Rare is the political aspirant who touts his attendance at an event that has been called "the greatest party on Earth."
But Thursday, John Mertens of West Hartford did just that.
The campaign of the Trinity College engineering professor, who is running for U.S. Senate as a Connecticut for Lieberman party member, issued a press release announcing that he will, for the sixth time, travel to Burning Man, an annual freewheeling festival in Nevada's Black Rock Desert famous for its participants' lack of inhibition.
Mertens, who grew up on a farm in northern California and has a Ph.D. from Stanford, plans to attend next week with his 22-year-old son, Paul.
Sounds like fun. But a press release from your campaign?
Kind of an odd publicity stunt from an earnest candidate who advocates for election campaigns that are about "ideas and solutions to problems" and laments the circus atmosphere of modern politics -- right?
"I disagree," said Mertens, 47, who admits he's "a long shot to win" a Senate seat. The disclosure about his vacation plans helps him live up to a campaign promise, he said.
"I said this is going to be the most transparent and inclusive campaign in history," he said in an interview. "Everybody's going to know where I am. ... I'm being completely honest about who I am and what I do. It's the exact opposite of a circus, the exact opposite of the deception and lack of content that you get from major-party candidates."
Besides, Burning Man isn't just a party for nearly 50,000 people, he said. You can learn something there. "It's also an experiment in government," he said. "When it first started
, there were no rules. The first rule was, don't hurt anybody else."Over time, more and more rules have been adopted as the regulars and those who have followed them decided how to govern their temporary society.
"It's been really interesting to watch," said the professor and father of four.
Mertens has run into many fascinating characters in the desert, he said. Just not too many politicians: "I think it's probably safe to say I'll be the only candidate for U.S. Senate in the country at Burning Man."
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