Persistence is Political Lesson from First Votes

Don’t give up. Most of us repeatedly share that advice with our children; now we have three real life examples to show why it’s so important.

Two came from New Hampshire last week. Both Hillary Clinton and John McCain had been given up for dead at different points during the presidential campaign. Both looked very much alive when their names appeared at the top of the New Hampshire tote board.

John McCain offered more than just a lesson about not giving up. He also demonstrated why, even in politics, it’s important to be yourself. When he became the prohibitive favorite on the Republican side in 2006, he became a different guy.

When he ran for president in 2000, he denounced religious right leader Jerry Falwell as an “evil” force whose message of “intolerance” hurt both the GOP and America.

But then deciding to become all things George W. Bush in order to win in 2008, he accepted the invitation to be the commencement speaker at the now deceased Falwell’s Liberty University.

McCain thought he could pass it off as just another commencement address by a senator, but those who were drawn to him for his moderate views and straight talk saw the making of a big sell-out.

It was the beginning of what looked like the end. By the spring of 2007, his staff had imploded and the campaign was in complete disarray.

But he didn’t give up. He went to New Hampshire where he had won before, suffered through the indignation of some dismally small crowds, clung to positions that had once been unpopular and suddenly found himself climbing in the polls. The rest is history.

The Hillary Clinton turnaround was swifter but no less dramatic. On the Friday before New Hampshire, I told one of her supporters that if Obama won, the “O” would stand for “over.” He disagreed but I still think I was right; Barack was riding a very powerful wave and if nothing broke it up, it was going to turn into a tsunami.

With poll numbers getting worse by the day, Hillary trudged on, even showing a bit of emotion at one point. The polls were wrong and, just as an aside; I don’t know why everyone is acting so darn surprised. It’s certainly not the first time. If polling was an exact science, we wouldn’t need elections.

Hillary was wise not to give up, as was Barack — several years ago. Because of his recent meteoric rise, many would think Obama has lived a completely charmed political life. Not so.

In 2000, while a second term Illinois state senator, Obama decided to move up by challenging Bobby Rush, a long time incumbent member of congress. He got stomped, garnering only 30 percent of the vote.

Defeated and broke, he considered leaving politics altogether. As he wrote in “The Audacity of Hope,” “It’s impossible not to feel at some level as if you have been personally repudiated by the entire community, that you don’t quite have what it takes, and that everywhere you go the word ‘loser’ is flashing through people’s minds.”

Many thoughts flash through people’s minds when they see Barack Obama today. Regardless of what happens in the race for president, “loser” is not one of them.

They say this is the year of change. Is it ever — now we’re even pointing to politicians as positive role models for children.

(Originally published by Examiner Newspaper Group)