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Loren Collins for Congress - iPolitics from Loren Collins on Vimeo.

Loren Collins for Congress - Sign of the Times from Loren Collins on Vimeo.

The sound quality is somewhat less than ideal, but here is a new video uploaded today. Whereas the last video took its inspiration from Stephen T. Colbert, this one takes advantage of the libertarian undertones of a certain Whedon work:

Loren Collins for U.S. Congress - Can’t Stop the Signal from Loren Collins on Vimeo.

Freshmen politicians love to make their mark on the public consciousness by making grandiose campaign promises that they know they can’t keep. Significant reforms are unlikely to have their origin in the pen of a first- or second-term Congressman.

While minor in the grand scheme of things, the matter of the U.S. Twenty Dollar Bill is a pet issue of mine, and one that I believe does carry a certain amount of cultural import. And while the other policy positions I have laid out merely provide a glimpse into my political philosophy, this is a specific proposal that I believe I could win Congressional support for, even as a freshman Representative.

From 1914 to 1928, the $20 bill carried the portrait of President Grover Cleveland. In 1928, the bill was changed to feature the portrait of President Andrew Jackson. No one, not even the U.S. Mint, knows for certain why the change was made.

Although remembered as one of America’s more colorful Presidents, Jackson simply does not deserve the honor of having his image upon the most commonly-used bill in this nation. Jackson’s positive and noteworthy accomplishments during his term of office were few. In contrast, the federal debt exploded during his Presidency, and he laid the groundwork for the spoils system. His pre-Presidency career was most notable for his military victory at the Battle of New Orleans, an unnecessary battle fought after the war was officially over.

But most significantly, Andrew Jackson is personally responsible for one of the greatest singular human rights violations in American history. Jackson was a strong advocate of the forcible removal of Native Americans from the South. He signed the Indian Removal Act in 1830, and although the Supreme Court sided with the Cherokee Indians, Jackson moved forward with their removal anyway. The result was the Trail of Tears, the removal of more than 7,000 Cherokee at gunpoint, and the deaths of over 4,000 people.

This is not a legacy deserving of honor.

The image you see at the top of this page is my proposed alternative. James Madison was America’s fourth President, and one of our most important Founding Fathers. He co-authored The Federalist with Alexander Hamilton and John Jay, and during his time as Secretary of State he helped oversee the Louisiana Purchase. Most importantly, he is remembered as the Father of the Constitution, and he authored the Bill of Rights. Madison’s portrait used to appear on the $5,000 bill, but printing of that denomination ceased almost 40 years ago.

Madison’s contributions to the formation of this nation far make him far more worthy of appearing on our most common paper currency than the tainted Jackson. Putting Madison on the $20 bill serves to remind us of the central importance of the Bill of Rights, and taking Jackson off is the least we can do to a man who personally sought to deny those same rights to so many people. It’s not health-care reform or solving the Social Security crisis, but it still offers a cultural benefit. It’s certainly more significant than the thousands of laudatory resolutions or post-office renaming bills that Congress passed this year. It’s a cause that I believe is worthy, and importantly, it’s a cause that I believe I could win in my first two years in office.

Campaign promises don’t get more realistic than that.

Election day is two weeks from today. And now that we’re in the final stretch, there is another publicity tool added to the reserve: campaign signs. I looked into purchasing signs, but that proved impractical given the timeframe and cost per sign.

So instead, I’ve put together some more traditional grassroots signs, as follows:

With their large and prominent lettering, these are specifically designed to be printed out and sandwiched around a stake or post, for a do-it-yourself campaign sign. I’ve purchased a number of stakes myself, and will be putting up signs around the district. The signs can also be displayed in windows, in cars, or anywhere else you’d like to promote my campaign.

And for locations where large fonts aren’t important, there’s the more graphic poster:

Creative Loafing gave my campaign a small shout-out in its Voters Guide:

Hank Johnson, who defeated firebrand (and current Green Party presidential candidate) Cynthia McKinney) in the 2006 Democratic primary, may have the easiest road, even though he’s the state congressional delegation’s sole freshman. His only known foes in the Fourth District are write-in candidates: “conservative-libertarian” Loren Collins, who has proposed replacing Andrew Jackson with James Madison on the $20 bill; and retired police Sgt. Faye Coffield, whose slogan is: “She is different.”

Admittedly, not the campaign issue I would have preferred to be singled out. But given the sparcity of press coverage given to this race, I won’t complain.

Loren Collins for U.S. Congress - Special Report from Loren Collins on Vimeo.

I will be speaking and answering questions at the September meeting of the Libertarian Party of Rockdale County this Tuesday evening. Details are as follows:

Time:
Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2008 @ 7:30 pm

Location:
Ruby Tuesday’s, Banquet Room
1714 Georgia Highway 138
Conyers, Georgia

My first campaign ad for the election is up on YouTube:

As I say in the ad, I need your help to spread the word of my campaign. So whether it’s by e-mailing a link or embedding the ad in your blog, every bit helps.