PRESENTS

TOM UFERT
CANDIDATE FOR 2016 PRESIDENTIAL RACE
FOR PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES
NOTU
(NONE OF THE UBOVE)

BROUGHT TO YOU BY APRI 2015

ANNOUNCEMENT FOR PRESIDENT 2016

My name is Tom Ufert. American hero Nathan Hale is quoted as having written
I wish to be useful, and every kind of service necessary to the public
good becomes honorable by being necessary. If the exigencies of my
country demand a peculiar service, its claim to perform that service are
imperious.
The exigencies of America of todaydivision, inequality, fear, and a lack
of vision demand a peculiar service. They demand that everyday
Americans fulfill the noble challenge of President John F. Kennedy"My
fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you
can do for your country." I, like so many of my countrymen, want to be
useful and do what I can for America. Exactly because the kind of service
that President Kennedy extolled us all to perform is indeed necessary to
the public good and now more than ever those exigencies afflicting our
country are so imperious I claim the right to perform the service of running
for President of the United States. However, unlike every one of the 350
other declared candidates running for the White House, when this
campaign wins Ill refuse to accept the office. I dont want it.
Let me repeat that. I dont want the job and when my campaign wins
Ill refuse the office! Tom Ufert is running as the official candidate of NOTU
None Of The Ubove. Yes, Ive paraphrased the once popular NOTA logo
purposely misspelling it to insert my initials TU, but the purpose remains
the same. Sen. Margaret Chase Smith (R-MN), a fervent public servant
who stringently voted her conscience putting country before party, one
wrote Public service must be more than doing a job efficiently and
honestly. It must be a complete dedication to the people and to the
nation. Thats the kind of elected representative Americans are starving
for today. They are completely dissatisfied with both political parties and

feel that no third party candidacy can effectively buck the stale mantra of
our accepted two party democracy. Therefore, my candidacy offers a real
alternative for the majority of Americans that call themselves Independent
voters.

Todays partisan intransigence and increasingly divisive rhetoric have

resulted in gridlock and dysfunction. This campaign refuses to be shackled
with the traditional affiliations of either major political partyDemocrat or
Republican because both parties are bought and paid for by special
interests. They have become the tools of millionaires and well financed
corporations more concerned with profits than people. I know, because
Ive worked on nearly a dozen political campaigns representing both sides
of the aisle. Sadly those special interests, though cloaked in patriotic
rhetoric like labor & unions, fiscal responsibility, minority rights, security
through strength, environmental protectionism, core curriculum education,
tax reform, anti-terrorism or anti-crime and an increasingly xenophobic
rejection of Americas foundations as a land of immigrants do not reflect
the vibrant diversity of our country today. Those politically correct
sound-bytes have just become slick slogans carefully packaged in non-stick
fly paper that are so easily tossed in the waste heap of history after the
election. Though they ideally reflect the real concerns of everyday
Americans, partisan politicians use them as divisive tools to distract voters
for the sole purpose of getting elected and I refuse to play that game of
#Political Craps anymore.
To my fellow Americans that feel increasingly ignored by their elected
representatives and systemically disenfranchised by the two political
parties that support them, I say youve got a home at the NOTU campaign.
Your votes, campaign contributions and volunteer efforts wont be wasted
on a foolhardy endeavor. NOTU is an American political revolution
designed to shake Democrats and Republicans into a new reality. They can
no longer take the American people for granted and sell them down the
river to the highest donor to their respective super-PACs. The NOTU
campaign will not accept any corporate or special interest PAC donations.
Personal donations will be strictly limited to $100 or less. At the end of the

