I'm a busy college student (18-unit load this semester... ugh) who worked for Mark Begich's campaign over the summer. I felt bad that I just didn't have much time to devote to campaigning for Mark when classes were in session.
But I knew this election was important. Critical - for our future in Alaska, as well as the nation's.
So I took Tuesday afternoon off, and spent the last five hours of Election Day phonebanking and walking precincts in Fairbanks - including a frantic dash through snow-covered streets in the final hour before polls closed.
If I got three of the 50 people I spoke with, to cast a ballot for Mark Begich... well, I guess I did good, didn't I?
But I'm far from the only one. There are hundreds of other Democratic volunteers across this great state who are thinking the same thing tonight, I'm quite sure.
I'm a Dean veteran, and I left Des Moines with a bitter taste in my mouth that's lingered for a long time. I got cynical. I wondered if all those volunteers and all those doors knocked and all those cold calls, were just a faint puff in the face of the hurricane of punditry, attack ads, fear-mongering and demagoguery. Can change really happen?
I now know the answer. Yes, we can make it happen.
Never, ever give up. Leave it all on the road. Never doubt that your effort, be it large or small, can make a difference — it's the only thing that ever will.