Don't believe in electoral politics? You're not wrong.

A good analogy to the political game is the world of professional sports.

Professional boxers will be in fights and have credible evidence that their opponent is using performance enhancing drugs, literally putting their own life at risk. Even though the professional boxer is famous and rich he cannot stop the fight and by himself he cannot clean up the sport. If they drop from the fight someone else will fight for the title and the money. If society decides that they don't want to pay to watch people using PEDs in sports then things could be cleaned up. Likewise these candidates cannot clean up the system all by themselves. They can be part of the solution but they cannot replace our own work. If we want this to work we have to work together.

If we are going to overcome the industrialized astroturfed servants of the establishment we must also learn the key parts and paths to power which are obfuscated by those seeking to protect their advantage. Electoral politics can be part of the solution but it can never be the whole solution. Candidates have to learn how to run for office and become distant from the concerns and priorities of grassroots activists, not out of malice nor lack of authentic care, but forced into this position by limitations of natural human capability.

Understanding the difficulty of the task

If we are talking about a game of high school basketball people would cheat, but if we enter the realm of professional sports? The stakes are much higher with billions of dollars at stake. A championship team sells a lot more tickets and merchandise and being a championship pro sports franchise can easily be worth billions of dollars. With so much at stake there is a huge incentive for atheletes to take performance enhancing drugs, for people to pay of referees, and for large sums of money to potentially be put in play to influence the outcomes of these games. Some candidates think that they can, without any political experience, just run for office and somehow win.

There is more at stake in the political game then in a basketball game. Larger contracts, and influence on not just the police, but the DA as well as the judges come into play. It is less realistic for a candidate with no political experience to enter a federal race and expect to win then for someone who has never played basketball in their life to try out for an NBA team with the expectation of making that team.

Candidates must do certain things such as develop relationships with media, create organizational infrastructure to help get ballot petition signatures and file the paperwork necessary to get on the ballot and build up a canvassing team to help get the message out. Relying on the existing media who have relationships going back for decades with party leaders and consulting agencies is absurd. Those pathways have already been staked out and claimed by the gatekeepers!

All hope is not lost

Candidates fighting to break free of establishment control can succeed if they can work together with grassroots activists. You cannot buy loyalty or integrity. Candidates cannot learn about the issues in depth like activists and advocates as well as those impacted by the community. Often candidates limit their interaction with grassroots activists. They secretly hope for help from a celebrity or for the paid press to do some of the heavy lifting for them and help the public learn about their campaigns. They may complain about the inability to access the debate stage or other such concerns. The people who are running the election are the party leaders who don't just control the selection of election machines and the rules around the election but also are the same people who also select the judges that decide if your submission to be a candidate is up to standard.

There are quite a few people who run for office who proudly proclaim that "they are not politicians." Then they run for a big flashy positions. This is a mistake.

A lot of candidates talk about new solutions, but many safeguards have been put in place by activists of the past. One of the greatest methods to protect grassroots activists has been largely hidden from public discourse and knowledge. If you are serious about achieving change then you should run for county committee, or it's analogous body in your state. It is often the members of the county and state committees of the two major political parties that are the most qualified and experienced at tipping elections in one direction or another.

If you have not put in the time to understand the system then you might be carried by a team. If you have significant achievements and/or resources then a team is more likely to work with you. If you do not have these things then those who have listened to empty and unqualified promises before will not mobilize as you hope to get you elected.

Without the millions of dollars flowing into incumbent pockets to protect the status quo you can still win.

The above video shows how the Libertarians party recently was able to get over 200 people elected into offices in Pennsylvania. The method that is described of going door to door to registered voters is a major focus of the Rep My Block program which seeks to overturn the status quo through civics education and engagement.