John,
We knew this would be hard, we just didn’t know in what ways it would be hard. We knew we’d be tested, and we are all being tested.
We are going to have to overcome hardship if we are going to demonstrate to the country that we have the strength and commitment to overcome Trump; or to show that we understand what it’s like to be counted down and then to then rise above the experts’ expectations. To show them and our fellow Americans that we are prepared to take on the toughest job in the world at the toughest time in our history. The greatest set of challenges we’ve ever faced.
We’re doing the right thing, we’re doing it at the right time, and I’m convinced that we’re doing it in the right way. First and foremost, our campaign has been funded by all people, no PACs. No corporations, lobbyists, or special interests either.
What I see and feel on the ground is amazing. Last weekend in Nashua, Andover, Manchester, Peterborough, Amherst. It’s real. I see it in Iowa, in Williams — population 330 — where a third of that number came out to see us. What I’m learning, how we’re connecting and how we’re building our team and our commitments. I absolutely saw it in Nashville and in Minneapolis. I feel it in South Carolina. I feel it in Nevada. And Texas is still the source of the opportunity, the energy, and the model for how we do this.
I see it in our team. In the dedication, the work that they’re doing, the level of sacrifice they’ve offered to this country. Their faces — the smiles, the energy, the determination. It’s all amazing.
Despite all of this, there is definitely a disconnect between what the political pundits see versus what we see on the ground. There are many reasons for that. I’ve received a million pieces of advice on how to make it better. Ultimately it comes down to me. Me doing the best possible job when I have the chance to talk to a national audience. Me doing as well as possible in the debates. And it also means me being me. We’ve got to show all the ways this campaign is different from any other, and why that matters when it comes to why we can win.
We’ve got to run with nothing to lose instead of protecting whatever we gain by playing it safe. Really, that’s when we find joy, where it feels joyful to people looking in from outside, and where it looks that way to a national audience.
And there’s got to be a patience and a persistence — we don’t know when voters will make up their minds. But we’ve got to be there when they do and put in the work beforehand to make our case.
At times like this, I think it’s helpful to think back to why we’re doing this in the first place. For me, it’s my kids — the very real knowledge that they’re counting on me and on all of us. The horror show that is this administration, the open cruelty and racism, the tearing down of so much of what made us good to begin with. The unmet challenges of climate change and gun violence.
I want my kids to be excited about the future, not afraid of it. I want the world to be better for them. So I’m trying to be better and do better for them. I can’t let them down.
Do this if you get the chance — especially when it’s tough, when you’re down, when you have your moment of doubt — think back to this moment from the future. What will it feel like to have won? To have proven the doubters wrong? To have overcome these challenges, to have defeated evil in November of 2020, and to be part of an administration that lives up to what America really can mean? Look back from that and this moment will make sense.
We all have to find the deepest, most personal reason that we are part of this campaign and stay loyal to that. Things will be better than they are at this moment, things at times will be tougher. Our strength will come from our devotion to the urgency we feel, to one another, and to this country.
If you’re as excited as I am to keep building this campaign, make a $3 donation right now.
Half of all our campaign resources come from people like you clicking emails like this one. So these donations — no matter what size — really make a difference.
Thank you for all you’re doing. I count myself extraordinarily lucky to have the chance to do this work with each and every one of you.
- Beto
