PBS Wisconsin Public Affairs

I'm Douglas Alexander. I'm running in the 2nd District, which is Sauk County, Iowa, Lafayette, Green, Rock, and Dane Counties. I'm a regular guy like many of you, who's disappointed in both parties and fed up with the career politicians in Congress, who are more interested in getting reelected than getting things done. Now, Congress has been corrupt for a while. And we can't do anything about the big companies that hire lobbyists to sway members of Congress with boatloads of money. But we can change Congress. And this is why I'm running. The leadership in Congress, both Democrat and Republican, are drunk on power. And the solution is to get term limits on the Congress. If we get term limits imposed, there can be no career politicians. That means they can't just focus on getting reelected. That means they don't need any money. That means they don't need to vote in lockstep with their party nor do they need to obey the dictates of the lobbyists. They would be free to cooperate and compromise and to actually get things done. If you go to my website, there's a Zoom skit there which gives a vision of how positive things could be in Congress. It's called "A Tale of Two Houses." Okay, 82% of registered voters, Democrat and Republican, nationwide consistently poll in favor of imposing term limits on Congress. Did you know that? If not, why didn't you know that? Why does it take an independent like I to take the unusual step of running for Congress, it's the first time since 1950, for you to get that information that the vast majority of people in this country want term limits on Congress? Well, I'll tell you why. It's because the people in power, the power brokers in our society don't want you to know that. They don't want us to get organized. But that's why I'm running. Now, I'd like for you to think of a couple of the key issues that are most important to you in the political process. Your party has been in power sometime in the last 10, 20 years. Did they ever make any significant progress on those issues? No? So why do we keep voting these people in office time and time again, expecting a different result? That's the definition of insanity. Now, candidates from both parties, they campaign on the issues that are important to us. And we take the bait. We keep electing them to Congress, they keep getting elected over and over again, they are becoming millionaires, we're all getting more in debt, and nothing is getting done. Now, if those of you in this 2nd district who want terms limits on Congress vote for me on November the 8, I'll take this mission to a national platform. And at the same time, I'll represent all of you. I'm not beholden to either party. So I'll listen to all of you. I'll listen to all sides of an issue and I'll represent you well. This time, don't take the bait. I'm stepping up to give you a chance to have your vote count for real change. Don't throw your vote away. This is our opportunity. This is your opportunity. Let's get this done. Thank you.