Open letter to Professor Mark Lester

Dear Professor Lester,

This letter is prompted by your being selected to replace Avery Vise as the Democratic candidate in the Alabama 6th Congressional district general election.

I ran in the Republican primary earlier this year.

In the course of my campaign, I called Congress "dysfunctional," "failed," "kaput," "incapacitated" and "sucky."

I also gave a diagnosis for why I think Congress is failing to do its job properly for the American people.

I tried to get the other six candidates in the Republican primary to address Congress' failed condition, but they were unwilling to do so.

I am persuaded by the critique that Lawrence Lessig and others have made that money in politics has substantially impaired the functioning of our Congress and has resulted in a government in Washington DC that is not of, by and for the people.

MAYDAY.US (started by Lawrence Lessig) has embarked on a plan, which has a goal of obtaining a reform minded Congress in 2016, and, in 2014, MAYDAY is selecting eight Congressional races to focus on.

Five have been selected thus far. MAYDAY.US is supporting Republican Jim Rubens in the Republican primary for the United States Senate in New Hampshire, and Staci Appel in the Iowa 3rd Congressional district against the Republican David Young. Also, MAYDAY has  announced it is supporting Walter Jones (R, NC-3), Carol Shea-Porter (D, NH-1) and Ruben Gallego, Democratic candidate in Arizona’s seventh congressional district to replace retiring Congressman Ed Pastor.

I believe the matter MAYDAY.US is pushing is critically deserving of bipartisan attention. I believe that any Republican or Democrat, in Congress or running for Congress, who finds the status quo acceptable is ill serving (or will ill serve) his or her constituents, and the American people generally.

To my knowledge, Gary Palmer declines to say anything in response to the foregoing. To my knowledge, Gary Palmer declines to say, one way or the other, whether he thinks something is wrong (or not wrong) with the functioning (or non-functioning) of Congress and/or whether it is deserving (or not deserving) of special attention by the voters. If Gary Palmer thinks there is significant problem, he declines to offer any diagnosis of a cause or causes of the same, and Gary Palmer declines to say whether he has any of his own ideas, or agrees with any ideas of others, for trying to fix the problem.

I believe the voters of the Alabama 6th Congressional district deserve better about this matter than they received from the other six candidates (including Gary Palmer) in the Republican primary, and better than they are receiving from Gary Palmer currently.

I hope you have your own views about this matter and will discuss the same for the benefit of the voters in the Alabama 6th Congressional district.

I am posting this letter as an open letter on my campaign website.

Thank you very much for your attention to this letter.

Sincerely,
Rob Shattuck

To voters in Iowa 3rd Congressional district

Earlier this year I ran in the Republican primary in the Alabama 6th Congressional district.

I ran my campaign as virtually a single issue for reducing the influence of money in politics. 

I am persuaded by the critique that Lawrence Lessig and others have made about how money in politics has substantially impaired the functioning of our Congress and has resulted in a government in Washington DC that is not of, by and for the people.

The primary election in the Alabama 6th Congressional district was on June 3rd.  I was not successful in the election.

In the primary election campaign, none of the other candidates were willing to discuss my issue or take a position on it.

I have continued to press the issue, and I am now conducting a write in campaign. (See my campaign blog entry On Nov. 4, 2014, write in Rob Shattuck for Congress in AL06.) 

MAYDAY.US (started by Lawrence Lessig) has embarked on a plan with a goal of obtaining a reform minded Congress in 2016, and, in 2014, it is selecting five Congressional races to focus on. Two have been selected thus far, with MAYDAY.US supporting Republican Jim Rubens in the Republican primary for the United States Senate in New Hampshire, and Staci Appel in the Iowa 3rd Congressional district against the Republican David Young.

I believe the matter MAYDAY.US is pushing is deserving of bipartisan support. I believe that any Republican or Democrat who finds the status quo acceptable is ill serving his or her constituents, and the American people generally.

I urge the voters in the Iowa 3rd Congressional district to inform themselves about this issue, decide their own views, and vote accordingly on November 4th. I hope the voters in the Iowa 3rd Congressional district will conclude that the status quo is not acceptable and demand that there be reform.

Sincerely,
Rob Shattuck
Mountain Brook, AL

Can Represent.Us publicize in Birmingham, AL?

Dear Represent.Us and its supporters,

From February to June, I ran in the Alabama 6th Congressional district Republican primary. (Birmingham proper is largely in the 7th Congressional district, and the 6th district is much of the surrounding geographical area. The 6th district is predominantly Republican, and the 7th is Democratic.)

I ran my campaign as virtually a single issue for reducing the influence of money in politics.

Since the June 3rd primary election in the 6th district, wherein I was not successful, I have continued my efforts.

As explained in this blog entry On Nov. 4, 2014, write in Rob Shattuck for Congress in AL06, I am now conducting a write in campaign in the Alabama 6th Congressional district.

I need all the help I can get to publicize my (and your) issue in Birmingham and the 6th Congressional district.

I solicit Represent.Us to hold a rally in Birmingham. I suggest as speakers Representative Terri Sewell of the 7th Congressional district, Gary Palmer (the Republican candidate in the 6th district), and Avery Vise (the Democratic candidate in the 6th district). I also would be most willing to speak.

I further solicit Represent.Us and its supporters to publicize the issue in Birmingham and the AL 6th Congressional district in such other ways as may be at their disposal.

Thank you very much.

Sincerely,
Rob Shattuck