Last week at my campaign kick-off I met David, a 4 year old constituent, that wanted to tell me what he was worried about. David had only one thing on his list of policy priorities. He wanted to know what I was going to do about dragons. He was relieved to learn that I have some experience in slaying dragons.
David is not the only resident of the 66th, or Virginia, or America, that believes in dragons. I see it every day in comment sections, FB postings, and hear it in conversations. The specter of an ancient, unchanging, cold-blooded, unbeatable opponent, we are transfixed by it, preoccupied with it, and disheartened by it. We call it the unwinnable race.
The district is too red! Focus on the “flippable” districts! Both sides are corrupt! We can’t change it! As my High School science teacher often said, we lose 100% of the time when we don’t try, but more importantly, we spread disillusionment and despair when we make excuses, out loud, for why we’ve given up, so others shake their heads and quit. Democrats want a lesson from last year? Stop quitting. Stop acting like you’ve lost before you’ve engaged.
I love being told I can’t do something. I was told that single mothers in poverty raise failures. My daughter will attend a private University on a full scholarship this fall. She is also happy and healthy. I was told, as the only woman in my first gun shop, that women could not excel in the field, because they had neither the temperament nor talent for mechanics. I outpaced all of my male peers in training and promotion, I became the only member of the shop to earn my degree in Applied Armaments, I had the best Quality Assurance rate in the shop and the only 100% fire rate on my weapons systems. So, yeah, tell me I can’t win. I have some experience winning regardless.
Here’s what I want you to stop doing though. Stop saying that to everyone else. Stop saying we can’t win, because what’s the point in voting, what’s the point in canvassing, what’s the point in trying? Talk to your neighbors, have the conversations, and find out you’re not alone. There are more of us then you know, and we need to go to places where people are, and engage them in real talk about what they need and stop assuming we already know. Read up on Cheri Bustos in NW Illinois who posted a 20 point landslide this November in a district Trump won. How? She stands in the produce section on Saturdays and talks to people, she installs air filters on locomotives and talks to the guys in the rail yard with carbon on her hands. Stop saying, stop typing, stop thinking anything is unwinnable. We all lose when we assume we can’t win, and maybe you’re a pessimist, but maybe you are just creating the environment that dragons thrive in. Let’s stop losing before we try, and start slaying some darn dragons. David is counting on us.
Katie Sponsler