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 Unfortunately seven of the email address were outdated.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.
