Friends

Friends might be the best things in the world.  I have never realized how great friends can really be, and I’m not talking about people you just have drinks with.  I’m talking about people you would trust your life with.  My roommate and best friend might just be the greatest guy in the world.  He has been the biggest support system for me in these last few months its amazing.  During the peaks of your life everyone is your friend but in the valleys that when you find out who your friends really are. 

Lately I have been in a valley and he has been there for me.  No matter what I needed he was there.  It’s kind of ridiculous to see this from another human being.  He can be incredibly cocky sometimes but I think the man has a right to be.  I think the only way we can really get through life is to have a great support system.  Even if we are incredibly successful we all need good friends and if we are blessed with great friends then we are just incredibly lucky and we just thank God for what he has given us.

Mentor

Now that the election is over I went back to what I was doing before I started with the campaign.  Cutco!  I first started with Cutco back in 2005 in California but when I moved to Arizona a few years I did not have a customer base any longer so I stopped and did a number of different jobs but eventually went back to Cutco mainly because you can make your own schedule and the money can be pretty good.  But I knew I was missing a lot of guidance.  That was something that I really had a lot of in California but now that I am in Arizona I was lacking it.

I got in touch with a friend of mine who used to work with Cutco a few years ago and was pretty successful and now he does motivational speaking throughout the country.  We talked for a couple days and he agreed to be my mentor for a year.  He had done this with other people working in Cutco as well as other professions and they had shown growth in their business so I thought that it would be a great place to start.  Having this man in my life really helped get things in perspective.  Money, health, work and school.  Because we had only known each other for a short time it was easier to talk to him rather than my parents and friends who I had known for a longer period of time. 

Having a mentor was probably one of the best things I have ever committed to doing.  It helps you be accountable to someone else which is fantastic by the way.  And because we have these commitments and calls almost weekly I am driven to meet them, and if I don’t we talk about ways I can next time.  I really wish I would have started working with him earlier.

Results

Numbers, numbers, numbers.  When the districts started reported all of our hearts started to sink.  It was crazy for all of us to think that what we had worked so hard for was for not.  We all saw how the state was in a downward spiral and with the passing of SB1070 we could no believe that people still wanted her in office.  Our what should have been a victory party soon turned into a something else completely different.  I know when I started to see all the districts turn red I felt lost.  Throughout the whole election even when people told me that he didn’t have a chance, I knew he could do it because of his background and his vision the people of Arizona would vote for him.  Especially after the debate when Brewer made a foul out of her self I thought for sure people would see her true colors. 

But when the news called it for Brewer even before all the districts had reported we were devastated.  The anger within the staff spread like a wildfire.  We could not believe that they would do that so early.  Soon after Terry spoke with his family then his staff and said that he was going to concede.  That announcement tore me apart.  Something that I literally bleed for was over.  It didn’t seem real but it was happening right in front of me.  I was crushed and so was the rest of the staff, there was not a dry eye between us.  It was almost as if someone who we loved had died unexpectedly.

E-Day

Finally the day that we have all been working for is here.  The morning did not start as planned because of my epilepsy I had to go home and get at least a couple of hours of sleep but by the time I got back to the office most of the teams that had gone out to put up signs around the state had not gotten back yet.  Once everyone was back we basically got our marching orders.  Teams of two were sent out one polling location to make sure it opened on time and one public location to make sure that people were aware that it was election day and to make sure people knew where their polling locations were.  The polling location that we went to had no problem so we moved directly to a school in the area.  The area that we were in was very hispanic which was perfect because that group usually does not vote and certainly does not vote in the midterm elections.  So using the little spanish I knew I was able to help several people find their polling locations.

Once we were done at the schools we were sent back to the office to make sure that every thing was running smoothly there.  I was only there for a short time until I was sent to a secondary site where we had people going in and out handing out information about Terry Goddard.  There I met up with another coworker where we helped the volunteers with the packets of information that they were handing out. 

The day seemed to go by so fast and as the polling locations closed we all separated and went home to change for what would hopefully for a victory party.  Being with Terry and his family and my colleagues on the roof of the hotel was like nothing else.  I would not have traded that time for anything else.  Knowing what we had done and understanding all of the sacrifices that we gave to get as far as we did made everything worth it.

The Day Before...

Finally it is here the day before the election.  All of our hard work is about to be done and left in the hands of the rest of the citizens of Arizona.  Today we are focused on all the last minute details, which are a lot in an election.  Mainly what can happen tomorrow that will prevent people from getting to a polling location and will people face discrimination there.  Most of the team will not get any sleep, as we will be splitting up at 5am to go throughout the state and place Goddard for Governor signs around polling locations.  Others will go to voting locations to make sure they open on time and are running properly.  And then we will move to schools or other busy locations and make sure people are aware that it is election day and they know where their specific polling location is.

Most of the morning we expect to be pretty busy since we need to be in so many different locations back to back but once we get divvyed up into groups later on in the day there may be down time.  Today will be all about contacting volunteers and making sure that we have enough people at each location to help voters get to polling locations and be on the streets as well.  Months and months of hard work all come down to one day.  It seems kind of crazy when you look at it like that. 

House Parties

As the election neared of course deadlines started to approach faster and faster.  Deadlines can be a good thing when they keep you in perspective but they can be a bad they when you disregard them and dismiss them.  But no matter what you do they don’t disappear and you need to make sure your work is completed by the time that date comes.  The main deadline that we had was a state-wide house party. 

