Dear
It’s almost six years ago now — the morning after the general election of November 8, 2016 — that I made a decision I couldn’t or wouldn’t avoid.
We had a new President, and I felt gut-punched. As a candidate, he had run the most dishonest, vile and divisive campaign I had witnessed in my adult life. I didn’t know anyone who thought he could actually get elected.
But he won. And on the way he set brother against sister, friend against friend, neighbor against neighbor, and made our communities less safe. I was heartsick.
So I went for a walk with Lori, my true companion these four decades, to give my nerves something to do. We made our circuit through the neighborhood in silence, and I was churning inside. How can this be? How could Americans elect someone so eager to chew up every last shred of honor, trust, and respect? So willing to divide, divide, and divide us for his own profit? And how will our country survive him? Who will get us out of this mess?
That’s when I heard it, and it came like a bell clap in my brain, that old quote: “All that’s necessary for evil to triumph is that good people do nothing.”
And I felt confronted. I don’t call myself a good person — I leave that to others to decide. But I love my country, I love my community, and I work to bring us together to do good. Who will get us out of this mess? I realized in that moment it would take people like me.
I turned to Lori and asked: “Sweetie, should I run for public office?” And she didn’t laugh. She listened. And here I am.
All that’s necessary for evil to triumph this election season is that you, dear friends, leave the voting to others.
Don’t do it. Vote — but do more than vote. Get involved. Advocate for the candidates and ballot measures you believe in. Tell your family and your friends to drop their completed ballot in the mail. Get out on a street corner between now and Tuesday night and remind your community to exercise their freedom and VOTE — VOTE to be the country you want to live in.
With great respect,
David Leon Zink
Candidate for CA State Assembly, District 3
