Graduate school at Clemson was an interesting time in my life, to say the least. I didn’t really know it when I applied there, but their economics program tends to lean a little conservative.
Now, growing up, I’d spent plenty of time around conservatives—you don’t come of age in Iredell County and not. But this was really my first time as “the token liberal” adrift in a conservative sea.
The experience really pushed me to better understand my own beliefs. Suddenly I could no longer rely on “well, I support XYZ because it’s good, obviously”—after all, these were my fellow econ grad students. If I was going to defend, say, the idea of progressive income tax to them, I had to really be able to justify the economics behind it. I had to understand why I believe what I believe.
That’s a skill that’s carried me pretty far in life, and I think about that often when I’m out on the campaign trail. Our ability to succeed in North Carolina as Democrats depends on our ability to communicate and convince our neighbors of why it’s important to vote for our candidates. Building a statewide, winning coalition means we have to be able to get out there and talk to folks who aren’t always like us—take them seriously, with empathy. Talk to them like fellow human beings, and then advocate for why our way is the path to making our state a better place.
I believe that, at the end of the day, we all really want the same things. Communities that support us. A feeling of security in our homes. The opportunity to reach our full potential and to do better for our children than we did for ourselves. I’m staking this campaign on the bet that government is a tool that we, the people, have in our toolbox, and that when we stand together, we can use it to invest in our communities so that we can have those things.
And I'm going to get out to every corner of the state I can and share my why with everyone who’s willing to listen.
But if we’re going to make that happen—if we’re going to take our state back—I need you in my corner, John.
