There is no way I possibly could thank all of you enough for your generous support during my campaign. To have thousands of people dig deep the way you did was overwhelming and indeed humbling. I also had the great fortune to be surrounded by an incredibly dedicated and talented campaign team. We worked our tails off, but had fun almost every step of the way. I wish we could have achieved our final goal, but I assure you that our failure to get there was not for lack of effort. We gave it everything we had. I do believe, however, much was accomplished in terms of the long-term greater good.
I have to address one item. Four or five days prior to the election, I was attacked by the Arizona Republic for having the support of the netroots, simply because they didn’t like a comment Markos made regarding his own reasons (not mine) for wanting Shadegg defeated. Their logic was that people should vote against me in order to teach Markos a lesson. In other words, throw the candidate under the bus because you don’t like something a supporter of his said. Could any candidate be electable under such a standard? Certainly not McCain, whom they endorsed heartily. I have no idea whether the Republic’s attack cost me any votes, but I don’t care. I was honored to have netroots support and, should I ever run again, will not in any way be deterred from seeking your support again. By the way, a few days later, one of the editorial board members of the Republic added another reason to vote against me – I don’t support "lawsuit protection" for oil companies. He actually just made a wild guess here (nobody ever asked my position on this inane question), but I confess: I don’t support lawsuit protection for oil companies. I guess that makes me a crazy left-winger. How could I not support protecting the poor defenseless oil companies from lawsuits?
Beyond my own race, this election was bittersweet for me, as I’m sure it was for many of you. I’m delighted with what most consider a landslide Obama victory and the gains we made in the House and Senate. But I had hoped for much more in the Congressional races. There were races that didn’t go our way, especially WA08 but others as well, where I felt our candidate would make a real difference for many years to come. Also, in my mind, there really was no logical reason for anyone to support McCain-Palin. That over 45% of the voters were willing to do so scares me. We have to ask the hard questions: If the economy had only partially imploded and/or if McCain had spoken only a little incoherently about the economy, what would the result have been? Does it take a perfect storm or near perfect storm for us to win a national election? Let’s hope that more progressive policies, once implemented and given a chance to succeed, will move voters more solidly in our direction.
Again, thank you all so much. I’m not sure what the future holds for me, but I promise I’ll do whatever I can in whatever capacity to make a difference.
All the best,
Bob