Political Bio - Naples, FL
Naples, FL
"I've visited Washington D.C, but never lived there." -- Robert Thurston
Hello, my name is Robert Thurston. I am a registered Independent who is interested in getting on the ballot for representative for the 19th Congressional District.The 19th Congressional District is the area that encompasses parts of Lee and Collier Counties, the region I have called home since I moved to Naples in 1970. US Representative is an important position that because of my background experience in education, public speaking, writing, teaching, travel and technology I feel I am uniquely qualified to fill.
I grew up in Naples, Florida. I spent years playing baseball here under the Florida sun and graduated from Barron Collier High School in 1985. I attended Edison Community College in Fort Myers and then finished up my AA in Journalism at Hillsborough Community College in Tampa. I went on to the University of South Florida in Tampa Bay where I received my BA in English in 1998. After that I went to the University of Central Florida in Orlando where I completed my MA in Technical Writing. I graduated amongst the top of my class there in 2008 with a rounded off 3.6 GPA.
I've never held a political office, but always have been interested in politics. I’ve been to Washington D.C, but I’ve never lived there. I come in fresh and owing no big interests or lobbyist groups any political favor, instead totally reliant on my own long-developed critical thinking skills to make smart decisions that should have favorable outcomes about the important issues that affect everyone.
I think candidates all should have something that makes them stand out. What is the one thing you have others can’t reproduce? What makes me any different? I'd like to think I am one of the most well-read people you'll ever meet. Moreover, I’d like to think the thing that separates me from others candidates the most is the travel. From 2006 to 2012 I traveled and worked in more than 20 countries. I didn’t go as a visiting politician, but lived and worked as an English teacher for many months with people in Thailand, Mexico, Colombia, Saudi Arabia, Vietnam, Cambodia, South Korea and the US. I tried to learn their languages. I experienced their cultures for extended periods.
I spent other considerable periods of time in Nepal, India, Australia, Panama, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, England, Holland, Ireland, Laos and Bahrain. I saw more clearly the US from the outside looking in. I came to know better how those nations view us here in the US. As a result, I came to understand intrinsically the things we do so well here and the areas also that don’t make much practical sense. And in seeing that I think I’ve gained some creative insights about how to use here the problem-solving approaches I bore witness to in those far-flung locales. I feel like in the US and here in Southwest Florida we can do a lot more with a lot less and get better results.
With this knowledge I think I can do some things to unite different groups of people who aren't on the same page, but could be under the right guidance. America is a "melting pot", a country of immigrants. Through my travels, I get where people are mentally who come here from abroad. And having lived here almost all my life I understand the mentality of the resident locals. I feel I understand where we can bridge these gaps. I have a young mind, but an old soul. And I do believe we all do better when we work together.
I’ve done a lot of volunteer work in the community. I have around 300 service hours volunteering with H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center. I also have somewhere around 300 hours of volunteer teaching English as Second Language learners here in Collier and Lee Counties through various churches and organizations. Over much of the last year I have devoted myself to self-study programs in IT courses like the A+ and Network +. I see the understanding of technology as the nexus for the leaping off point for a political career that can empathize with a lot of different points of view. In my mind my campaign’s central talking points are the economy, immigration, education, civil liberties, the elderly, housing, food, technology and poverty. Those are the main areas my efforts will lie in first.
I am a writer and a blogger. I value fresh, new ideas. I think were I to get elected I’d be one of the first people in congress to promise daily blogs about the things I saw. I'm the kind of person who would happily spend the length of my days poring over the details of the bills that mean so much to so many. And for the first time the people would be getting real time daily updates about the issues that affect them and I think this hasn’t been done before. I have some other unique ideas too that would create a more honest political atmosphere were they implemented. I'm not someone who is going to jump ship and just become another useless cog in the too big government machine once I get to the other side. Were I given the honor to serve the people, I would stay well-connected to the people who put me in office. I'd like to see impartial civilian panels assembled to give me what might be deemed "interim report cards" to make sure I, and other politicians were staying on course with seeing through the promises we made to get elected in the days, months and years that follow. Politicians don't seem to be open to that level of accountability these days. I have other ideas too about creating more honesty in politics. I will reveal these ideas when the time is right. I'm predicting mass defections away from the Republican and Democratic parties during the elections of 2014. I feel I am that viable third party choice that will do the right things for the American people.
The cost to get registered is $6960.00 by the deadline of May 2 of 2014. The elections are in November of 2014. I hope to secure funding for registration BEFORE THE DEADLINE OF MAY 2 OF 2014 and need your assistance. I may accept up to $5,000 dollars in campaign funding now. An election campaign account must be set up in a bank according to all US regulations before any actual contribution beyond that may be accepted. I am in the process of doing that now.
Thanks,
Robert Thurston
2025 49th Terrace SW
Naples, FL 34116
Englishbusinesscomp@gmail.com
239-353-2067
rob.thurston1 on Skype
http://election.dos.state.fl.us/candida te/pdf/2014_Qualifying_fees.pdf
http://imageshack.us/user/robertthursto n
http://www.youtube.com/user/robtfdfbvv
http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCu7jKmY BMa6IdcCSbq5GdPw