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There is no shortage of reasons why we need you to run for office! But the two illustrated above say it loudly.

 

No train traveling on 19th century rail technology in the US goes faster than 100 mph. Quite embarrassing for a country that prided itself on innovation and technological prowess. Modern magnetic levitation rail systems (Maglev) around the globe are approaching 400 mph.

 

This impediment is caused by the stalemate in our electoral system which produces nothing but tribal friction disguised as political differentiation. The resulting outcome: a very dysfunctional governing system.

 

The only way to innovate governing is to upend the current political tyranny, and release those inspired to serve to do so in a free and innovative manner.

 

Legislating will only improve when we can seriously diminish the outsized influence of money, and the extremist control of election outcomes most visibly noticed in the primary election process where only 10% of voters decide over 80% of the general election outcomes.

 

 Other reasons to run:

 

1) You have better policy positions that need to be advocated than those who are bought and paid for by the lobby community.

 

2) Even with the semblance of a two-party system, nearly 50% of the elected positions have no challengers and the current electoral systems are unfairly skewed against outside participants. After a very carefully crafted gerrymandered redistricting process in South Carolina, the majority party ensured their continued dominance by reducing the number of challengers. For the 2022 South Carolina State House of Representatives, 72 out of 140 seats will have NO major party opposition. That is embarrassing and something that only V. Putin should be proud of.

 

3) The primary system is wrecking our democracy.  The 10% extremists in each party have an outsized influence on the outcome of the general elections. 

 

  Act now to prepare to get on the ballot in 2024 and beyond.

 

It requires planning and carefully designing a strategy to run or even stand* for public office.

 

Our team stands ready to help you prepare - whether it is honing your personal skills, developing a fundraising operation, gathering supporters or conducting a field operation.

 

Contact Independent Green Party of Virginia Co-Founder and Former Chairman Joseph Oddo, now at (703) 338-0200

 

*Running for office is more involved, but standing for office is still a great value to our country.

 

 


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 Link coming soon. To contribute to Oddo for Congress, send check to PO Box 916, Goose Creek, SC 29445

Please include your name, address and occupation for FEC reporting.

Joe Oddo for Congress 2022.



 
Join our team of Citizen Advisers...

 
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Contact Christian LeBlanc at 703-338-0200.

About Joe Oddo

Mergers & Acquisition Advisor, Writer, Political Campaign Director

Three time ballot certified candidate for congress.

After 20 years in retail management and launching sales transitions to e-Commerce, Joe Oddo switched back to his college studies to create a writing and political/sales consulting practice in 2002. He is a three-time ballot certified candidate for congress from Virginia (2004-08), and founder of a number of political advocacy organizations. A Public Policy major from Penn State Oddo volunteers as DJ at public radio WTJU, was volunteer host on GreenTV public television, and a Friend of the Library. In SC, he teamed up with Better Ballot SC to advocate for Instant Runoff/Ranked Choice Voting. Currently he is the South Carolina Managing Director for Neumann Associates M&A Advisors.
 

"I have blessed to being able to conduct three distinctive careers over the course of the last 45 years: Writing / Business Management / Political Campaign Management.

"Having run for office on numerous occasions, I coordinated statewide ballot access drives, and directed campaign operations for at least ten candidates running for federal, state and local office.  Have served as founder, director, organizer, fund-raiser, policy writer, media relations and press coordinator, as well as candidate surrogate.

"If you even remotely consider running for office, please reach out to me. Let’s have a conversation!"

 

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Blog Posts:

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March 23, 2023

Rally for Instant Runoff Voting in SC

1/23/23 Better Ballot SC Rally on Capital Steps, Columbia, SC.

Joe Oddo speech transcript… 1-2-3_Photo.jpg

 

    Thomas Jefferson once said “A little rebellion, now and then, is a good thing, and as necessary in the political world as storms in the physical.” I don’t think he meant getting to this place - where confrontation and paralysis have become divided government’s natural state. 

Deep polarization of the parties has made it harder to achieve bipartisan agreement. This is not the republic that our forefathers envisioned. Polarization is not new. What was once intra-party disagreement has morphed into tribalism. What was once cross-party coalitions are now dangerous levels of stalemate and dysfunction.

