Lee: No kicking the can

It is not every day that a man walks into the newspaper office with a paint can handcuffed to his wrist. A write-in candidate for the U.S. Senate in Missouri did just that Friday. Patrick Lee of Ashland in Boone County placed a timer on this reporter's desk, put nine minutes on it, and starting talking.

"I'm a candidate for the U.S. Senate in Missouri, and my campaign theme is 'No More Kicking the Can.'"

Lee believes Congress has been kicking the can on important issues for years, and it is time to change that. "One of the biggest issues is debt, piling up hundreds of billions of dollars in debt year after year." He stopped and checked the national debt, which at 9:14 a.m. Friday was $19,289,176,900,000.

"In the last few years, I've become more and more annoyed and what Congress was doing, more importantly what they weren't doing, and I thought I could fuss and complain or I could do something. This is my something," he said.

Lee knows what campaigns like this require, thus he understands the improbability of what he is doing. "I'm an independent candidate for United States Senate. I have no party backing me. If that weren't bad enough, I'm a write-in candidate. My name won't be on the ballot. You'll have to turn it over and write U.S. Senate, Patrick Lee, and darken an oval to cast a vote for me," he said. "I've never held political office. I'm 65 years old. I've got long hair, come to you wearing green shoes, and I've got this can handcuffed to my wrist to draw attention to these issues."

In spite of the challenges, Lee is serious about what he is doing. "I'm spending my own money to do this, and I'm a man of modest means," he said. For 26 years, he has portrayed Thomas Jefferson, Daniel Boone, and William Clark for conference audiences.

Because money is at a premium in a self-financed campaign, Lee is talking to the media of Missouri, hoping newspapers will help get the word out. "I'm trying to engage you in my efforts to influence the debate in this election. That's what I'd like to do. If you had the opportunity to submit a question to Roy Blount or Jason Kander, you might say, 'Well you know there's another guy in this race with a very specific plan for balancing the federal budget. What is your plan for doing that? What is your plan for resolving immigration? He's got one. What is your plan for income taxes? He's got one.' If I can get enough people asking serious questions and to insist on serious answers, then we can influence the debate."

Among Lee's positions is to eliminate the national debt by freezing all spending for three years, and after that, limit increases to 3 percent until the budget is balanced. To simplify the income tax system, Lee proposes to eliminate all deductions, exemptions, and credits for everyone and tax all income on a graduated basis -- from 1 percent on lowest earners to 30 percent on those who make $1 million or more. As far as Obama Care is concerned, Lee advocates replacement not repeal. He favors a market based replacement rather than one directed by Washington.

Details of his positions on these and other issues can be found on his website, www.WriteInPatrickLee.com.

Lee says people have been intrigued by what he is doing. "I don't know whether they think I'm crazy or not, but I think they appreciate the fact that I'm willing to make this effort and challenge the status quo.

Lee began his campaign in January, and he has hit "about 90 percent of the weekly newspapers in the state."