Not long ago I talked with a reporter about a client, running for office, facing an uphill battle against an entrenched incumbent. The reporter asked me an interesting question.
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“Why did you take a client that has no chance of winning?” She asked.
This was my answer.
My client has something to say that needs to be said. She has things to say that no one else is going to say. She has a cause to advance that no one else will.
No one better illustrates that example than Senator Bernie Sanders. He was considered a fringe candidate when he announced. Nobody gave him a chance of winning anything. But he has eloquently advanced his ideas and his cause on the political battlefield. He has done so with passion and energy. He has been the most authentic of the nearly two dozen who ran for President this year.
He has forced a discussion about problems that would have otherwise been ignored. And he has done it without insulting entire classes of people, without hurling invective at his critics, without assaulting the sensibilities of half the American public.
Sanders may not win at the ballot box, but he has already won something just as important.
He has given life to a cause bigger than himself.
People who do that are the people who make history.
Throughout the life of great democracies, great causes have been born because one candidate dared do, dared say, dared to champion an idea no one else would. That, and that alone is the only reason you will ever need to run for office. And if you succeed in giving life to your cause, you win even if you come up short at the ballot box.
Have questions? Hit the comment button. Or email me at Jay@JayTownsend.com. My phone number is 845-458-1210.
Political consultant Jay Townsend works with smart, passionate candidates who want to run for office, win elections and make a difference. He has successfully helped candidates learn how to run for the U.S. Senate, how to run for Congress, how to run for Mayor and develop a winning campaign marketing strategy.
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