First in the Nation / First Amendment

On July 10, the Salem Times Register published an article about my campaign as a write-in candidate for U.S. President in 2008. Salem, Virginia is the town where I grew up from the time I was 8 to 18. The Salem Times Register is the first newspaper in the country to give any coverage of my campaign. Considering the fact the my candidacy is beyond the realm of underdog, the newspaper deserves recognition for upholding the values of the Free Press and Democracy. It’s always interesting to read an article that has been written about oneself. Not in the big headed, self important way — I’m interested in seeing what the other person thinks I’m saying. Ms. Tabor did a good job conveying the basics of the campaign and my biography. I’m glad she included my quotation about the “Money Question.” With the wild movements of the Stock Market and the price of oil, the Sub-prime Meltdown we’ve been experiencing since August of 2007, the Federal Reserves’ half a trillion dollar infusion into the US Financial system, the tanking and bailing out of Bear Stearns, Freddy and Fannie — all these events underscore the fact that the economic system in this country is not sound as President Bush and Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson have recently been reassuring reporters.

Today’s Presidential Advertisement – Volunteering

I created this animated gif to put on my personal myspace page. I’m hoping to attract more eyeballs to my campaign website. I should probably create a campaign myspace page which is something I have been putting off. Just more work. Oh, by the way, if you interested in volunteering on my campaign send me an email to silver @ 6hourday.org (all one word, no spaces) and let me know what you can or what you would like to do. I look forward to hearing from you and working with you. Thank you for your support.

Over Easy: The need for a critical Free Press in America

Boy, I sure do have it a lot easier than the other U.S. presidential candidates this year.  No nagging reporters calling to wake me up at 8:30 in the morning interested in my views upon Palestine and Israel.  By the way I support a Palestinian State.  And secondly, my views on foreign aid are this:  the United States should only offer humanitarian, food/agricultural, educational, and medical aid.  Additionally, US foreign aid should not consist of economic support or military supplies to any country.

Fifteen days ago, on Saturday June 21 just before 1:30pm, I sent my first press release to the nation’s major media  outlets.  I used a list of resources provided at  www.fair.org ’s website.  Unfortunately seven of the email address were outdated.  I added a few more, Marketplace, The New Republic, and a few major political blogs (thru their email webforms — politico.com & dailykos).  Here are the lucky recipients of this once in a life-time political scoop.

To: fair@fair.org, info@ap.org, letters@usnews.com, letters@time.com, letters@newsweek.com, letters@tnr.com, national@washpost.com, nywireroom@dowjones.com, editor@usatoday.com, washington@nytimes.com, national@nytimes.com, news-tips@nytimes.com, letters@latimes.com, rush@eibnet.com, atc@npr.org, newshour@pbs.org, hardball@msnbc.com, dateline@nbc.com, today@nbc.com, nightly@nbc.com, Colmes@foxnews.com, Hannity@foxnews.com, Ontherecord@foxnews.com, Oreilly@foxnews.com, Foxreport@foxnews.com, ftn@cbsnews.com, 48hours@cbsnews.com, earlyshow@cbs.com, evening@cbsnews.com, 2020@abc.com, nightline@abcnews.com, pitches@marketplace.org

Here is the letter I sent to them.

Subject: Citizen, Silver Persinger, write in US Presidential Candidate

Dear News Maker or Editor,

I am writing today to inform you of my national campaign for US President as a write in candidate.

I have been reluctant to contact you since I announced my campaign on May 1 largely because I felt that you would not be  interested in an individual citizen’s effort to participate in the national political dialog; particularly since I have no large grassroots following.  And secondly, because my platform is antithetical to the corporate media’s economic interests and stranglehold on the “free press.”

However, I am an advocate of the free press and view a free press as a necessity to a functional democracy.  The main reason I am contacting you today is because my “announcement” to the internet alone has not yielded significant results — both my website, www.votesilver.org and my youtube video have received fewer than 200 views.  It is my hope that there is some independence within the media to report matters of national significance.  Objective reporting is a necessity in a democracy and there is no other way for a candidate without money to garner national attention and popular support.

