There's no downplaying it's been a hard year — both politically and personally.
John,
There's no downplaying it's been a hard year — both politically and personally. Losing the presidency makes all we hope to achieve harder (but to be clear, NOT impossible). I also lost my dad, the best person I've ever known and the best father anyone could ask for.
So yeah…it's a little hard to face the holiday season ahead.
If you're feeling the same way, here's something that's helping me: Harvey Milk's famous words that "You and you and you, you have to give people hope."
Harvey had every reason not to hope. He'd lost multiple campaigns for local office in San Francisco. He was a gay man in a country where there were unrelenting political and physical attacks on LGBTQ+ people.
But despite his losses and the hate he faced, Harvey became the first openly gay elected official in California in 1977.
If Harvey could find reasons to hope and fight and be thankful…then so can we. Here are a few of mine:
- Our Winning Local Candidates: Molly Cook (TX-SD 15), Dante Pittman (NC-HD 24), Bryce Berry (GA-HD 56), Oscar De Los Santos (AZ-HD 11), Christine Cockley (OH-HD 6) — these 5 young progressives are going to be relentless fighters for their communities.
- Sarah McBride (DE At-Large): Sarah is on her way to the U.S. House of Representatives where she will be the first-ever openly transgender person to serve. Sarah's as tough as they come and determined to pass the same bills she did in the Delaware legislature like commonsense gun safety and paid sick leave.
- You: Yes, maybe that seems corny, but it's also true. None of these wins, none of what we're building for 2025 and 2026 and 2030 and 2050 are possible without YOU, John. You receive these emails because you believed in the power of young progressive candidates and decided to do something about it. That matters — change rarely comes all at once. Instead, it is small actions adding up over time that bend the arc of the universe.
However and wherever you are celebrating (or not) this Thanksgiving, know that you are in my heart. And I wouldn't ask for anyone else to be a part of this movement we're building.
In service,
David Hogg
