Three daily newspapers in Colorado’s 4th Congressional District – the Fort Morgan Times (Republican Congresswoman Marilyn Musgrave’s hometown paper), the Fort Collins Coloradoan (Democratic challenger Angie Paccione’s hometown paper), and now the Greeley Tribune – have endorsed my quixotic candidacy for Congress. What is going on?
How can a minor-party candidate with almost no money gain such attention in the face of nearly $8 million being spent in the name of my competitors attacking one another and me?
It’s simple. Tell people the truth, stand for civility and problem-solving, defend our constitutional protections and don’t sling mud.
A year ago last spring, I was sipping coffee in the home of my old Reagan-era friend, Jim Sanderson, wrought with fear that my son, then-Marine Lance Corporal Jeffrey Eidsness, was going to be deployed to the Middle East to fight a war I opposed.
I railed at everything from Congress’ abdication of its constitutional authority to declare war, to out-of-control spending, to backing away from environmental protections, to the broken health care system and, yes, the failure of our government to enforce immigration law.
Jim listened patiently to my tirade and finally said, “You just can’t be against everything. You have to offer answers.” It struck home. I should know this. I am an engineer, and we solve problems.
Thus began in earnest my journey to enter politics, and it has been a long, solitary journey.
I spent months developing my position on 20 of our nation’s most pressing issues and developing my website (www.eric4congress.org). Like so many Americans, I was tired of the tinny, supercilious and divisive overtones of our political discourse and I wanted people to know what I stand for and why.
A year ago last summer, I began meeting prominent Republicans in my community, trying to garner support for a primary against Marilyn Musgrave. The chairmen of the Republican committees in Larimer and Weld counties wouldn’t even return my calls. It became clear: There was no room for a moderate Republican in the 4th.
Finally, in November of last year, after 40 years of party membership and serving in the EPA during a Republican administration, I decided to leave the GOP.
One of my supporters found the remnants of the old Ross Perot party, the Colorado Reform Party. From January to June this year, supporters worked hard to get me on the ballot for the general election.
Utterly liberated from either establishment party, I emerged a true independent candidate for Congress.
Everyone I’ve met is dismayed at the direction our nation is taking. People know we have serious problems, but our politicians don’t want to talk about them.
With no staff, no money and a 10-year-old Subaru with my campaign logo on the hood, I did what all politicians do: I covered my district, shook hands trying to explain myself, wrote articles and worked the media. Still, I was a virtual unknown to the general public. Yet the most recent independent poll shows me with 10 percent of the vote.
Now, with visibility from the Windsor High School Debate on Oct. 24, the three newspaper endorsements and the 527-funded attack televised ads against me, I have a campaign!
There is a change in the wind. Americans want to be governed from the middle. The ranks of the unaffiliated voters are growing. Here in Colorado, 46.4 percent of all new registrants since Jan. 1 are unaffiliated. The stage may be set for a voter revolution to take back the people’s government.
Eric Eidsness is a Reform Party candidate for Colorado’s 4th Congressional District. He is among the 36 third-party, independent and write-in candidates vying for office in Colorado this year.
