wingspan33 wrote:Bob,
Your Candidate Statement makes a number of strong points and I think you've got an up hill battle on your hands. But the best of luck to you. If (or when!) you get back in the door, don't try to tackle too many advanced projects at once. Get something easier done first and then go from there. And finding and establishing allies never hurt. Come off as a rabble-rouser and you won't get very far.
If you were running in my Region I'd give you my vote.
Actually, the really really good news is that Dan is the other candidate. I believe Dan is basically an honest guy, and I think he'd like to see the same things I'd like to see. So I think the pilots will win regardless of who gets chosen.
On the other hand, you may remember Dan from the HGAA fiasco. I think he put his faith in some of the wrong people, and we didn't get a very good result. I think Dan really wanted to see the HGAA grow, and I think he may now realize that he sided with the people who wanted to kill the HGAA rather than grow it.
But overall, I'm optimistic that Dan may be a good candidate, and I'm considering withdrawing my candidacy to support him if he's willing to commit to a few basic platform issues (like open voting by the USHPA Board and support for the Torrey Hawks). It turns out that Dan is Torrey Hawk #16 which means he's been supporting our efforts at Torrey for a long time. So I do have a reason to be optimistic. (I need an emoticon for "crossed fingers").