The Man in the Chair

Author's Note: If you at any point think you've discovered the identity of the narrator, please don't blurt it out in the thread. Private message me instead.

"This autobiography is dedicated to my wife Suzanne and daughter Reagan. Without them I wouldn't be where I am today.

My early interest in politics stemmed from an early interest in journalism. At the age of 16 I had began watching the news daily, preparing myself for a career in the field. The news coverage of the 1976 presidential election is what sparked an interest in politics. The Democratic nominee was Frank Church, who fought a tough primary with Mo Udall and Jerry Brown, among others. The primary had my slight interest; I remember some details of it but it was not until the party conventions that I was fully absorbed in the race. Church made an interesting choice for his Vice President. John Glenn: a freshly elected senator and a national hero. Many say that Church picked Glenn to appeal to younger Americans. For me it certainly worked. Although at 17 I could not vote, My age did not keep me from following the campaign the best I could. Television and newspapers were in front of me everyday for quite some time. On September 18th, 1976, Church and Glenn made a campaign stop to speak in Detroit. This seems odd to me now as an adult, Michigan was fairly conservative at the time and it was Gerald Ford's home state. At the age of 17 these thoughts were far from my mind. My father drove me to Detroit, where we watched the speech. I knew it at that point. I wanted to go into politics. I wanted to be President. I wanted to be the man in the chair.

The West and Midwest were major wins for the Church campaign; he picked up some of the East Coast as well. Michigan was one of the few states past the East Coast to vote for Ford, much to my disappointment. But my disappointment did not last long. Church and Glenn propelled themselves to victory over Ford and Dole. It was all down hill from that moment for my time as a Democrat.

I decided to pursue a career in politics and enrolled in Michigan State University.

College was where I met my life long best friend. Sam Raimi. Determined to become a director, Raimi was a great roommate and a constant source of fun. Sam introduced me to his friend, another name you may recognize, Bruce Campbell. Bruce was a sophomore at MSU. He met Sam in high school at they both agreed to go to MSU to become director/actor duo. It was 1977 when Sam bought 3 tickets to a concert. The band was Rush. We all listened to rock music constantly on the radio and where aware of the band. Sam, Bruce, and I drove to Detroit. The date was October 19th, 1977. I only know that because it's written on the back of my t-shirt.

The concert was the turning point for me. I didn't know it at the time, but it was. They played many songs that night and played them very well. "Working Man" became my favorite song the instant it was played as the encore, but it wasn't the only song to stick with me. "Xanadu" became another favorite of mine, but the seed of change was the song "Anthem". Not a week later, I would check out the book that inspired it, written by Ayn Rand, from the campus library. This was my beginning as a 'crazy' libertarian. "
 
Here's an election map Ody made.

1976
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"As you almost certainly know by now, I'm running for president in 2008. I'm going to be forward about it because I'd feel like I wronged you if I told you that at the end of the book. So I will restate that; I am running for president in 2008. I feel my path to this point in my life is a story that any aspiring politician should read. It is a story of changes, growth, and young dreams.
So now, I would like, if I may, to take you on a strange journey. A journey from a college activist to Governor of Michigan. I'll cover it all, low level offices in Michigan, my tenure in the House, and my career as governor.
So how did I get from just another college Rush nerd to a top tier politician? More importantly, how can you follow the same path? It's a very simple answer and we all know it. Hard work. Hard work and some luck. With the right amounts of both, you too can be an outspoken politician.
Anyways, back to college.

Anthem was a quick read for me, I found myself unable to put it down. The concept interested me, albeit in a morbid way. A world where there was no individuality. The rise of a questioning spirit over over oppression. I finished the book within the course of a few days. Over the months following, I went through many of Rand's novels. It was not long after I had pretty much become a libertarian. I began to criticize the president, congress, and various other politicians whenever I watched the news.

There were many decisions made during the Church presidency that I disagreed with. However, he did do some good for the nation. He put what he thought were important regulations on how far the CIA and FBI. As a huge supporter of privacy rights, I understand the sentiment. However some of his CIA and FBI reforms did damage to United States intelligence. This would famously upset former CIA director George H.W. Bush. Frank Church was very wishy washy on abortion, but ultimately joined the pro-choice camp, one I was not a member of. Another issue was of course, taxes. Church increased the income tax twice during his presidency.

The more I dug into Ayn Rand, the more I listened to Rush, the more I became out of line with the President's views. In the 1978 midterms, I did not like either candidate for the house so I did not vote. I did however vote for the incumbent senator, Robert Griffin and the incumbent governor William Milliken. The former won by a narrow margin and the latter won by a much greater one.

While I was diving into books and diving further into politics, Sam was diving into other books to aid his film making. H.P. Lovecraft novels practically decorated his side of the room. He turned me on to the books and I read them as well. I oddly enjoyed them. Not long afterwards I began wearing more black. I liked the color. Years later, members of the state legislator call me "The Man in the Black Suit". It's not the name I would have preferred, but I've embraced it. Sam and Bruce made a little film in the spring of 1979. Within the Woods. I of course, attended the first screening. The screening was a success and a full film was set for filming. This would go on to be the beautifully violent The Evil Dead.

While '79 was Sam's year or me, things got really exciting for me when 1980 rolled around."
 
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