When independent Jason Clark threw his hat into the ring for the Colorado gubernatorial race, he didn’t have a Lieutenant Governor candidate he was eager to team up with. So he decided to expand his search — to Craigslist.
Clark, who currently serves as the president of the Aurora, CO investment firm Clark Brothers, forked over $25 for a to-the-point listing on the website, calling on average Coloradans to apply for the job, via the standard anonymous Craigslist email address.
“There’s a complete and total disconnect between politics and the people,” Clark told TPM. “We’re looking for fresh thinkers, new ideas, and new leadership. We want to invite everyone in.”
But Clark is not suggesting that just anybody apply for the position. According to the ad, qualified candidates must satisfy the following list of requirements:
1. MUST be a registered unaffiliated (Independent) voter before June 15, 2009.
2. At least 30 years old.
3. Resident of Colorado for at least 2 years prior to November 2, 2010.
4. United States citizen.
Clark says that the ad has been “really, really successful” — but that out of the “well over 200 or 300 applications” that the listing had yielded so far, not everyone’s making the cut. “There’s 70 to 75 percent that I would say are not qualified for an office of that caliber,” he says.
Nevertheless, Clark vows to find a place in his campaign for all of them. “We’re going to bring them in and put them to work in another area,” he said. “Come on in. We’ll put you on the list. We’ll listen to you.”
Clark said that another motivation for placing the ad is a Colorado rule that requires prospective political candidates to have registered their party affiliation by June 15, 2009. “If you look in Colorado politics, barely anyone is registered as unaffiliated,” he said. “It’s all Democrats and Republicans. So we’re thinking, how do we come up with someone who is unaffiliated, a resident of Colorado, 30 years old, and a U.S. citizen?”
That’s where Craigslist came in. “I was like, let’s go out and look for like-minded people. Maybe there are people who weren’t previously involved in the political process who want to be.”
Lucky for the people of Colorado that the state boasts “a very educated population,” as Clark puts it. Clark, however, has yet to fill the position.
Here’s the ad:
