I’m on the road at a…

I’m on the road at a client site in Rhode Island this week, and I picked up the local free paper while eating supper this evening. (I mention that in case anyone wonders why this Georgia resident would even know about this story.) I read about a guy who’s campaign I could get behind. I don’t know what his general politics are, but he’s got a mission and has been willing to walk the talk, not just talk it.

Robert J. Healey, Jr.
EAST BAY – Robert J. Healey, Jr. is tired of preaching logic to voters. Instead, the Barrington resident and Warren native is basing his recently announced campaign for the office of Rhode Island Lieutenant Governor on the absurd. If it’s silly or non-sensical you can imagine it’s coming from Mr. Healey, who stated his intentions for office from Brava Beach in Punta del Este, Uraguay on Thursday.

Why Uruguay?

“I have chosen this location because I think that it demonstrates that no matter where you are in the world, and no matter what you are doing, you can also be serving as Rhode Island’s Lt. Governor at the same time. Waiting for the demise of the governor can be accomplished just about anywhere, any time, and by just about anyone with a pulse. I probably would do it here on the beach,” Mr. Healey said, adding that if he is elected he will facilitate the constitutional abolition of the office or “serve as the impetus for otherwise changing its constitutional role.”

Now before you dismiss this as a one-off, futile, point-making campaign, consider that this guy’s been making a career out of this. And he’s been doing a decent job at this. From the biographical highlights at the end of the article come these points:

* Founded Cool Moose Party (name taken from Teddy Roosevelt’s Bull Moose Party) and ran for governor against former Governor Edward DiPrete in 1986 — received a little less than 4,000 votes

* Ran for governor again in 1994, this time garnering slightly less than 10 percent of all votes cast — won the race in Warren which “humbled him,” he said.

* Because of that showing (receiving more than 5 percent of the vote), the Cool Moose Party gained statewide recognition

* In 1998, he took on then Gov. Lincoln Almond and Democratic challenger Myrth York and received 8 percent of all votes cast.

* In 2002, he ran against incumbent Lt. Gov. Charles Fogarty promising to abolish the office, if elected; he received a 20 percent share of votes cast statewide.

He’s been doing this for 20 years, so he’s no flash in the pan. I can’t possibly do the article on him justice with snippets, so go ahead and read the whole thing, even if you’re not from Rhode Island. I did, and I enjoyed it.

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