By Robert Hornak
They say it’s every American’s right to complain. And we do, we complain about everything. About the weather, about traffic, about the price of eggs. We love to complain. But the one thing everyone really loves to complain about – politicians.
They are out of touch, they are corrupt, they don’t care about the people they represent, and so on. And in some cases, that may be true. But mostly, the truth is that most people who get elected to public office are just average people themselves, no smarter or more insightful that anyone else.
In many ways, being an elected official is an all-access backstage pass to life. And often the people who run just want to be “someone” with privilege and influence and see winning public office as the easy path to achieve their goals. So, they join political clubs, volunteer and then work for other elected officials, and then they run themselves as insiders of a process that favors insiders.
Otherwise, they are just like people in general. Some good, some bad, many somewhere in-between. Some are smart, some less so, and they fall all across the spectrum for human behavior and personal insecurities. What they all have in common is the willingness to take action to achieve their goals, whatever they may be. And this is how they become insiders.
The one thing the insiders, who have spent time working their way up the insiders ladder, fear the most is someone who has not spent their life working in the political trenches, but someone with real life experience who becomes fed up with the insiders playing their game of offices and decides to get into the game themselves.
These are the candidates that suddenly inspire average people, connect with the voters, and make a real difference. They change the political dynamic. They ask the questions that need to be asked – what do the voters really want? What do they really care about? And what will get them to vote for the change they want?
But candidates like this are the exception, not the rule. You can change that.
Why are they so rare? Because people – people like you – don’t think things can change. That the system is rigged for the insiders. It isn’t. The way they rig the system is by reinforcing that feeling of futility and allowing it to take root and grow. They want you to throw up your hands and walk away, to continue going about your life, and to accept business-as-usual.
If you care about your community and the future of the city, you should rethink that mentality they have ingrained in us and examine the possibility of running for office yourself.
Getting started is fairly easy. You contact someone involved in politics who knows the system and will give you honest advice on navigating the system. Someone who can help you determine the opportunities you may have and how to approach them. And, most importantly, someone who puts your interests above those of what others may want. Someone who can help you avoid the pitfalls, and there are many.
It’s not complicated, but it is hard work. It is, however, one of the most rewarding things you will ever do, win or lose. I’ve never had a candidate tell me at the end they regret having run. It introduces people to a whole new world.
The hardest part is always getting started. To stop complaining and to make the commitment to become the change agent that counters the business-as-usual dynamic of politics. It’s more possible than you realize and just takes making that first step out of your comfort zone.
Our founders never intended for us to have a permanent political class running the country. For the new year make that resolution to think about your opportunities to run for public office and bring your life experience to governing, just as our Founding Fathers intended. Feel free to contact me or the editors of this paper with any questions.
Robert Hornak is a professional political consultant who has previously served as the Deputy Director of the Republican Assembly Leader’s NYC office and as Executive Director of the Queens Republican Party. He can be reached at rahornak@gmail.com and @RobertHornak on X.
