February 17th, 2010 by Marc A. Pitman
I’ve been told that Gen Xers will have 7 careers during their life, and multiple jobs within those careers. As of today, I’ve started a new job, and if you think of it as a switch from healthcare to politics, possibly a new career as well!
A few weeks ago, I gave my resignation from my position at Inland Hospital. Yesterday was my last day. My favorite gubernatorial candidate, Peter Mills, asked me to direct his statewide campaign and I said “Yes!”
I loved my five years at Inland. It’s a great hospital and a real asset for Waterville. I’m honored to have been able to take the annual fundraising from around $60,000/year to between $250,000 to $500,000 a year. An even more exciting accomplishment was bringing the cost of raising a dollar from $1.75 before I came to around $0.50.
But I never moved to Waterville to take a job at a hospital, as great as that job was. My family and I moved here to start a church. After we closed the church, we looked at moving to OH or PA, but found we’d come to love Waterville.
So this new position is awesome. In it, I get to use social media, use my fundraising expertise, use my marketing skills, use my coaching abilities–I get to bring my whole package to the task at hand!
People seem really concerned about what I’ll do after. And there are a number of hurdles to jump through:
- We need to get 3,250 $5 checks by March 31. That will allow us to qualify for money to run the campaign. (We’re within about 500. If you’re registered to vote in Maine and would like to help, you can find the web page on the State site at: http://bit.ly/5forPeter.)
- We need to get Peter nominated by the Republican voters in the primary on June 8.
- And then we need to get Peter elected on November 9.
Somehow, all of these “known deadlines” seem a lot less risky than the seeming “sure thing” of a steady job. Perhaps it’s because I received half a dozen job inquiries in January. Or perhaps it’s because I continue to get speaking and training invitations. Or because my book on fundraising continues to sell. (Just shipped an entire case of 120 books to New Zealand!) I am also having a blast teaching a course at Thomas College in internet marketing.
Whatever it is, this risk feels more like an adventure. I’m honored to be married to a woman with a spirit of adventure too! (She did make sure I would apply to Starbucks if it didn’t work out so we could at least have health benefits. 
)
Does Peter Mills have a chance?
I’m often asked if I really think Peter Mills has a chance.
I do.
I have no idea why anyone would make the decision to work on a campaign that they thought didn’t have a chance!
Peter ran in 2006, but he ran a general campaign in the primary. He had a great time connecting with people all over the state. He’s a great fit for Maine. He votes his mind–and he’s got a very smart mind! He researches issues, talks to people that are affected by the legislation, and often writes detailed reports This ends up in his votes being fiscally conservative and socially libertarian.
But I digress. In 2006, he ran a campaign to the whole state when he really needed to get Republican votes for a nomination. And even then, he came within 3 percentage points of being nominated!
More importantly, all the major papers in Maine said that if he’d been nominated in 2006, he’d have beaten the incumbent Governor Baldacci.
He’s definitely the most electable Republican in our state. And yes, I think he has a great chance of winning.
If you’d like to learn more about Peter, check out http://MillsForMaine.com.