campaign, any funds remaining after all debts have been paid, will be
donated to one or more charities responsible for feeding the hungry,
housing the homeless or serving our needy veterans. Campaign
supporters can be confident that their contributions will definitely go to a
higher purpose of making America a better country. I have chosen this
campaign approach based on the inspirational aspirations of my political
mentor and hero former Louisiana congressman/governor and 2012
presidential candidate Charles Buddy Roemer. This is a campaign for
change and reform. The only hands in my political pockets will be
the American Peoples!
Naturally, people will ask who is Tom Ufert? What does he stand for?
What are his credentials to run for the highest office in the land? Why is
he running for President and why now? Ill try my best to answer some of
these questions today, but rest assured now that Ive declared my
candidacy and opened myself to a rightful examination of my life and
character for public scrutiny, everyone will have the next eighteen months
to know Tom Ufert. I am a 49 year old American citizen born and raised in
Shreveport, LA that has lived in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area of Texas since
1991. I am an unmarried gay man that is very happily committed to my
lover of fifteen years. Though I am gay, being gay is not all that Im
about. I have never been married, have no children, was raised Roman
Catholic and regard myself as a deeply spiritual man that has been highly
blessed by God through my savior Jesus Christ. I have been a Republican,
Democrat and now proudly consider myself a deeply patriotic Independent.
I will not allow myself or this campaign to be neatly pidgin holed into
someone elses stereotypical classification that serves to broadly paint us
into a corner of their choosing.
For the last three and half years I have pursued a promising career as a
published Amazon Best Selling Author with nine books and essays to my
credit. My past career accomplishments include service as an LBJ
Congressional Intern in 1986, a White House Fellow Nominee and Rotary
International Graduate Fellow Recipient, both in 1989. I have served in
various capacities on three different 501(c)3 boards of directors including
Board Chairman of the Shreveport Summer Music Festival and
Committeeman-at-Large on the National Executive Committee of Phi Mu
Alpha SINFONIA. I have performed a number of services as volunteer
and/or paid staff for Members of Congress Charles Buddy Roemer (D)
and Jim McCrery (R) as well as nearly a dozen political campaigns on both
sides of the aisle and the state Republican Party of Louisiana. My past
mentors and/or campaign superiors include former Special White House
Assistant to President Ronald Reagan, Morton Blackwell; former Mayor of
Dallas/U.S. Senate candidate and recently retired U.S. Trade Ambassador
Ron Kirk; former Congressman/U.S. Senate candidate and assistant chief
of staff to former U.S. Vice-President George H.W. Bush, Henson W. Moore,
and former Congressman/Louisiana Governor and 2012 GOP/Independent

Presidential candidate Charles Buddy Roemer. I received my double B.A.

in Political Science & History with a minor in English from Centenary
College of Louisiana and studied graduate East Asian Political Affairs at
Australian National University as a Rotary Scholar.
I have never sought elected office before now and therefore can honestly
proclaim not to be a career politician or Washington insider. I am an
everyday American with just enough past political experience and
education to have an insightful opinion that helps me be critically informed
and yet not seduced by the trappings of Beltway power and corruption. I
am well prepared for the impending onslaught of criticism that may
correctly point out my severe lack of experience to run for the White
House. I say bring it onthats part of the point behind this campaign.
Our country needs more citizen politicians than career politicians. Some
could argue that career politicians have gotten us into the mess were in
now, so maybe a fresh ordinary citizens perspective is just what the
country needs. Many will categorize my aspirations as egotistical
arrogance by seeking the highest office in the land. Nothing could be
farther from the truth. My lack of elected office experience is definitely
one of the reasons why I would refuse the office if and when this campaign
is victorious. My personal integrity demands nothing less, but my patriotic
duty compels action as a moral imperative. I am well aware of my
shortcomings and will be the first to admit my faults. However, that in and
of itself would be a fresh perspective for voters to carefully consider.
Besides, since I have no intention of actually taking office and considering
what more experienced candidates have provided as an obviously abject
failure in public policy, how could I possibly do any worse? The abject
truth and primary purpose of this campaign is to give voice to Americans
concerns about how the system is failing them and provide a powerful
mechanism of legitimate civil disobedience that will turn intransigence into
action.
I stand for Freedom of Speech, for Civil Liberties, for Ethics in
Politics, for Straight Talk, for Tax Code Reform, for Campaign Finance
Reform, for Returning to Vocational Training in Americas Schools, for fixing
the Affordable Healthcare Act not nixing it, for Equal Rights under the law
for all citizens regardless of sexual orientation, for Securing the Boarder
and Immigration Reform, for Eliminating ALL gifts to government officials
from lobbyists, for Equal Public Financing of all political campaigns, for
Political Campaign Contribution Limits, for stricter bans on high capacity
weapons magazines, universal background checks and registration of ALL
gun sales at gun shows, for fiscal responsibility that eradicates government
waste, erases corporate tax loopholes, rewards Made In America
manufacturing, and has two graduated income tax brackets, for expanding
and improving the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), for the concept of a
livable minimum wage that is comparable to 1994 wages with Costs of
Living Adjustments (COLAs) and applicable inflation allowances, for non-

