an agenda that is visibly disconnected from their physical surroundings, and cannot make a public presentation for 5 minutes?
Wojtek