[campbellcj]

I have been wondering a lot lately whether our country's political system is already "out of reach" to normal citizens and under a death grip by the career polticians and/or the "rich and famous". (And oftentimes I think the lines are blurred between the two.)

Has anybody here ever seriously thought about trying to personally make a difference by seeking an elected or appointed office? Perhaps as a second career or even a temporary 1-term diversion from the normal daily grind?

Do you think that objectives could be more effectively accomplished as a civilian activist or volunteer, or even perhaps as a paid civil servant in a key position?

It is one thing to chat up one's beliefs on a board such as this, and yet another thing altogether to actually "DO" something about it.

I am hoping to be able to escape the daily grind in the next 10-15 years and contribute significant time -- and perhaps money if things go extra well that way -- to some kind of worthy cause(s) (plus of course having fun with p-cars etc.) I don't know what that cause might be, or its scope i.e., local, state, federal, or global...

Is this an exercise in frustration, or can one "normal" person still make a difference anymore, amongst the thousands of PAC's, lobbiests, mass-media, and deep-pocketed privateer foundations?