May 18, 2010

May 18, 2010.

Do you see a period after the date? That is because that date stands alone. Why? Because it was the last day of my very first campaign, and we won the primary, by 522 votes.

You can imagine the kind of day I had.

We fired someone first thing in the morning, we dealt with people who wanted to get paid, we were putting out fires all day and re-applying war paint on our faces, we were fighting the good fight against cheaters and bullies. We even had some of our "allies" turn against us - and when I say they turned against us, I mean, they REALLY turned against us. By the grace of God, I was not able to vote that morning. If I had, I would've voted for the wrong people. I knew all along to go with my gut as an individual, but after conferring with some trustworthy individuals, I was willing to swing my vote to the other team only hours before the big day.

I would like to go on record and say that Sharif Street was an interesting opponent, and a worthy one, because we had to work really hard to kick his ass. In the end, our hard work got Vanessa Lowery Brown back into office, and she did it by ousting two HUGE political families in Philadelphia: The Blackwells and The Streets.

So, congratulations to the only true choice all along, State Representative Vanessa Lowery Brown. Please, take a look at what she's managed to accomplish in Harrisburg in her freshman year as a state rep: www.pahouse.net/brown.

I am being vague about this experience on purpose. If you would really like to know, please email me or let me know. Or, since I am now part of the rest of civilization, we could get together and talk about it. It was exciting, scary, stressful at points, but I will tell you, that I would do it all again. It was hard work, and probably will not be the hardest I've ever worked in my life, but that's good, because that means that at some point, I will be unstoppable.

I am grateful to the mentorship that I received throughout the process on both sides of the political spectrum. I enjoyed the friendships that I made on the legislative side, and I've met some extraordinary people on the campaign side. I loved the campaign side of things, because I am competitive, I love to win, I love being able to outsmart the bad guy. And I am eager to learn from the godfathers of the profession.

I know that this blog was a bit boring because I left out all of the juicy details, like the fake injunction, the people wearing the exact same shirts as us but were for the other team, confusing the hell out of everyone, and the politicians that turned on us and even set us up, stole our items, the fact that the opponents resorted to acting like park apes/bullies to our supporters, and the Benedict Arnolds, whose integrity could be bought.

What's the use? The people who turned on us lost, every single one. And in Philadelphia, people don't forget.

In the meantime, I'm not sure what to do with myself. I'm still on a high, but I'm a little out of sorts without a campaign.

So, what's next?!

I'm going to get some sleep! And perhaps catch up with some of you! Thank you to all of you who were so supportive. I received so many well wishes and so many people were rooting for us to win. Thank you for the words of wisdom, the emails, the phone calls, the visits, the hugs (seriously, the hugs were great) and for teaching me. I especially thank my mother and father for encouraging me throughout this journey. This was an experience of a lifetime and I will never forget it.

Peace and Love,
A.M.W.