I do not expect to win the election but it is my hope that I can contribute to the national dialog and influence the debate on social and economic issues — however, I can’t do it without your help.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Respectfully yours, Silver Persinger
804-683-7845

To date, I not received a single email or phone call in relation to my campaign.  This is a reflection of both the abysmal state of our democracy and the compliance of the media in perpetuating the current economic model and suppressing citizen activism.

Instant Runoff Voting would do much to improve the health of our democratic system.  Ensuring the majority is not divided amongst itself and providing more representative government, politicians, and policies.

Your assistance in spreading the word of my campaign is essential.

Nothing Ventured, Nothing Gained

I have done very little to promote my campaign over the last six weeks. All that I have done is put up my website, www.votesilver.org and uploaded my youtube video. To date, with no real promotion I’ve gotten 134 hits to my website since I installed the counter on May 4. And the youtube video has gotten 125 views to date. I sent a letter to the Salem Times-Register of Salem, Virginia — the town where I grew up in Southwestern Virginia. They were kind enough to express an interest in my campaign and sent me a number of questions to answer by email. Tonight I typed my answers to Angie Tabor’s questions and I include them in this post to enlighten readers of my views and my reasons for running for President.

Letter to Angie Tabor, reporter for The Salem Times-Register – June 9, 2008

Hi Angie,

Sorry for the slowness of my reply. I wanted to set aside a couple of hours to respond to your questions and this is the first opportunity I’ve had.

I’ve excerpted your questions and my reply follows each of your questions. Thank you for the opportunity to talk with your newspaper. As a fierce advocate of democracy, I feel that the free press has an essential role to play informing our citizens in an objective manner about important issues of the day. Much of my reticence to campaigning is knowing that my campaign is a lost cause but I am making an appeal to the democratic spirit of America. As Abraham Lincoln said, “With public sentiment, nothing can fail. Without it, nothing can succeed.”

> 1. Where are you originally from?

I was born in San Francisco, California on February 28, 1972, later moved to Los Angeles and moved to Salem, Virginia in May 1980 when I was eight years old.

> 2. How long did you live in Salem?

From May 1980 until August 1990 when I moved to Richmond to attend VCU. I have lived in Richmond since 1990 except for a period of 18 months(1994-1996) when I attended an automotive and diesel mechanic program in Cleveland, Ohio.

> 3. What schools did you attend?

I went to G.W. Carver Elementary School, Andrew Lewis M.S., and graduated from Salem High School in 1990. Sporadically attended VCU from Fall 1990 until graduating in June of 1997, with the much coveted English degree.

> 4. Do you still have family currently in Salem, if so what are there relations to you?

I was raised by legal guardians, James and Eunice Coleman from the time that I was 8 years old to 18. Ms. Coleman is still alive and lives on Craig Ave. Mrs. Coleman had been a nurse to both of my great grandmothers, and my grandparents on my father’s side arranged for Mr. and Mrs. Coleman to take care of me and my brother, Labor. I still talk to Ms. Coleman and visit when I can.

> 5. What are the names of your parents/guardians? Plus, siblings- what are their names?

Answered above. Ms. Coleman’s daughter, Merlene and her husband, Noah Tickle were like an aunt and uncle to me and their children Shawn and Melissa were like cousins. Both of my parents are still alive — my mom Sheryl Worley lives in Long Beach, California and my dad, Richard E. “Peter” Persinger, lives in Richmond.

> 6. How often to you visit Salem now? If you don’t that is okay to write.

I visit every couple of years.

> 7. What is your current employment?

I work at the Library of Virginia with the Virginia Digital Newspaper Program, a federally funded grant program seeking to digitize a number of Virginia’s newspapers from 1880 – 1900.

> 8. Name of wife, partner, girlfriend, or what have you. Any children? What are there names?

I have no wife, girlfriend, partner, etc. I also have no children.

> 10. Other than politics what are your hobbies and interest?

I enjoy reading, bike riding, sound recording, and book collecting. I am particularly interested in books dealing with early labor history especially the Knights of Labor, progressive social movements of the 1880’s and 1890’s, and the debate on the “Money Question” which I think is just as important today as it was then.

> 11. How did you get the name Silver, is that your birth name? (Sorry, but it’s interesting and I like it.)

Yes, it’s my birthname. And no middle name. I’ve asked my father before but didn’t get a very good answer — at least it wasn’t memorable. I think he said he wanted me to have a unique name. I think that my parents were living in San Francisco in the early 1970’s probably had some influence on the decision.

