Land O’ Lakes resident wants to shake up 2012 elections
By Kyle LoJacono
By his own admission, Land O’ Lakes resident Scott Keller is a political novice.
The 49-year-old database administrator hasn’t held any political office in his life — not even in high school.
Keller said that is one of his strengths and why he decided to run for president of the United States in 2012. He did file to run for the U.S. House in the 2010 election cycle as a Republican, but backed out in early 2009.
For 2012, he has his eyes on a big prize. Keller submitted the paperwork to become an official write-in candidate for president and is running without a party affiliation. He is his currently working on a petition so his name appears on the ballot.
Keller and his wife of seven years, Nora, have three children together, Isabella, Marcus and Pricilla, and have another baby due in February. Keller also has a 14-year-old daughter, Julie.
His father James H. Keller served in the U.S. Army for 30 years and retired as a brigadier general. Keller said he also served six years in the Navy.
The Laker and Lutz News recently spoke with Keller about his political run.
Q: What made you decide to run?
A: Like a lot of people, I was looking at the candidates and it was so disappointing, because we have to have better options. People say that all the time. They know there is something wrong, but they can’t quite put their finger on it. I decided at that point, I have to run. If no one else is going to get out there and say those things, then I have to.
Q: Why did you want to run for president instead of a smaller position first?
A: I don’t want to get into legislation. I want to be sharing ideas. How people can join together to accomplish things. I feel the position as president, or just part of the campaign, raises a lot of awareness to the real issues. Hopefully I’ll be able to force some discussion about these issues, even if I don’t win.
Q: So it wouldn’t crush you if you lost?
A: I don’t care if I lose, as long as the information is getting out there. As long as people see the power they have if they work together and stop this sinking ship. Start being our best and being the example for the world. We need to decide what we need to focus on. Is it really profit?
People work 40, 50, 80 hours a week, and they don’t ask why. Why are they working so much? Where are we going in such a hurry? What’s our goal? Are we just chasing a profit? Just to pay a bill? Electricity could be free if we just cooperated. If we came together, could we come up with a way to make electricity without charging them? I think we could do it.
Q: Would that be possible with everyone out there?
A: We’ve got a baby on the way, due in February. We don’t have insurance, and people hear that and think we’re going to be a leach on society. So having a new member of society is seen as a leach on society? That doesn’t make sense. Why is adding another person, who could do great things, invent things or whatever, why is that a bad thing? We have poverty because we haven’t given those people options.
Q: What do you think the end result would be from something like that?
A: There’s no telling, but I think 7 billion people joining together for good would only mean great things. What’s possible with 7 billion people holding hands to see what they can do together? We’re too busy bickering about who made the most money and what stock did what. Who knows where this spaceship Earth is going. I know I’d rather go through it with everyone contributing.
Q: So you have no party affiliation at all?
A: No party affiliation. I really agree with some things from both sides. Everyone really wants the basic things. We want peace, we want education for our kids, healthy food, healthcare and we don’t want to be out of work losing our homes. It’s the same basic things, with the Democrats wanting big government running things and Republicans wanting big business running everything. We’re big on this side and big on this side, and the little guy gets left out.
Q: What kind of beliefs do you have then?
A: I’d say I’m kind of a moderate, but on a different vector. No more left versus right and I don’t like to think of it as a linear scale. The answers might be above the normal scale and that might be why no one in Washington can see them. It’s about involving the people and not using the same broken model. We have 300 million people in this country and 7 billion in the world, so what makes us think that 500 people in Washington have all the answers.
Q: It seems like you want to take the focus off of the central government even though you’re making a run at the White House. Is that correct?
A: Right, and we can get all the local officials in on it. Mayors, county commissions, community leaders, like Rotary clubs. There are enough options at their fingertips, but they’re just not aware of what they can do. Part of this campaign is about waking people up.
Q: How would you empower those people?
A: The big thing is listening to and working with those groups and local governments. I’m not saying I have all the answers. I’m coming in sharing how people have the answers out there in the community. I’m not even empowering them. I’m showing them they have power already and they need to use it.
Tampa Bay could become the model for everybody else. People could say look what they did when they involved everyone. They eliminated poverty by helping those people to contribute to making us all better. Don’t look down on them. I’ve been there. I’ve been to the food pantries. We had to go there for our food. It’s not that people don’t want to work, but they don’t get enough to pay for their homes.
Q: It seems like you see the answers as being with the people and not any politician, right?
A: Absolutely. Understand the solutions are right there in front of your face. Stop making this about who can make the most money and who can get people to donate the most money. And don’t wait for the next election. Start with the solutions on a local level now. You can’t change Congress overnight, but you can do something at home. Maybe not in one night, but in a few weeks you can certainly make an impact.
–For more information on Keller’s campaign, visit www.scottkellerforpresident.com.
