In 2000, Chicago-area voters rejected Barack Obama and elected Bobby Rush to be their Congressman from Illinois' 1st District. But a short eight years later, some of those very same voters who had previously rejected Barack Obama would help elect him President of the United States. In 1994, voters in Massachusetts rejected Mitt Romney and re-elected Ted Kennedy as their United States Senator. But a short eight years later, some of those very same voters who had rejected him before would help elect Mitt Romney as Governor of Massachusetts. And tomorrow, many of those same voters who rejected him in 1994 will cast a ballot in hopes of making Mitt Romney the 45th President of the United States.
Tomorrow I will face incumbent Congressman Adam Schiff in the 28th Congressional District of California. He has the strategic advantage of having held his current political office for ten years and he also has a few million dollars in his election campaign account, which doesn't hurt. Being that about 70% of the voters in my district cast a vote for Barack Obama in 2008, it is difficult for me to envision a situation in which they would choose a Conservative Republican over a Liberal Democrat.
In my campaign, I presented straight Conservative viewpoints and ideologies to the voters. I did not take it easy on Adam Schiff, and he definitely noticed.
Win or lose tomorrow, I am proud of what I have already accomplished in this race. In my previous two attempts at elected office, I didn't even make it past the primaries. This time I was victorious on June 5th, and made it onto the ballot in a General Election for the first time ever. I accomplished many new milestones on this journey, including having my first televised debate with a political opponent. And there are many more to come. Tomorrow I am going to achieve new personal records for myself. I will receive the highest number of votes ever in my political career. I will also receive the highest percentage of the vote I have ever had in my career.
It probably won't be enough to defeat Adam Schiff, but I don't view political defeat as the end of the world. Sometimes you have to present yourself to voters a few times before they finally see the wisdom of choosing you. I have not yet achieved my goal of becoming an elected leader in this country. But I sense that I am making positive steps in that direction. Every election for me has been a positive step up the ladder. Barack Obama and Mitt Romney didn't let previous election defeats deter them from trying again, and I certainly won't let a defeat tomorrow stop me from trying to win in the future.
Eventually, voters changed their minds about Barack Obama and Mitt Romney. After rejecting them in the past, they eventually saw their way to electing them to some of the highest political positions in this country.
I hope that someday in the future, the voters will have this same change of heart about me.