This was a huge responsibility for our small team of interns.  We were put in charge of calling all the people who said they would be willing to help out in anyway to see if they would host a house party in their home.  As you can imagine this was not an easy task and the number they wanted from us was not small at all.  We were attempting to have 100 house parties throughout the state all at once were Terry would give a thank you conference call and talk about his vision for the future as well.  This task took some planning and improvising but we were able to accomplish it with some creativity.  We were suggested a script to tell people but we gave it our own style and made some other necessary changes to get the goal accomplished. 

I think in the end it came down to people understanding that it was going to take more than just Terry and his staff to win the election.  It was going to require the support of the state, or as much as we could get from the state. 

In it to WIN it #2

I have talked about this before; when you plan out something in detail you are more likely to accomplish it.  In my current position planning is everything.  If you fail to plan you plan to fail.  It is essential that you have a plan for every week and every month in order to achieve what you want by the end of the year.  You need to be in it whole-heartedly because if you are not you will never reach your full potential. 

Potential is a funny thing because a lot of the time we limit it to what other people perceive it be instead of we think it could be.  As we all grow up it seems that we put more and more limitations on our selves and restrictions on our own capabilities.  If for just one day we were to let those things go we could probably be able to accomplish some amazing things.  We are only limited by our own perceptions and if we only see ourselves as what we see in the mirror we will never be more than that but if we see what we truly are and what we could be each of us could life changers and amazing individuals. 

In it to WIN it #1

When you enter into an election and enounce your candidacy you should do it with the intention to win the election and then better your district and better your state, which you are representing.  A while ago I found out that although may have been the best person to represent the democrats in the Senate he was not running for the right reasons.  Rodney Glassman was running against a well-known name and veteran in the political world so he needed a strong game plan, which he lacked.  As the election progressed it was easy to see that John McCain had the upper hand on him in everyway.  Even though I am a die-hard Democrat if you listened to both candidates on the issues you would see that McCain was that right man for the job. 

Once the election was over I found out that Glassman was basically in it to just be able to say that he ran for Senate.  He had no belief in himself or his staff that he could actually accomplish what he had set out to do.  Things like this should not be allowed to happen but unfortunately they do and more often than not the public goes unaware of it.

It’s Getting Ugly Out There

In every election season you expect to see and hear some trash talking between the candidates.  But this season in Arizona the candidates decided to run a clean elections campaign so the attack adds did not come out until late in the game and when they did they were hardly noticeable.  The only one that I could remember that even caught us off guard was the rumor that Terry was homosexual.  But I don’t believe we even responded to the rumor, since Terry was married and has a son. 

But if you were to say go to California you would be bombarded by attack adds.  You would hear every dirty secret that every candidate wrong whether it be true or not and most of it was probably blown completely out of proportion but that is what attack adds are all about.  Distraction, distraction, distraction.  They are designed to get your focus off the issues and on the flaws of the other candidate.  Most people don’t participate in the mid-term elections but those who do don’t pay attention to the candidates issues so when they see these adds they get side tracked and just focus on which candidates adds are the most attractive or maybe worse they vote party line. 

Something Bigger Than Yourself

There are few opportunities that you get in life when can be involved with something that will effect not only you or your family but also the entire state.  Over these past few months I have had the opportunity to work with one of the finest political figures I have had the opportunity to meet.  I worked with Terry first at the Attorney General’s Office in the Crime Fraud and Victim Resources Department and then on as intern when he began his race for governor.  Terry has worked hard to better the state of Arizona first as Phoenix’s Mayor and now as the states main law enforcer. 

Being part of his campaign for Governor truly is something great.  You get a front row seat into peoples reactions into how the state is currently being ran and what they want changed.  You get to see what people really care about and what they are passionate about and how far they are willing to go to make the necessary changes.  During the campaign I met people all throughout the state and from every social economic class.  Terry was able to touch each group in a special way and they knew he would be able to help and be there for him because of what he has done for the state in the past.

Goals

 

Goals are a funny thing.  We should have them and I think on some level we all do have them.  Its whether we choose to realize them or not is what makes the difference between all of us.  Inside all of us is the potential for greatness its whether or not we choose to delve deep enough inside ourselves to seek it out.  When most people set out to create a goal all they focus on is the finish line the end result.  They never focus on the many steps it may take to get to achieve that end result.  It is so important for us to map out goals and the steps it takes to get.  Knowing what the end result is fantastic but what is important is to take it one step at a time otherwise you will overwhelm your self. 

 

I have seen this time and time again.  Nothing is impossible, nothing.  As long as you put the time and effort into something you bad enough you can achieve anything.  One of my favorite quotes is from Will Smith, greatness is knowing who I am and what I believe in and the willingness to die for it.  For me if you are willing to put yourself on that next level you can achieve anything.  If you are committed to something enough to die for it nothing can stand in your way.

 

Too Close To Call

With the election just days away and a new poll just released by a third party showing the gap getting even narrower the momentum in definitely on our side.   The countless days on the phone, strategy meetings and phone banks seem that they might pay off in less than a week.  All of my days are spent on the phone calling people from across the state; people who are supporters of Terry who said either in an email or online or in an office that they would like to help in some way.

Over the past few weeks my days have been spent talking to people, these potential volunteers trying to set up house parties, phone banks or group canvases. Arizonans know that this state is in a downward spiral and it is need of a change but I just hope that they will realize it in time for the election. 

Seeing these polls come out as often as they do drive me crazy because the numbers vary so often.  Some only show down a few points some say several.  Often you don’t know which ones to listen to.  All you can do is keep your head to the grindstone and work as hard as you can and keep listening to your constituents and pray that they are listening to you.