> PLEASE WRITE AND TELL ME YOUR CAREER AMBITIONS, YOUR POLITICS, YOUR
> IDEA AS A WRITE-CANDIDATE, HOW YOU DECIDED TO DO THIS, WAS IT YOUR
> IDEA OR DID SOMEONE ENCOURAGE YOU? DID YOUR CHILDHOOD & BACKGROUND
> INFLUENCE YOUR POLITICAL ASPIRATIONS IN SOMEWAY? HOW ARE YOU
> CAMPAIGNING? WHAT CAN PEOPLE DO TO SPREAD THE WORD ABOUT YOUR
> CAMPAIGN? ARE YOU TOURING? IF SO, WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN, WHERE DO YOU
> GIVE YOUR SPEECHES? WHAT HAS BEEN THE REACTION WHEN PEOPLE FIND OUT
> YOUR RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT? HOW ARE YOU ADVERTISING YOUR CAMPAIGN?

I don’t have a career ambition. I don’t know any better today than I did after graduating high school or college what I would like to do professionally. I am particularly floundering now since I decided to stop attending Richmond City Council meetings. Because that is what I have done regularly for the last 29 months. I was their chief gadfly/critic. Attended nearly every committee meeting and all the formal meetings. I just burned out. I felt like my attendance and participation had no effect. I saw first hand that the great majority of citizens do not attend, or even seemingly care about the Council’s meetings. Countless times I was the ONLY citizen in attendance and the newspaper wouldn’t even bother to send a reporter. I also recently decided to not seek a seat on the City Council this year because this is the first year Council terms will be for four years, previously terms were just 2 years. If it had been a 2 year term I would have run.

About my politics, I first got interested in politics in 2000 after I read a book entitled “A Picture of America — As it is, and as it might be as told through the news camera” by Charles Cross. It was basically a piece of Socialist propaganda from 1932 — it broke down the American system of production and distribution in a simple to understand way and I agreed with the basic argument. I became more interested in Socialism and alternative social movements of the of the period following the Civil War. I read and learned more about political movements such as the Greenback Labor Party, the struggle of labor unions for recognition and improving work conditions, often followed with long strikes, privation, murders, beatings, and many times no change in a company’s policies.

My idea of a write in candidacy is based on social responsibility. By not running for office I would be neglecting my social responsibility that a democracy requires. Each of us, if we are not happy with the choices we are presented, have a responsibility to step up to the challenge and to propose what we consider the best course of action to address the problems that plague our society. The chief enemy is poverty in the midst of plenty. People don’t often think of the fact the wealth is a social creation and that our economic system is just as susceptible to democracy and the will of the people as is our political system. And since the majority of media outlets in our country are under the influence of powerful corporations with vested interests in the existing economic structure — it is so important that an independent free press be able to challenge the existing social conditions. At the core of it, my politics, is a sense of justice, a truth, a love of liberty and a desire to be free, and a belief in the revolutionary power of democracy and the power of the people to change the course of history through elections.

All I know to do is to offer my criticism of the situation. And to offer my solution to public. I realize that the public may not be “ready” for my prescription but I will not have failed to at least try. I figure the best aspect of my campaign is it’s educational quality — to remind people that we do have choices, and we should have more thoughtful and serious debates about fundamental assumptions of our economic and social systems. I am for liberty and I hate tyranny. It is my loathing of tyranny that makes me reluctant to “seek the power of office.” I’m not interested in the power, I am interested in ameliorating my own condition as well as my fellow citizens. I don’t claim to know the solution to every problem, but I think we need to make massive changes to assumptions of daily life to make our institutions more sustainable and to promote the general welfare and happiness of the majority of the public.

The decision was my own, to run for office. But it follows a line of other bids for office since 2002. This is just the latest attempt and the first time I’ve been eligible to run for President. I don’t think my childhood particularly colored my decision to be politically active. I was never very interested in politics until I discovered socialism. And terrorist attacks in 2001, also contributed to my decision to get politically active. The terrorist attacks were in retaliation to America’s imperialist foreign policy. That is what happens when your government is run by corporations instead of decisions being made by people. I am for limiting the power of corporations, repealing their constitutional protections, and doing away with special incentives or subsidies for corporations.