partisan electoral re-districting commissions in every state and for national

standards in voting procedures and methods of voting tabulation.
There is no doubt that many will disagree with my stands on several
issues and probably object to the more detailed positions that will be
released in the coming months. However, voters can be confident of three
distinct facts about Tom Ufert and this NOTU campaign. First, Ill answer
questions posed to the best of my ability. If I dont know the answer, Ill
admit it and do my damnedest to return with an informed reply PDQ.
Heehawing around the issue will not be an acceptable standard. If you
feel that Ive ever danced around a subject or engaged in the
Washington two-step, call me out on it. Thats your right and duty as an
engaged citizen. If voters expect their elected officials not to shirk their
responsibilities, then voters cant shirk theirs either. Thats part of this
countrys problem nowvoters arent holding their leaders or themselves
accountable!
Second, Americans have only one promise from this candidate and this
campaignYOU WILL NOT BE LIED TO, EVER! Any representative of
Tom Ufert or the NOTU campaign that is proven to have misled the public
will immediately be dismissedincluding and especially the candidate
thats me! Having worked inside campaigns of one form or another since I
was 17, I became increasingly disenchanted with political handlers or spin
doctors whose sole job was to twist and turn everything released by the
candidate or the campaign, including the truth, to insure maximum
damage control for the sake of winning at all costs. If I cant win holding
my head high and looking the voters in the eye to re-assure them Im
telling the truth no matter how painful it is, I dont deserve your vote or to
be a guardian of the Peoples Trust! Leadership is never easy or painless
and often requires putting the People before the Party. Todays political
leadership seems to have forgotten that sacred responsibility at the peril of
us all. I have always firmly believed in Jerry Lewis quote:
For those who believe in me, no excuse is necessary. For those
who dont, no excuse will ever be good enough!
Vote for this campaign because you believe in what it stands for and the
vision it seeks to share for all Americans to invest in. That single ideal
should be the core principle of giving any candidate or campaign your vote
of support. If its not, then youre betraying yourself and youll get exactly
what you deserve on the day after the election!
Third, because I love America so much and deeply respect the
democratic principles that have distinguished the United States as a
hallmark in human history, Ive risked everything that is uniquely Tom
Ufert to preserve the hope, promise and dignity of our beloved country.
Some may call me nave, foolish or even crazy. Thats okay. I will smile
and in my heart and soul console myself with the appreciation that Im in
good company with others that were called nave, foolish and crazy in

1776.
Finally, I need to take on the 800 pound gorilla in the room. As
everyone will immediately recognize, Im in a wheelchair. For the past
twenty-three years I have survived and coped with three different life
altering disabilities. All my life Ive heard the political punditry that no man
in a wheelchair could ever become President in the modern age of
television. That may very well be true. Historically only one man in fortyfour, Franklin D. Roosevelt, ever accomplished it. He was elected President
four times, pulled us out of the Great Depression and led America to
victory in World War II; but that was before TV. FDRs life is the
quintessential example of how the triumphant human spirit overcomes
adversity through a dedication to serving others. Back then, the American
public wasnt privy to the daily toll such adversity had on the man in the
White House. Today, as the most powerful leader in the world and literally
a push button away from nuclear Armageddon, the Presidents health is a
matter of national security. Therefore, every presidential candidates health
is a legitimate concern to voters. My physical challenges are certainly
formidablemultiple sclerosis, an incomplete spinal fracture and HIV.
According to my doctor, I am in excellent health considering those
challenges. My MS is either in remission or at least stagnate; the side
effects of my spinal fracture are well controlled with medication and regular
healthcare; as for my HIV, it has been undetectable for the past four plus
years thanks to the miracle of modern medicine. God has truly blessed me.
Despite these outstanding achievements of Adversity Building
Character, it is unthinkable for me to ask Americans for their votes and
trust to serve in the most stressful job on earth. Therefore, my health
remains a primary barrier to me effectively serving as the Chief Executive.
So why am I running and what can I possibly hope to achieve? For me,
that is simple. Too many Americans have lost faith and see nothing but a
hopeless future. Theyre wrongIm living proof that miracles do happen
and the power of hope is greater than any single force on earth. I do not
ask you for your votes and support out of pity. Thats the worst reason to
vote for candidate or to support any cause! In fact I dont want you to
vote for me. NO! Im asking you to vote for NOTU because you believe in
yourselves and the power of the People to re-ignite the burning power of
democratic principles we as Americans have proudly championed to the
whole of mankind. That national pride is still among us smoldering below
the surface of so many distractions that have clouded our path and caused
us to briefly loose our way.
Vote for this campaign, not out of some blinded loyalty to a particular
special interest, but because you believe in the truth of what I say. If you
dont like me or trust some other campaign more, go vote for them
instead. I only ask that you seriously consider voting for yourselves. A
vote for NOTU is a vote for you the People. No other campaign
guarantees that your demands for change will be heard and are the

cornerstone of its public policy agenda regardless of its official candidate.

The 2016 presidential campaign is a watershed moment in American
history. It will set the stage for America and the world in decades to come.
We are at the crossroads of monumental change that promises a new
golden age in America and your decision in November, 2016 will determine
if this country stands strong to lead the world down the road of peace and
prosperity. What will we tell future generations? Will we tell them that we
made the tough decisions of reform and change or that we turned our
heads and surrendered to the self-serving voices of materialism, division
and partisan dysfunction? Dont vote for Tom Ufert, the man who would
not be president. Send a resounding message of None Of The Ubove.
WE BELONG TO SOMETHING NEW!
A VOTE FOR NOTU IS A VOTE FOR YOU!