Thursday, November 10, 2011

The View From The Edge

"I want to stand as close to the edge as I can without going over. Out on the edge you see all kinds of things you can't see from the center". ~ Kurt Vonnegut Jr.



No question, running for public office requires putting yourself out there. This year, I did just that.

I called Jason Sorgini Tuesday evening and conceded the supervisor's race, congratulating him and wishing him well. We had a good and productive conversation and I sincerely offered my help if there was ever anything he wanted to know more about or way I can be of service.

While our efforts fell short yesterday (due to all kinds of things which I will write about in the coming  days) it certainly was a learning experience on several fronts. Yesterday, I saw things from my fellow Republican committeepeople and some of our elected officials that I thought I'd never see...that I was very disappointed to see. Bottom line, it left many of my fellow Republican voters ashamed, disgusted and embarrassed.

But, I'll save that for another day. And for those of you who may be worried (or hopeful), no, I haven't jumped off a ledge either. I'll instead use this space for thank-you's.

  • Thanks to all my dedicated and fierce pollworkers who had to spot and fight dirty tactics used on the front lines yesterday and deal with numerous conflicts and confrontations. Each of you had the same grit that I do, and for that, I'm grateful.
  • Thanks to MCRC for having my back when our own local party thumbed their nose at the voice of our voters, and largely wasn't there for one of its own candidates.
  • To the drivers who drove me and my running mate as we knocked on hundreds of doors to meet voters. You helped us cover a lot of ground despite weather that didn't always cooperate and kept us pumped up. It can be a boring and tedious task for drivers, but you made it fun. Thanks for your time, knowledge of where every road and house is, and details about each voter that made it easier to do our job.
  • To the sign crews who distributed a combined 500+ yard signs in public areas and to private homes that requested them, and by the time this is posted, will have picked up most of them.
  • To my campaign staff, for all the wisdom of their experience, phone calls, conversations, looking up people on lists, emails, guidance, advice, fundraiser planning and the miscellanous minutiae of running a campaign. It's a huge task, but we got a lot done, and I'm so proud of the innovation, creativity and work ethic that you all brought to the table. I know we had the best team out there and it gives me great personal satisfaction to know that because they couldn't win on the issues, we made our opponents' backers get their rear ends off the sofa and work hard to beat us.
  • To my employer, my boss and my coworkers: thank you for believing in me and supporting my efforts. The flowers and card you sent today really touched my heart (and thanks to everyone who sent me flowers and dropped off tokens of appreciation).
  • To my running mate, Jill Zimmerman. Congratulations and best of luck. You will need it.
  • To the voters who supported me. Over 2400 of you believed in me and my message, and I'll continue to fight for your interests. I'm not going anywhere. I will continue to do what I do best, which is try to hold those in office accountable and expose any shady things they do. 
  • Last, but certainly not least, thank you to my children. It was tough having mom away so much or having people dropping in at our house all the time, but your belief in me, the roles you took on, and pride in what we were doing kept me going. It all meant so very much to me to have your support, and I am so blessed and proud to call such terrific people my kids. You inspire me more than you'll ever know.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Ding dong, the wicked witch is dead!

Anonymous said...

Janice:
After reading Stans blogs and your rationalizations on why you lost, why don't you do some serious soul searching and come to the same conclusion the vast majority of voters found...it was not the other candidates, any of the Republican Committee, the public , or your campaign workers, it was YOU! People are tired ot your attacks and negative attitute that cost you the election. Janice remember when you attack someone, you have lost that households votes plus all of the people that the attacked individualcontacts. Remember the old adage that you attract more bees with honey than with vinegar. I know you will not publish this, but this post is meant as constructive criticism, and not as a verbal attack of you. You have a lot to offer this township if you ever have change your attitude.
A former friend

Anonymous said...

Why so quiet Janice? Silence does not become you.

Janice Kearney said...

Awwww, you guys worked so hard to beat me, I can't imagine that you miss me already!

Fear not, there are several articles in the works. In the meantime, I'm catching up with friends and family and preparing for the holidays.

And in response to "a former friend", why don't you call me and I will tell you about how 6 years ago some of your friends went negative on me first, when I was running the first of two positive campaigns I ran for committee? I was unexpectedly clubbed over the head with negative mailers by people who don't even live here, and all I wanted to do was work for the party. I'd prefer to run positive campaigns, but my experience over several campaigns (mine and others) is that the Old Guard always goes negative and always goes negative first, and those that run only positive campaigns have consistently lost. To give yourself a fighting chance, I've learned one must also go negative.

And, I've observed that not only here, but in general, anywhere, even though people claim they hate it, they buy into it. It's effective, which is why anybody does it and why you see it in practically every race at every level.

Anonymous said...

Janice:
You still don't get it!

Janice Kearney said...

Again, pick up the phone...it's impossible to have a meaningful dialogue with someone who is anonymous, via posts. Clearly neither of us is reaching the other. If you are interested in working toward understanding, call me. If not, don't bother reading here or commenting.