This isn’t just a message about Colorado and Virginia—two of our United States that share a similar purplish political profile. It’s also one about two
emotional states.
I know that we are hurting and worried after what we saw in Virginia on Tuesday. That’s natural. We can respond to losses in Virginia with fears of our own about 2022. And we should—Attorney General Mark Herring lost his election for a third term, even though he won VA by a similar margin with which we won the Colorado AG race in 2018. That is disturbing, and we should look for important lessons in that loss.
But if you are reading this email and part of our team, you’re not defeated; you are engaged. All of us have reasons to show up, roll up our sleeves, and move forward with hope. In that spirit, losses in other states like Tuesday’s highlight that we must remember what we are working toward--what inspires us and motivates us. After the past few years that we have faced together—which I could not have done in so many ways without your support—we’re still here and we still have important work to do.
This past Tuesday night, at our “Leaders as Readers” event at the Tattered Cover, just after I heard about the results in Virginia, I was asked “how do you hold onto hope?” My answer, invoking my Grandmother who survived the Holocaust, was “as long as you hold onto hope, nothing is truly lost.” There is, in other words, power in our emotional state. And that includes reflecting on our “why.”
Starting with why means going deeper and getting past our weariness. That weariness is real; people are emotionally spent, and understandably so in these challenging times. The answer to that weariness is not judgment or panic; it’s going deeper and honoring why we are in this together. In 2022, we can channel that drive into our campaign for the people in this special state.
Our work for the people of Colorado includes bringing people together to solve important problems, including how we address the opioid epidemic, manage our water during a time of drought and climate change, address teen mental health challenges, protect public safety in our communities, and protect consumers by prosecuting bad actors and irresponsible businesses. We can do that in 2022. But only by staying engaged and showing up, even when it’s tough.
Please sign up to
volunteer if you can and haven’t done so already. Working together is healing, and it is downright magical in terms of beating the odds in elections. If you can
donate, we need your help to reach voters in Colorado.
But most importantly, please reply to this email with your “why”—your reason for showing up to make a difference in our state.
