Jack McDonald for Congress!

I had an interesting breakfast with local entrepreneur Jack McDonald. Jack is considering running for the United States House of Representatives for the 10th District in Texas in 2010.

I have known Jack personally for some time. He is the "real deal", and exactly the type of person who we need to run for public office.

Washington D.C. is full of career politicians who have no idea how people are actually impacted by their decisions. However entrepreneurs who grow companies work in the trenches side by side with their employees. They know how taxes, education, healthcare costs and other things impact real families.

Jack McDonald was born into a large working class family and is the first person in his family to ever attend college. The "real world" struggles of being a self-made success are not something he read about in a book, but instead they are his roots.

His passion for seeing that others can achieve what he has achieved is clear when you hear him talk about the importance of keeping the American Dream alive; A dream that needs to be real for people of all nationalities that make up our melting-pot society.

As an entrepreneur Jack has led a team that transformed a company (Perficient, Inc.) from a startup to an award-winning industry leader with $230 million in annual revenues and 1,200 professionals in 17 major North American markets and global locations in Eastern Europe, India and China.

He is also an attorney... but hey.... nobody is perfect :)

Meanwhile he has put his time and money into doing the right thing for Austin, a city he and his wife have lived in for ten years and where both of his daughters were born. Many busy executives hide behind being "too busy" to give back to the community, but Jack has volunteered for several important civic and charitable causes and has won many accolades, including being the recipient of a 2005 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award.

I will admit that I have never sat across the table from a friend who said "I am considering running for Congress" before today. I will be honest; it is a cool conversation to have with someone. But it is especially cool when you walk away from the breakfast inspired that there is HOPE for the future. We live in some interesting times, and it is exactly in times like this that we have to seek out the right leaders.


Over time I have become disgusted with politics and politicians. I used to be a Republican, but I am not a Democrat. Thus I have no political home. However, I do see myself as an active supporter of the future campaign of "Jack McDonald for Congress"!!! (FYI, Jack is a Democrat...but I no longer believe in political labels. It is the person, their views and their character that matter!).

I hope he runs and wins. We need people serving us in elected office who are smart, experienced, compassionate, well educated, interesting (and interested in what others have to say!), classy, dedicated, hopeful, and real.

If you live in the 10th District (or anywhere for that matter), I suggest you start paying attention to Jack McDonald. If this is the first time you have ever heard his name... I doubt it will be the last.

Have A Great Day.

thom