The upcoming debt ceiling fight is the perfect example. Nothing but a strange booby trap, the debt ceiling severs Congress’s decision to spend money, from its decision to pay its bills. Getting rid of it would bombproof the government’s operations against political disaster. Debt ceiling bills have always been used to embarrass the other side. It’s like leaving a cocked gun for reckless legislators to hold their country hostage until they get what they want. That just wasn’t how things were done in American politics before.

Norms of cooperation and deference have given way to crises, paralysis, and polarization. Political actors have to be responsive to the conflict amplifying media. Instead of routine bickering, media-hungry politicians thrive on a full-blown crises. It’s theater at its worst. There are other ways legislators can express their views, gain leverage, and grandstand that don’t threaten to tank the economy.

Political scholars have identified two basic norms that have been destroyed: mutual toleration, or the understanding that competing parties accept one another as legitimate rivals; and forbearance, resisting the temptation to use temporary legislative control to maximum partisan advantage. We see it right here in this state house. Gerrymandering provided the majority the opportunity to draw districts where 72 of 124 seats did not even have a major party challenger. And power, of course, begets power. The majority party intends to pass even more partisan measures that will cripple our schools, restrict voting, and threaten women’s rights.

Modern polarization is rooted in the civil rights era. One Party chose to embrace racial equality. The other Party provided a home to white backlash. Political scientists Ornstein and Mann see a party seizing on its majority to:

-- become ideologically extreme;

-- contemptuous of the inherited social and economic policy regime;

-- scornful of compromise;

-- unpersuaded by conventional understanding of facts, evidence and science; and

-- dismissive of the legitimacy of its political opposition, all but declaring war on the government.

So-called smaller government conservatives sell out for a ‘win at all costs’ methodology. An identity group under threat, they promise their loyal voters protection and victories. In turn, their followers follow them to hell and back. Overspending and big government concerns are brushed aside as long as they’re fighting against illegal immigration and pushing back against the left.

Because white conservatives realize they are in a narrow, rapidly diminishing majority, they uniformly select a boogieman: the Left. They pour out one-liners that speak volumes of what they oppose: ObamaCare, Hillary, Critical Race Theory, Woke Culture. Notice none of these state what they are for.

So we are here to remind this supermajority that the people are watching. We are gathered here to offer a resolution to our troubled political structure. We seek to build a coalition that brings together groups with dissimilar – even opposing – views on many issues. We don’t want to coalesce just with our friends, but with our adversaries. An effective coalition in defense of American democracy requires that unnatural allies - moderates and progressives - forge alliances with business executives, religious leaders, and Red-state Republicans. Business leaders have good reasons to oppose unstable, rule-breaking politicians who threaten to tank the global economy.

Let’s begin a dialogue about ranked-choice voting, voters could choose their favorite candidates in order. The least popular candidate would be eliminated, and her voters would see their second choice counted. So even if your favorite candidate loses, your vote still counts. You don’t have to live in a swing district for your vote to matter.

RCV creates more positive discourse among candidates who tend to form alliances with their adversaries rather than throw mud. Their appeal to voters, “hey, if you can’t pick me first, pick me second.”

Many people actually thought that a victory of extreme polarization would rescue democracy. Even after a shock of orange hair, a cardiovascular system and a twitter account, the weakened, but still effective checks and balances provided soft guardrails of democracy. These guardrails barely held during the presidency of the wannabe autocrat despite his attempts to weaponize the courts, usurp the media and rewrite the rules of politics to tilt the field against opponents.

Democracy is a shared enterprise. Its fate depends on all of us. Politicians don’t lead. They follow. I invite you to join our Better Ballot coalition. When outside forces demand change, then and only then do politicians get down to business of making changes.

Get involved in your community. Take Action Against Apathy. Run for office. Stop wasting your vote on a political system stuck in quicksand. Demand accountability!

