Hi Jan,
You have heard the story I like to tell about how you, Charlie, Marilyn, and I met in Grass Valley last year. I explain how we met, and the connection we had through LtCol Bob Undorf and the Koh Tang operation, but I haven't yet--and perhaps the next time I tell the story, I should--explain the basis of the friendship we have developed since then. Yes, of course, we share a history of military service, the same moral values, and the same political convictions, but that is the basis of an alliance, not necessarily of a friendship. No, what draws Marilyn and me to you and Charlie is your character, and the other factors serve to cure that cement of character.
You were right when you said last Saturday that I never had a doubt that you and Charlie could defeat John Doolittle. The more I learned about Doolittle, the more I thought, how can this guy be in Congress? Certainly, he had built something of a political machine, at least one that could raise lots of money, but there is a cost-benefit curve beyond which raising all the money in the world doesn't help. It's like accelerating toward the speed of light; you don't go much faster, you just get a lot heavier. So, beyond a certain point, the money that is against you loses its power to intimidate. Last year, I considered that the Abramoff scandal would continue to unravel, and that would continually inflict damage on Doolittle. I also considered that a couple of dozen veterans had already declared their candidacy for Congress, and that Charlie was part of a rising tsunami of indignation over the conduct of the war and its specious pretexts. Well, the Abramoff scandal has brought to light more than I cared to imagine, and I have heard that there were over 70 veterans who competed in this year's primaries. Last autumn and last winter, I heard a highly-placed Democratic operative and a sitting Democratic congressman say of Charlie, "He doesn't stand a chance," "He better raise a million dollars," and "That district is not in play." They knew Doolittle... but they didn't know Charlie. As Sun Tzu observed, it is not enough to know the enemy, one must also know oneself. In not knowing Charlie as one of their own and seeing his capabilities, their judgment of the opportunity for victory in the 4th District was faulty. Over the next few months I got to know you and Charlie personally and Doolittle by odious reputation, and this only deepened my conviction that victory was within your reach.
We were delighted to see KCRA's coverage of the crowd outside the studio where Wednesday night's debate was held characterized as giving Charlie a rock star's welcome. On one level, I was struck by the incongruity of Charlie's soft-spoken manner evoking the sort of public emotion that is normally lavished on flamboyant entertainers. On another level, the scene harkened back to the morality play formula of tales of the Old West, in which a long-oppressed townspeople look to the laconic newcomer as their champion over the corrupt and beguiling villain. The taciturn stranger shows them by example that it is possible for them to take back their community, and they join together to run the villain out of town. They could have done it at any time, but they had lost hope in their plight, they had lost faith in themselves. The quiet outsider found that hope and faith for them. In California's Gold Country of the 21st century, Charlie Brown and the townspeople are rewriting that familiar tale with a new twist, but with the inevitable ending.
John Doolittle, I reckon you better saddle up and vamoose.
All the best,
Tom
See also:
Brown-Doolittle Debate Video
Doolittle Video Montage from the Debate