No time to read?  Cut to this page for the first Tweets from @johnhakes.

Election aftermath for a non-winning candidate is not a pretty thing.  There’s the precipitous crash of expectations, the swift abandonment that goes with ‘losing’, and a new set of strained relationships just because you tried.

Double whammies also arrive in short order– like when your politically-innocent son arrives home from middle school to relay a student communication from the cafeteria: “I’m glad your dad lost the election,” a boy said straight to my son in 2013.  “He would’ve taken away our technology.”  (Feeling for your son and misunderstood is where the ‘wham, wham’ comes in.)

In each of my bids for school board, I’ve touched on the troubles of technology.  For the record, once again, there are many triumphs associated with it as well.

It is an unfortunate law of politics that even the topic a candidate works hardest on is subject to distortion by prospective voters.  In our culturally-fed zeal to categorize, past statements have likely caused many to quickly shuttle me into the out-of-touch, dinosaur, anti-tech category.  Again, that is not a reasonable characterization.

The easiest explanation of my position is that technology provides an awesome set of tools that, if applied well, can help a student reach untold heights.  At the same time, misguided technological use can prevent people from making any gains at all.  And then there’s a range of successes & setbacks in between.

Because I deeply believe that our critics give us the opportunity to show what we really mean, I’ll be taking up a challenge for the remainder of this campaign– tweeting my views & values as a candidate for Mounds View School Board.  Seeing as I’ve pushed hard on reducing frivolous technological use and the importance of more developed writing, it’s time to put myself to the test of conveying my political profile in 140 characters or less.

Over the next 8 weeks, every day or two, I’ll bounce out a thought for audience members to consider when they head to the polls on November 3rd.  Some will be sober, some may be silly, but each will represent an attempt to relay who I am as a candidate.

If you appreciate one, pass it on.  If you don’t, well, please pass that one on, too– adding editorial comments if you like.  If, by chance, you tire of receiving them, take a break, save one you liked, and ‘check out’ until November (note 2nd attempt at ‘dry’ humor).

These ‘tweetables’ will be found in several places– my personal twitter & Facebook account feeds, the ‘John Hakes for Mounds View School Board’ page, and in an aptly-named page tab at the campaign website.

Hopefully, at least one of them sticks, and helps me become your Mounds View School Board candidate of choice.  Feel free to let me know if this happens– or if it doesn’t.