Former Patriots Player Running For US Senate

[pwaldo]

https://www.outkick.com/new-england-...a-u-s-senator/

Tuesday was the first filing day for any candidate wishing to run for one of Arkansas’ United States senate seats, and Jake Bequette was among the first to turn in his paperwork and pay the fees.

That’s notable but not huge news in the United States because here, citizens can aspire to office even if they’re not career politicians.

But Bequette doing this is significant because it once again points his life, previously filled with public attention and public service, to even greater public attention and more service to his country.

That’s how it is when you played football for the Arkansas Razorbacks …

… And got selected by the New England Patriots in the third round of the 2012 draft.

… And then joined the army after an NFL career and became a Ranger-qualified infantry officer in the 101st Airborne Division fighting in Iraq.

That’s how it is when, at age 33, Bequette is trying to unseat incumbent John Boozman (R) from a senate seat he’s held since 2011.

“I’m running because Washington is failing America and it’s a two-part problem in my eyes,” Bequette said minutes after filing his paperwork to run in the May 24 Republican primary. “The first part of the problem is most people on the Republican side understand it’s the Democrat Party that’s gone hard to the left. They’re full of radical leftists and socialists. Nancy Pelosi, Joe Biden, Chuck Schumer, the squad, we’re seeing the consequences every single day of their failed policies.

“But the second part of the problem that’s becoming more evident is the do-nothing establishment RINOs in the Republican Party — invisible career politicians who simply set up in Washington, D.C. for multiple decades, cashing a check and simply refusing to fight on the issues that really matter to conservatives in Arkansas and conservatives all across the country.

“I deployed to Iraq with the 101st Airborne, and when I came home, I saw what was happening on our streets with the looting and the violence in 2020, the suppression of our economy, the destruction of so many small businesses and the weak leadership from so many invisible RINOs in D.C., and I knew it was time for a new leadership. I knew it was time for a change in this seat in the U.S. Senate in Arkansas.”

Bequette, by the way, has identified a cause.

“Tragically, what we’ve seen in our country is we’ve seen politicians, particularly in the Republican Party, career politicians who are not leaders. …They’re not interested in fighting for American culture, the conservative values and principles that made this country great, and fight the battle of our time, which is defining what this country is going forward.

“We’re in a battle. We’re in a fight. It’s a battle over the future of our country, and I see too many politicians, and I’m including Senator Boozman, who simply don’t understand the nature of that fight.

“I learned in football and I learned in the military, you cannot win a fight you don’t even know that you’re in. And too many Republican politicians don’t even understand the nature of the fight our country is in.”

Here’s a crazy fact: Congress traditionally has abysmal approval ratings. The latest Gallup polling shows the current Congress has an 18 percent approval rating, down 10 percent from the previous poll.

And yet these unpopular politicians get re-elected at a rate of approximately 94 percent. So how can an outsider, a professional football player but not a professional officeholder, overcome that?

“Well, thankfully, I think many Republican voters across the country, many conservatives across the country are waking up to the reality that it’s not just the Democrats who are the problem,” Bequette said. “It’s politicians within our own party. And I think there’s been a resurgence of focus on primaries.

“We’ve seen that become more prevalent the last couple of election cycles, but this election cycle in particular it’s going to be very bad for incumbents all across the board. People are ready for change.”

Pat Tillman left the NFL to join the military. Former NFL safety Burgess Owens, who played 10 seasons with the New York Jets and Oakland Raiders, won Utah’s 4th congressional seat in 2020. Former running back Herschel Walker is running for a U.S. Senate seat in Georgia.

And while it might not be true for others, it was sports and his time in the NFL that convinced Bequette to serve his country.

“Bill Belichick always had a lot of military veterans hanging around the team and speaking to us …” Bequette said. “And after spending some time with those guys just listening to the motivation within, I made the decision that whenever my football career was over, I was going to serve in the military.

“I had a good career, played four years. I was a part of some amazing teams. But really I was laser focused on the next step, which was serving our country … I see this campaign as a continuation of my military service, as a continuation of my oath to support and defend the Constitution.

