Friends, I'm sure most of you know that I am strongly supporting and volunteering for Sen. Elizabeth Warren's presidential campaign, but now that we're just a few days away from the New Hampshire primary (!!), I wanted to take a few minutes to actually explain WHY.
I know that for many people, the one focus for this year's election is beating Trump, and I truly believe Elizabeth is the candidate who can do that. When she was a newcomer to politics, she beat a popular incumbent Republican to win her Senate seat, and she absolutely will not be cowed on the debate stage. She brings together all kinds of people, and she can unify the party - which she's focusing on in a way most candidates are not. But recovering from Trump isn't just about making sure we get a Democrat in office, it's also about what happens THEN. Elizabeth is committed to helping elect Democrats up and down the ballot, which is always important but will be even more essential this year as we strive to start undoing the damage that has been done. She is smart and experienced enough to understand the entire complex, broken system, and she has the best understanding of the corruption and corporate interests underpinning so much of what is going on right now. And she understands intersectionality and the need to specifically fight for all marginalized people and groups, rather than assuming that everything can be reduced to economic inequality. She is always open and always learning and evolving, which is definitely a quality I want in a president.
The first things that drew me to Elizabeth as a candidate were her progressive beliefs combined with all her PLANS. My love of plans will not surprise anyone who knows me, but in this case I truly believe her extensive bank of plans is important for reasons other than my personal preferences. A lot of candidates in the race have very similar goals and ideals, but honestly, that doesn't mean much if they don't have concrete, pragmatic ways of reaching those goals. Two of the things I like about Elizabeth's plans are that they always include how they'll be paid for and that they help more and more people along every step of the way. Because let's be real: something like Medicare for All is not going to just happen by magic because a president says so, and we can't just assume that anything Congress needs to vote on will automatically happen. So I really appreciate that Elizabeth has a multi-step plan for reaching that goal over a few years and that real people are helped in concrete ways immediately, without Congress having to be involved at all. And she really has thought through an astonishing number of areas - every time I think of an issue I care about, from climate change to health care to public education to LGBTQ+ rights to immigration and literally dozens more, she's already got a plan for that.
As I got to know more about Elizabeth's own story and met her and members of her family, I came to realize that she doesn't just look good on paper - she's an incredibly warm and empathetic person who truly cares about people. She got into politics not because she wanted to for the sake of it - her dream job was being a teacher - but because she realized it was the way she could make the biggest difference for the most people. She truly listens to everyone she meets on the campaign trail and incorporates what she hears from them in her plans and priorities. Just this week, when she was busy preparing for an event before flying back to DC for the impeachment vote, I mentioned to her that my brother is in the military and so I want a Commander in Chief I can trust, and she took a moment to speak with me privately about that, which meant a lot. She's also demonstrated her discipline, work ethic, and an incredible amount of energy, which are important attributes for a president who will actually do the job of being president.
I've been volunteering with the campaign for several months now, and it's been an amazing experience. I've worked with many campaigns and this one is both the best organized and most welcoming and inclusive one I've seen. The New Hampshire staff I've worked with has been uniformly kind, welcoming, and professional, and so many of us volunteers really feel like we have a home and a place on this team. On a local level this is largely due to the hard work of the staff on the ground - especially Cassidy, Melissa, and Lily here in the Nashua office - but this ethos definitely comes from the top, and seeing the way Elizabeth Warren runs a campaign has reified my belief that she's who I want to be running the country.
I know there are a lot of candidates in the mix and lots of people, especially in places with later primaries, are still making up their minds. It's a big decision and I respect the time and deliberation people are taking. If you'd like to talk through what you're thinking about as you make this decision, please feel free to message me.
And if you agree with me that Elizabeth Warren should be our next president, please please PLEASE get involved. This is a grassroots campaign and we need every single person out there helping. People tell me all the time that volunteering is "not their thing" and all I can think is - so, helping people is not your thing? Caring about our democracy is not your thing? This is not the time to sit on the sidelines. The stakes have never been higher. If you're in or near New Hampshire, please come help us knock doors in the next few days so we can be sure all of Elizabeth's supporters will get to the polls (and reach the huge number of voters still undecided!). If you're not nearby, please help make calls or send texts to the voters we can't get in touch with face to face. I'm happy to get you set up with any of those options. And once we're done here, lots of primaries are coming up quickly, so please volunteer to help out in your own state!
We need Elizabeth Warren to be our next president so that our country can start healing from the last four years - and the centuries of inequality before that - and get better for EVERYONE in ways that truly matter. I hope you'll join me in voting for her. Dream big, fight hard!