Brief statement:

A few years ago, I was an enormously cocky, bright, creative, hard-working unknown guy on a drill rig, who wrote in his spare time.

Then Trump was elected.

Then I was laid off.

I decided that I could no longer sit on the sidelines, that time had passed.

1/4

So I talked to some friends and ran for Congress. As a form of protest, really.

After that 2018 campaign, I had discovered a few things:

1. Politics are more simple and more complicated than you think.
2. I have a knack for speaking my thoughts in a digestible manner.

2/4

I learned many other things, chief of which is the definition of “leadership.” Yes, an informed, comfortable and confident person can be a Representative, but a key part of it is *learning from your supporters*, as well.

I know many things, but I can’t know *everything.*

3/4

Talking to people, and empathizing with & learning from THEIR stories, is what separates a loudmouth from a leader.

I have been humbled so often by politics; any sane person undergoing the tribulations would learn that humility is paramount.

We admit when we err; we heal.

4/4

This is that guy 4 years ago: