Money not where Mouth Is

State Representative Cam Ward has replied to my question. I reposted the question from this blog to him at Doc's Political Parlor here and you can see his response here.

Ward, in a quick reply, said he hasn't introduced legislation "yet" that would ease up ballot access restrictions, suggesting he will do so in the future.

Although it won't make or break my opinion of him, I find this unconvincing. Ward was elected in 2002 and he claims he saw the problem with ballot access when he worked for then-Secretary of State Jim Bennett in 1998. His blog post at Doc's Political Parlor emphatically states that the law needs changed.

He claims he was "just talking about some issues", but he is a legislator that saw a problem as early as 9 years ago and has indicated something should be done. However, for the record, he has chosen to not doing anything in the five legislative sessions he has under his belt.

Maybe Ward's answer to my question is indeed "neither": he hasn't introduced legislation and maybe he isn't courting the growing number of independent voters. Perhaps his third way is that he likes to talk the talk but doesn't follow up by walking the walk. He shouldn't be surprised (or feign surprise) when someone notices and asks him about it.

I love the part of his reply where he says: "Sorry no grand conspiracy!!!! " I was only asking about his actions on this issue. How can he have a conspiracy with himself?

I wish Ward the best in the next legislative session. Hopefully, he'll take up the ballot access issue next time out and will provide a serious reform bill and the leadership to get it passed.