I attended a John Laird fundraiser in San Francisco today, which truth be told, are always some of the more enjoyable of these events. Mostly because John is just one of the most unassuming, friendly guys you’ll ever meet. He works hard at his job, and takes his role in government very seriously. He works for his constituents by being available, and he does for the entire state.
He was ultimately able to make this endorsement public today, and the room was pretty enthusiastic upon hearing the good news. Apparently, John is the only candidate below Congressional level to get the President’s stamp of approval. Kudos to Team Laird for making it happen. These doorhangers are going out to voters across the very long district. It runs from Santa Clara district in the North all the way down to Santa Barbara County.
You can visit the John Laird website for more information and ways you can help out. They are doing a nice virtual phonebank program if you can’t get down to the district. But nothing replaces some good ol’ fashioned door-knocking, especially in a race that will be determined by turnout. So, if you can make a trip this weekend or next, I’d highly recommend it.
As somebody who has known, and been represented by, John Laird for years, I couldn’t agree more. I’ve been running phone banks for the campaign for 8 weeks now, as a volunteer, because he is exactly as you describe him. I tell the other volunteers who don’t know John, “I’ve actually met a fair number of jerks since I got involved in politics. You know, all ego. The sort of people most voters think of when they think of politicians. But I’ve also met some really decent people. Folks who went into government to make a difference. Because they care about people. Those politicians restore my faith in the political process. And John is one of them.”
I had a couple of young women come in to work the phones in June. They’d just graduated from UCSC, and had taken a class there from John. They described him as approachable, interesting, and inspirational. Every teacher should hope to inspire such feelings in his students.
Most of the others who come in are like me. They know how well John represented us, and they want to support him in return. Every elected official should aspire to arouse such loyalty in the people he serves.
John does.