Fort the past 30 years or so I’ve written stories about my travels across the United States. I’ve written articles as well as a best-selling book about touring America by motorcycle; spent years on the road to research my National Geographic book about 101 iconic places, events, and festivals; and I’ve written stories about the people and places you’ll find in Florida’s rural off the beaten path towns. I had no idea my immersion in America history and lecturing about America’s cultural heritage were preparing me to run for Florida State Senate, but I guess it was.
When local Democrats asked me to run against Dennis Baxley, the well-financed career politician who currently holds the District 12 seat north of Orlando, I was searching for the nearest exit. It took several weeks of soul searching to choose to “enter the arena” but I’m so thankful I did. Before I decided to enter this, my first race, I’d wake up in the middle of the night and then spend nearly an hour trying to get back to sleep as I cycled over and over on the situation we were in. I couldn’t sleep because I wondered who, by morning, would the petulant president have insulted, demeaned, or debased. A statesman? A branch of government? The free press?
But when I decided to run, I felt elevated. Ironically, as I grew accustomed to the realization I was a candidate, I’d still wake up in the middle of the night and it would still take an hour to get back to sleep. But now it was different. Vastly different. By choosing to run for office I found I was able to turn unchanneled negative energy into laser-focused positive thoughts. My mind was aimed on ways to HELP people. To SOLVE things. This was pure liberation.
Thoughts are flying at a million miles an hour nowadays, and I’ll use this platform to share with you how this race is being run to give power back to the people. If you’d like to follow this page, that’d be great. If you have some spare time, just visit www.Gary2018.com.