"... what drives a person to spend $6 million for a job that pays $170,000 a year?"

...................................................................................................................................................................
Why do people run for political office?
By Dennis Marek, June 28, 2014

I have never had an interest in running for political office, nor have most of my friends. I ran for a Trustee position for the local junior college and served for 17 years, and I only had one election opponent in all those years. So campaigning and fund raising never entered the picture. I am glad we have people willing to serve, and I thank them for their service, but sometimes I wonder at the real reason so many candidates choose to run.

A perfect example of how our current manner of running for office makes little sense took place and is still taking place in the19th Congressional District of Florida, our part-time winter home in Ft. Myers. The race for that Congressional seat was, and still is, incredible. It filled the airwaves this past spring. Let me explain.

In October of 2013, Rep. Trey Nagel, while holding a seat in the House of Representatives, was busted when buying a substantial amount of cocaine from an undercover agent in Washington, D.C. That crime would have been a felony in Florida. He quickly copped a reduced plea and announced that he was going in for "addiction treatment." The news got out when the House Ethics Committee started an inquiry, and Gov. Scott and the Republican Party forced his resignation. Now there was an open seat.

Enter the Republican hopefuls. First was a state politician, Lizbeth Benaquisto. Then came a local doctor and former state office holder, Dr. Paige Kreegel. The next was a former Purdue basketball star and businessman, Curt Clawson. An unknown man named Michael Dreikorn finished the field. The Republican primary was on. Because this is a strong Republican area, there was little contest on the Democratic side as April Freeman was the sole candidate for the position in this interim election.

I have never heard a more bitter and vicious campaign than these Republicans waged. Benaquisto was accused of being a "reformed Democrat" and even desperately invited Sarah Palin to her last fundraiser. Clawson was attacked with this: His company had once filed bankruptcy, a worker was horribly injured and treated unfairly by the company, and that he had let a childhood friend use his condo in Utah, knowing the friend was a convicted child molester. Kreegel was attacked that he had been sued three times for medical malpractice! Professionally, I find that is an incredibly low number of suits these days, and no one ever said if the suits were successful or not. Dreikorn waged no anti-candidate messages.

The primary was held on April 24. According to the local paper the night before the election, this is what these candidates spent on that election: Benaquisto spent $796,888 plus $50,000 of her money. Kreegel spent $208,534 and $185,000 of his own. Clawson, the businessman, spent $2,265,783 plus $3,400,000 of his own money. Dreikorn merely spent $15,000. It is no surprise that Clawson, with the big bucks, won the Republican Primary in April. As I write, he will face Freeman on Tuesday, June 24. I would have probably voted for the one candidate who said nothing bad about the other candidates had I been a resident. But wait, he ended up with the least votes of all!

Clawson will probably have won the election by the time this is published, as the seat is considered a safe Republican seat. Now this race and mad spending is even stranger when one considers that the job pays only about $170,000 per year plus perks. Even stranger is that this was merely to fill the seat until the November elections, because House seats are two-year terms! Even more amazing is that there is another primary for the fall election scheduled for August 26 and anyone is free to run again. The winners of those primaries will face off in November. That winner will then serve the next two years.

So why does a person spend this kind of money? Are these altruistic people who have made their mark and now want to give back? Do they believe they have something to give that is not happening right now? Is this the next step in ego-enhancement? I think all reasons are represented by our politicians in one form or another. But the biggest reason must be the power. Step aside — here comes the President, or the Governor, or the Senator. The list goes on.

Certainly some run for the office for the trappings that come with the job, while others insist on helping their territory back home. No one did this latter job better than our George Ryan. As Governor, he brought much to Kankakee County that might never be fully appreciated. He watched out for us like a mother over her favorite child.

Can politicians write a book and make millions? They seem to. That is about all the good Sarah Palin got out of all her travails. Can they make underhanded money or spend their own campaign money on themselves? Well, Jesse Jackson Jr. certainly comes to mind as well as many, many others. "Get elected and grab" might be the watchwords for many.

I realize the side benefits are huge. Travel expenses, meals, lodging, tickets to sporting events, even lavish private parties are often heaped on the elected official. But what drives a person to spend $6 million for a job that pays $170,000 a year? For those who take the time, serve us faithfully and honestly, I take off my hat. But for the others, I guess there is more than meets the eye. Maybe one of the reasons I never ran is that I could never eat that much fried chicken at all the fund raisers.
...................................................................................................................................................................