How am I campaigning? So far just my website, www.votesilver.org and my youtube video. When I announced my candidacy on May 1 — I had been intending to notify the nation’s major newspapers and then slowly trying to email the nation’s smaller newspapers. However, I must admit I am still reluctant to make much noise because presumably the next President will be Obama or McCaine. Even to me, it really does seem ridiculous to run a write in campaign for president. Never has a write in candidate for President won an election. But it is the lack of a real political debate that inspires me to get involved. Also our current President reminds us that anyone can be President. Aside from that, I have shown an unusual dedication to my local government and been a model citizen in that regard. As a matter of fact, I won the unusual distinction of being named the Sixth District’s Citizen of the Year in December of 2007. I advocate open government, empowering citizens to govern themselves, and politicians as educators of the public. The Salem Times Register’s response to my announcement of my campaign (aside from making an interesting “hometown boy makes good” story) has encouraged me to rethink my press release strategy to the major newspapers– I was initially off put because I figured corporate media would not be interested in my story, but I think I will try. I don’t expect major paper coverage because I am nobody, have no public support, and my platform is disastrous to concentrated wealth. However, I have been pleasantly surprised at my top Google ranking and youtube ranking for “write in president 2008.” It’s surprising to me that not many people are running and I’m definitely one of the more interesting and serious candidates.

>WHAT CAN PEOPLE DO TO SPREAD THE WORD ABOUT YOUR CAMPAIGN?

They can tell their friends and family about my website, www.votesilver.org , which will be my main communication tool during the election season because it is cheap and most people can access the internet. I’m also encouraging citizens to get my name registered with their Secretary of State or State’s Electoral Board as a write in candidate. Each state has a different set of rules for candidates to register as write-in candidates. To the public, I offer myself as a candidate with a platform. Now it is up to the citizenry to embrace or reject my candidacy. All I can do is try. Running for President is not so much about the individual as it is about the collective. I hope I represent the values, hopes, and ideals of the voting public.

>WHAT HAS BEEN THE REACTION WHEN PEOPLE FIND OUT YOUR RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT?

When I tell my friends I am running for President, the most common response I get is “Of what?” It underscores the assumption that major party candidates are the only options we have — but that’s not the case — we have other options whenever people decide they need different options — I am but one option.

Angie,

Thanks again for your interest in my campaign. I’d be happy to answer any follow up questions.

Respectfully yours, Silver Persinger
804-683-7845

Hello world!

This is the first post of my 2008 presidential campaign.  Who knows what adventures the coming election season will bring?  I don’t expect to win.  I do not even know how much attention my campaign merits nor who it may excite.  More than anything else I want to give people a really different choice for President.  Someone who wants to see a FREE health care system for all, FREE college education for all who desire it, good paying, skill training, infrastructure building Government jobs, the introduction of the 6 hour work day and 24 hour work week with 6 weeks of vacation a year.  

I propose an economic overhaul that reviews the existing social contract and negotiates a new deal  – taking power away from money and corporations and putting it in the hands of the people.  Making our government more responsive, more democratic, and more representative of poor and working people.  Ending homelessness and poverty, repairing decaying infrastructure, promoting unions and small local business, particularly  co-ops, by removing the burden of providing healthcare for their employees.

Help Americans defaulting on their mortgages by creating a program to re-finance their home with the Federal Government at 1% interest.  Help Americans get out of debt by offering Federal loans at 1% interest.  Our economic system is just as susceptible to Democracy as our political system.  

I propose a system of taxation with no tax on your income unless you are in the top 1% of incomes.  That’s something 99% of us should agree to.  It’s a maximum wage, it’s a mechanism to ensure the redistribution of wealth that has a tendency to concentrate into few hands.

It’s already very late and I still have to create my website, edit my youtube video, and get the email addresses of the nation’s 10 largest newspapers and a few from Europe and Latin America.  It’s going to be a long night.  

Happy International Labor Day!  May Day, protest for the 6 hour work day by working no more than 6 hours on May 1. www.6hourday.org

Thanks for reading about my campaign and feel free to leave a comment, suggestion, or question and I’ll try to answer as many as possible.  Check out my website, www.votesilver.org for more information.  Tell your friends.