For John, BLUF: The answer is "Press on". Nothing to see here; just move along.
Yesterday the Editor of The [Lowell] Sun, Mr Jim Campanini, editorialized that the Massachusetts Republican Party should just sit out the Special Election to fill Secretary of State John Kerry's now vacant Senate seat.
I tried to rebut that argument here. In doing so, I paraphrased a speech by Demosthenes, or what Thucydides (History of the Peloponnesian War) said he said. My on-line source is Wikisource, at this URL, paragraph 10.
Soldiers and comrades in this adventure, I hope that none of you in our present strait will think to show his wit by exactly calculating all the perils that encompass us, but that you will rather hasten to close with the enemy, without staying to count the odds, seeing in this your best chance of safety. In emergencies like ours calculation is out of place; the sooner the danger is faced the better. To my mind also most of the chances are for us, if we will only stand fast and not throw away our advantages, overawed by the numbers of the enemy.The version I read, long ago, said:
Soldiers, all of us together are in this, and I do not want any of you in our present awkward position to try to show off his intelligence by making a precise calculation of the dangers which surround us...I liked the part about not trying to show off your intelliegence.
Or, as a former Governor of Massachusetts put it:
Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan Press On! has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race.So, there will be no backing down. We just need to find our Demosthenes, or Calvin Coolidge.
Regards — Cliff
Sit out? No way. Yes, this is Massachusetts.
ReplyDeleteA good candidate who clearly states principled positions without being a repeating 'independent/moderate' over and over again, can be great advertising for the MassGOP. You will not get the money to win, but the investment to get the message out to the Commonwealth is well worth the energy for races in the future state or local offices.
10,000 signatures in under what 3 weeks now? Try.
Find the candidate, who can just speak in an informative manner and just take advantage of the next 4 months.
I struggle with my problems with both parties, but for the same of Democracy please don't sit out.