“Because we need bold leaders, the type of bold leaders that I see in sports and in the military but I don’t see in Washington.”

[FireRob]

Wow. I like what I read.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[turnpipe]

I hate getting political on the internet.

That said, a lot of what is said in that article makes sense. At the same time, we have to be careful of figures who in other professions would be considered unqualified. Running a country is not rocket science, it is harder than that. Some Americans blatantly use cult tactics to win elections, especially in the day of social media and advertising, and many do not wish to see through it. I will not point fingers, but I will post a definition and article that will help us know what to look out for. I would do the same if we were discussing known scammers on SCF.



https://www.nytimes.com/1982/03/15/s...xperience.html

[doniceage]

Wow. I like what I read.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I do too especially when one goes from the pro's to the Military it definitely is not about the money.

I hate getting political on the internet.

That said, a lot of what is said in that article makes sense. At the same time, we have to be careful of figures who in other professions would be considered unqualified. Running a country is not rocket science, it is harder than that. Some Americans blatantly use cult tactics to win elections, especially in the day of social media and advertising, and many do not wish to see through it. I will not point fingers, but I will post a definition and article that will help us know what to look out for. I would do the same if we were discussing known scammers on SCF.



https://www.nytimes.com/1982/03/15/s...xperience.html

So, what do you think qualities one needs to be a elected official?

Just asking as you could argue that many politicians are not qualified depending on what your perception is. Just wondering what you think is needed for a person to be qualified.

DON

[turnpipe]

I do too especially when one goes from the pro's to the Military it definitely is not about the money.





So, what do you think qualities one needs to be a elected official?

Just asking as you could argue that many politicians are not qualified depending on what your perception is. Just wondering what you think is needed for a person to be qualified.

DON

Well that’s not exactly the point I was trying to make. I am pretty open minded about qualifications. I have trouble with the new trend of insinuating that spending your entire life studying and practicing politics somehow makes you LESS qualified, and using the distrust of the current system to sell yourself without providing any real info on how you will be different.

I’ll fight for conservative values has been in every GOP campaign during my lifetime. What does it mean, does it happen, and is it helping?

[jplcom]

Here’s a crazy fact: Congress traditionally has abysmal approval ratings. The latest Gallup polling shows the current Congress has an 18 percent approval rating, down 10 percent from the previous poll.

And yet these unpopular politicians get re-elected at a rate of approximately 94 percent. So how can an outsider, a professional football player but not a professional officeholder, overcome that?

He's not comparing apples to apples. A person in Texas may think Congress as a whole is bad, but they'll think their own voted-in Congressional representatives are good. The other 49 states are getting it wrong but Texas gets it right. A person in California thinks their own voted-in folks are good, the other 49 states are bad. So that's how that works.

As Turnpipe mentioned, getting political on the internet is not a good thing. No one is going to convince anyone of anything, political beliefs tend to be too closely held for anonymous internet commenters to change anything other than digging people in more to their belief system.

[doniceage]

He's not comparing apples to apples. A person in Texas may think Congress as a whole is bad, but they'll think their own voted-in Congressional representatives are good. The other 49 states are getting it wrong but Texas gets it right. A person in California thinks their own voted-in folks are good, the other 49 states are bad. So that's how that works.

As Turnpipe mentioned, getting political on the internet is not a good thing. No one is going to convince anyone of anything, political beliefs tend to be too closely held for anonymous internet commenters to change anything other than digging people in more to their belief system.

I agree many folks will never change no matter how bad their side is as they are entrenched be it left or right side of the political spectrum. I just like to look at things you cannot argue with from my perception. Of course I am sure some folks would argue it to the contrary. I look at things at from both sides the conservatives at work call me a devils advocate but my wife at home a liberal does the same thing. I just try to look at everything from two sides no matter my beliefs.

You are definitely stats can be skewed many ways when looked at from a different perspective. That just when you want to make it look favorable for your argument LOL.



DON

[turnpipe]

Yes this will be my last post regarding politics on SCF. I love the US and this forum.