Write-In Ballot is a fictional novel about Charlie Horse, a retired mechanical engineer living in Bisbee, Arizona, who runs for U. S. Congress as a write-in candidate. He overwhelmingly defeats candidates of the established political parties because he is viewed as someone who is not beholden to moneyed interests that permeate all levels of today’s government.
Upon being sworn into Congress, both his fellow politicians and lobbyists soon learn that business is no longer going to be conducted as usual. Threatened by his popularity with the electorate, many are unsure of what to do. Some seek ways to ally themselves with Congressman Horse, while others subversively plot his downfall.
A commentary about Write-In Ballot:
“Charlie Horse inflicts pain on idiots from Arizona to Washington, D. C. A chorus of supporting voices flay self-important environmentalists, self-serving politicians and lazy bean counters.
Threaded through stupidity and vice runs the author’s delight in Cochise County, past and present, good food and an old hotel, from Patagonia to Portal. It could be paradise… if only the idiots gave way to engineers.” _____ James Graham, Former Professor English at Central College, Pella, Iowa
The plot is solid and the main characters are well-developed. Write-In Ballot is about one man’s effort to fix a broken political system that only benefits politicians and special interest groups as opposed to meeting the needs and desires of all Americans, who wish to be self-sufficient, provide for their families and protect the environment in which they reside. Charlie Horse applies principles of risk management and engineering to find workable solutions for problems society faces every day.
The author is David V. MacCollum, who is a retired safety engineer that currently resides in Sierra Vista, Arizona. In telling his story about how campaign money corrupts politics, the author seamlessly blends his fictional characters into the wild west fabric of southeastern Arizona and frankly discusses many important challenges that citizens of this region are actually struggling to deal with today.
Write-In Ballot is available at Amazon and Barnes and Noble.