By John Lindstrom
Publisher
Posted: September 15, 2017 2:42 PM

Campaign season for the 2018 election got underway on November 9, 2016, which makes this reminder a little late in coming, but it still should have some value as an awful lot of folks have yet to show up for the party.

Attorney General Bill Schuette just announced he is running for governor, joining a growing crowd that includes Sen. Patrick Colbeck (R-Canton Township) and former Sen. Gretchen Whitmer. All sorts of politicians and politicians in waiting are wrestling now with running for Congress in the 11th District. And the countdown still goes on for who will run for either the House or Senate in the Legislature.

Especially for the newbies, there is a critical fact of running for office, or playing a key role in the running of an office, you must remember. You may not like it, but it’s a fact, so face up to it now.

You run for office, you’re a politician. You manage a campaign, work on strategy, raise funds, you’re a politician. If you pass out fliers or make phone calls for a candidate, you’re politically active, politically engaged but not quite yet over the line. But if you run for office, or you are intimately involved in the strategizing and managing of the campaign, you are a politician.

Please keep that in mind should you find yourself at some point during the campaign claiming to voters you are not a politician. Because the moment your name goes on ballot or the instant you have made it happen that a person’s name is on the ballot, that magical moment when you need votes, you are a politician. You have lost your amateur status. You are now in the game.

Which is good. One may and one generally will be frustrated with politics, but politics is how things get done. If one decides to stop complaining solely and be an active participant (in addition to complaining), kudos to that person.

But be straight about it, too. Maybe you weren’t a politician before crossing the threshold. Now you are, and don’t say you aren’t. The voters know anyone running for office is a politician, so play fair with them.

Instead of saying “I’m not a politician,” try “I got in the race because I was tired of how other politicians weren’t getting things done,” or maybe “I’m a politician you can count on.” Whatever you choose, just don’t try to hide the fact that you are a politician and therefore you are running for governor, for U.S. Senator, for Congress, for the Legislature, for county commission, for city council, for school board.

And if the idea of saying you are a politician is too painful for you, well, then don’t be one.