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23 mar 23 @ 10:40 am          Comments


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Oddo has at various times had an association with the following organizations:

Independent Greens of Virginia
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Green TV

Americans for Fair Taxation

Diane Blais for Congress 2014

Gerard Blais for Congress 2014

Elaine Hildbrandt for Congress 2014

Col. Jim Leslie for Delegate 2009 & 2013 (VA)

Terry Modglin for Delegate 2013 (VA)

Jeannemarie Davis for Lt. Governor 2013 (VA)

Ken Hildebrandt for Congress (VA 2012 & 14)

Floyd Bayne for Congress (VA 10 & 12)

Karen Kwiatkowski for Congress 2012 (VA)

Imperato for President 2008 / for Florida Governor 2010

Hagler for Council (DC)

Joseph Oddo for Congress (VA 04, 06 & 08)

Gail "for Rail" Parker for US Senate (VA 06 & 08) GailnJanet.JPG

Gail for Rail for Congress (VA 2010, 12 & 14)

Parker for Delegate 2013

Committee to Draft Michael Bloomberg 2006 - 2020

Nader for President (04 & 08)

Kent Mesplay for President 2004

Virginia Bill of Rights Coalition

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Joseph Oddo delivering speech during the 2006 campaign.

 Transcript of five minute News8TV taping.

Joe Oddo, Independent Candidate, US House of Representatives

Oct 6, 2006

A patriot must always be ready to defend his country from his government.

I’m Joe Oddo, Independent Green candidate running for Congress and I encourage you to get involved. To run for office. To insist we be allowed in the debates. To fix our democracy. And stop the mudslingin

I believe in expanding civic participation by fixing election rules and instituting universal registration. Anyone that shows up at the right polling place with their official ID should be able to register and vote on the spot.

Plus we should expand the hours of Election Day, or make it a holiday so everyone can take off work to cast their vote.

Our team of Independents have spent weeks out in all weather extremes to qualify to make the ballot. We talked to over 150,000 Virginians who understand the need for Independent voices. And by listening to your concerns, we have formulated a sound platform that addresses diverse issues like lobby reform and term limits.

Together with our statewide candidate for the US Senate Gail “for Rail” Parker, we propose Rail Now solutions. More Trains Less Traffic. We need hi-speed Rail from Danville to Charlottesville, from Charlottesville to Richmond, and on to Washington. Modern high-speed rail utilizes existing right-of-ways. We can run elevated rail right along I-64 and Rt. 29 with minimal disturbance. It is the time to develop alternative energy solutions, and end our dependence on oil.

We must pay closer attention to how government spends OUR money, and to ensure that it is on realistic, long-term solutions. So one of our initiatives is to solve the fiscal crises in our federal budget. We need a balanced budget now. We can to pay off the federal debt in five years. And we can fix the tax code for real tax cuts, not credit card advances.

We are more conservative than our opponents. There is nothing compassionate or conservative in military adventurism. This administration promotes addiction to a new drug called fear. We no longer face facts. We prefer to fabricate them. We lost over 3,000 young American soldiers since Nine Eleven.

Why? For war industry profits. Everyone knows it. One of every four tax dollars are being spent at the Defense Department. From their own report, billions are being mismanaged through "improper payments". And this Congress has been complicit and needs replaced.

We can fix Pentagon waste with an auditable accounting system so we know where our money is going. We can save $2 Billion a week by withdrawing from Iraq. We can save Billions more by closing bases in Germany and Japan. And Billions more by scrapping useless weapons programs.

Now I ask you, what real liberal or conservative would ever sanction the Patriot Act, or NSA domestic spying? Why should we give away rights guaranteed by the Constitution now? They served us well for the multitude of threats we defeated during the last 230 years.

Now it’s: be afraid. Be very afraid. Don’t worry about your tax dollars going to campaign contributors through no-bid contracts. Don’t pay attention while they strip away our rights, or rob our Treasury blind.

We won’t hear them say: War as a foreign policy of the United States is wrong. Peace is the answer. Nonviolence is the answer.

We can protest all we want. We can editorialize, we can lobby, we can strike, we can boycott, we can hold endless numbers of meetings. This only gets us so far. If we are going to accomplish real change in government, then we have to resort to action. The only real action against apathy is to get on the ballot and run for office.

Now is our chance to restore the optimism and promise of a world for all to live in peace. Join us as an independent - not bought and paid for by corporate rulers.

We run on positive issues. We listen. We do not sling mud.

Because I am an optimist, I offer solutions that the two parties will not address. Please Join us. Our Web site is www.VoteJoinRun.us. Please Vote Oddo on November 7th.

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