Today is a difficult day. This is hard. We always knew this was going to be uphill and razor thin, but it still hurts, infuriates, disappoints.
Feel all the feelings. Take the time to mourn, grieve, be exhausted, work out longer, or stay in the blanket fort. Because even for those of us no longer surprised at the normalization of behavior we’d never excuse in our kids, it is a lot.
Here’s the thing though. Disappointment is the flipside of hope. And I’m not done hoping. I’m definitely not done fighting and working for better and more Democratic American leadership.
I know it’s really hard to see the hope right now, but it’s there. I just got done listening to Vice President Harris’s eloquent, and yes, hopeful concession speech. She’s right that the darkest night is when we see the brightest stars best. And sometimes the fight takes a while.
We are, in fact, building better leadership and a stronger, lasting movement. There are now two Black women in the Senate, simultaneously, for the first time. The first Korean American Senator. The first out transgender member of Congress.
There’s also a bigger picture that’s still coming together. Outside Washington, D.C., there are some 500,000 down ballot offices, races, and levers of power nationwide. They’re the state house and senate races, the school boards, the town councils, the boards of supervisors, the justices of the peace – the offices we live with and that affect us on a daily basis.
2,800+ NDTC-trained candidates ran this week. Some big names stand out – Rep. Lauren Underwood (IL 14), Maxwell Frost (FL 10), Suhas Subramanyam (VA 10) – all below the age of 40. These people give me hope. Running for office is not easy, and yet they stepped forward. My thanks go out to all of them.
There are more like them. We just don’t know their names yet because we’re nowhere close to tabulating all the wins. Because we’re not done counting and figuring out what daily democracy looks like. And we’re definitely not done training Democratic candidates who want to run, change their communities for the better, and build the next generation of long-lasting leadership – all of which started with you.
Thank you to you for all that you’ve done. The hard work. Phone calls. Doors knocked. Contributions made. Even though we didn’t get the outcome we wanted, it makes a difference.
For today, rest. Remember your why. Find your joy. Eat the extra scoop of ice cream. Get back on the horse tomorrow. This is a movement, not a moment. In VP Harris’s words, “YOU HAVE POWER.” We are in this together, and we’re not even close to done yet.
On behalf of all of us at NDTC,
Kelly Dietrich
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