Time is flying by, and with only seventeen and a half days left in this election I can’t believe that it’s almost over. I have been involved in the 2012 re-election effort for almost a year and a half now and it’s difficult to imagine what my life is going to be like without it. Undoubtedly the most difficult part being that I am not going to see and be in contact with my campaign family every day.
I volunteered on the election in 2010 and I started feeling like this way at around the end of October in that cycle as well. When you’re spending eighteen hours a day with people it is difficult to imagine the work not being there anymore. I think my e-mail inbox is going to be hit the hardest – comparatively it will be so empty come November. What I found out in the last cycle though is that even when the work goes away the friendships and the reason that you’re all there remains the same – and the bonds you form through those early mornings and late late nights are stronger than you might think.
Although the election will be over that does not mean that there won’t be a whole host of issues and campaigns that still need work. The November 6th election is just a small part of the whole. On November 6th we get our candidate re-elected and that is when the real issue work starts. Contrary to what many may think, the grind doesn’t end when the election results come in. It does however mean a nice Thanksgiving and holiday season because invitations to family gatherings no longer have to be turned down, but in the big scheme of things this is when we work on accomplishing all of the work that we re-elected our guy for. I think an extremely applicable quote, from one of my most admired heroes, to sum this up is: “The work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives, and the dream shall never die.” – Ted Kennedy