mikemcgann.org

Today, for a complicated combination of reasons, my political career came to an end.

It was entirely my choice and not prompted by a scandal or any kind of illegal act. And it wasn’t in protest of anyone else’s conduct or behavior.

I came to the painful realization that it was too difficult not to be a candidate for office and remain around politics. Not just the issue of not now being a candidate for office, but the issue of never again being a candidate for office. Until a couple of weeks ago, I assumed, as most of the people I knew within politics that I would eventually return to the field of battle as a candidate. But within the last couple of weeks, it became clear that the only person in my life who has a veto over whether I run again was very vehement about my never running for office again.

That realization made being around politics like asking a starving man to sit in a kitchen and watch a delicious meal be prepared and tell him he can never eat again. I could no longer find the fire and the passion for the race I was working on — one hell of a good race, I might add — so I knew it was time to hang it up. It wasn’t fair to me, it wasn’t fair to the candidate I was working for and it wasn’t fair to the people on staff looking to me for guidance. So, on this last day of March, I pulled the ripcord and walked away.

Now, this doesn’t mean the end of this blog. I remain first and foremost a writer. It’s been my official occupation for more than 25 years, and one I intend to continue. But it does mean that this blog will probably be less about politics and more about other things.

So, to all who have been friendly and supportive over the years, I thank you, each and every one. It was more appreciated than you could ever know.

I know not what the future holds, but I plan to move boldly into it. Well, as boldly as an old, fat guy with a bad back can move. Stay tuned.

In Pittsburgh, about 200 miles west of where I sit right now, there’s a famous radio guy named, wait for it, Mike McGann, who amazingly, is not me. (Truthfully, a fact he should be rather relieved by, too.)

While he probably doesn’t know who I am, I became aware of him when I applied for an AFTRA card back in the early 80s trying, foolishly to use my own name. Back in those days, on-air guys all had their own names and there was some rule about using the same name within a certain amount of distance or something. I didn’t stay in radio long enough to figure out what the deal was thanks to the poor money and went into print work instead.

Through something akin to Web alchemy, when you search my name, a decent number of listings come up for me, and even this site, not to mention all of the magazines and Websites I’ve written for over the years. By all accounts, though, the other Mike is a beloved figure — and I’ve heard him on the Web, he has a fabulous set of pipes.

Although I wasn’t named after him, I was named after another Mike in radio, a guy named Mike Botula, who introduced my parents when he was working in radio on Long Island. He and my parents all ended up in southern California and he went on to become a fairly famous news radio voice in LA. I, as many of you who followed my 2004 campaign for state rep. know, attended kindergarten and apparently, according to my former opponent and the current holder of that office, was a member of the Weather Underground, helped found the SLA and caused a number of earthquakes, floods and the Phillies’ 1964 collapse.

All he did was vote for a pay raise in the middle of the night . Amazingly, he’s still on the public dole and I have to work for a living.

Anyhow, to all of you looking for the other Mike McGann, I’m not him. And don’t even ask about me playing QB for Temple. I was an offensive tackle, thank you, and I’ll note I’m now down to almost to my high school playing weight.

Well, I suppose the good news is this: 14 weeks after serious surgery, I’m almost back to myself, which is to say, 80 pounds lighter than I was last summer. My back is still a mess and the primary reason I’m still not up to full speed.

My break during December, January and February from this blog was planned, although I’d hoped to be back writing here by mid-Feb. But, as seems to be the the usual course of events these days, politics got in the way. No, I won’t be appearing on the ballot this fall, which is probably good news for the 60-plus percent of people in this state house district who didn’t vote for me four years ago. And, frankly, I haven’t decided about running for township supervisor again in 2009.

But one thing appears to be true: I’m going to run for something at some point again. Not this year and maybe not even next year, but the time will come.

In the meantime, I’m managing races — I’m signed to a house race this year in the northern part of Chester County and expect to run one and maybe two county-wide races next year. I’m really OK with the idea with helping other smart talented people get elected. Change is what you make of it.

As for my relationship with the Chester County Democratic Committee: it’s probably not a big secret that I’ve had some rocky moments with the organization and some of the leaders. But it would be hypocritical of me to call for changes, see them start to be made and not embrace them and support them. And so I have. Aside from managing a race, I’m now co-chair of the county party’s communication committee and I will have a hand in how we present message, both to the media and to voters. It’s an exciting prospect from my standpoint.

And as a party, we’re about to reach an important milestone: 100,000 registered Democrats. Combined with the number of registered independents, we’re coming very close to equaling the total number of Republicans in the county, which means despite last fall’s results, we should again see county-wide races in play in 2009. It also means that in addition to defending our two current legislative seats — Sen. Andy Dinniman and State Rep. Barbara McIlivane Smith, we should be able to snag a couple more seats in 2008.

We have open seats in the 13th and 157th Districts and with strong, strong Democratic candidates, I’m feeling bullish about winning both. Maybe more impressively, I think we’ll knock off at least one incumbent, too. I wish it were more — because with a couple of exceptions our Republican state house members generally only get to stay in office through the luck of the demographics of their districts, not because they’ve done such a great job. Some, frankly, have been deplorable, but that is a discussion for another day.

Chester County will also be among the key areas for the Barack Obama-Hillary Clinton battle. Who’d have thought the Pennsylvania primary would matter? And maybe even be decisive? I’m impressed at the passion of both sides in the county and the way it seems to be driving excitement for Democrats, independents and even some Republicans, who are switching registration to vote in the primary.

Me? I can’t lie or play it down the middle. I’m an Obama supporter, although I have many friends supporting Clinton. I expect whichever candidate wins, and I expect it to be Obama, Democrats will form up into one united, powerful mass and support the nominee.