What It Takes to Lead

Imagine a candidate with small town roots, a hard worker that loves honesty and hates corruption. This candidate specialized in defeating incumbents that drank heavily from the wells of of big money and corruption. Now consider a candidate who is humble in demeanor but rich in life experience, a veteran of war. This candidate's experiences give him a dignity and perspective that make him a true leader.

You may think I am writing about the McCain/Palin ticket. Not this time. All of these attributes come in a candidate ready to lead our state, Russ Weeks.

If you have not read up on Russ Weeks, you owe yourself a few minutes to learn about him. Sarah Palin made headlines for putting the former governor's jet on Ebay. Weeks aims relentless criticism at the governor for gallivanting around on the state's dime in a helicopter. Palin defeated an entrenched incumbent thought to be unbeatable because the big business that preferred the status quo supported him. Like Palin, Russ Weeks believes that people, not dollars, vote in this state. He meets the people and listens to what they have to say.

Like John McCain, Weeks has a demeanor that shows the voters he will put the job ahead of himself. Weeks wants something better for West Virginia. He is passionate about changing not just the name on the Welcome to West Virginia signs, but also in changing our political culture. For Weeks it is about the state, not about himself.

Almost everyone agrees that the State of West Virginia needs a direction that takes us away from the failures of the past twenty years. How many people are willing to put their money where their mouth is and vote for a man that promises something different?

If you like West Virginia as it is run now, vote for the same people who have been ruining our state forever. If you think we can do better, put Russ Weeks in the governor's mansion. Alaska did it and 80% of them are thrilled with the results. We can too.

The Greatness of Our Country

Sometimes in the midst of criticizing politicians and the leadership of our country it is easy to forget that we live in the greatest nation to have ever existed. There are many ways to see the greatness of our country. Traveling for example. This past weekend I traveled through 3 different states and a number of counties, townships, towns, and cities without any need for a passport or need to speak another language. When I needed to stop for a drink and a snack, I had a choice of not only what to drink, but also where to purchase that drink and snack. Only on rare stretches of road would I have had to wait more than 10 minutes to find the next store or rest stop. I never plan out where I need to fill up my gas tank because there are ample choices for gas stations in any direction that I drive. At all points in my drive I received a choice of radio stations that were coming to me for free and when needed I was able to stop and connect to the internet to check a few pending work related questions that I needed to answer.

Another example of the greatness of our country is the ability for Americans to constantly find new ways to create their own jobs and businesses. My wife and I are planning some remodeling. I always look for coupons and came across Lowes coupons being sold on auction websites. I never would have thought of this, but many Lowes stores are only a few miles from their major competitor Home Depot. Both stores offer promotions for 10-20% and run specials on their products. Someone figured out that even though these coupons are only good one time at either store, however, the other store will offer price matching plus an additional 10% off of whatever you are purchasing. So, after using their coupon at Home Depot, they sell the coupon to a Lowes customer who takes it to their local Lowes store and is given an equal discount off of their purchase. It's easily worth a couple of bucks to buy a coupon that will save up to $500 on a major purchase. It's entirely possible that an employee at one of the chains just collects these coupons during each shift and sells them on eBay. Doesn't sound like a lot but a person making $7 per hour can nearly double their income by collecting 1 coupon per hour and selling it for $5. 10 per day 5 days a week 10 weeks per year (coupons aren't available all year long at most stores) = an extra $2,500 per year or for a $7 per hour employee = 9 weeks worth of work.

Regardless of what the economy is doing there are always opportunities to earn extra money. It may take a little effort. It may take a little thought, but the opportunity is always there for Americans. We truly live in a great country.

There are countless ways to see the greatness of this country and I hope that all of us will remember that as we go through what is promising to be a rough election season.