Aug 06 2008
The Day After.
The “hangover” will probably last a few weeks…. but I know this too will pass.
The emotions that you experience losing an election run the gamut from sorrow to anger to jealousy to relief. I will let go of the negative emotions very quickly as they are “cancerous” and sap your energy. I promise to learn from this experience and quickly move on to whatever the next step will be. I need some time to sort that out. I plan to stay involved in the public process going forward so that I do not have to re-educate my self again.
I have started a small flame of “public awareness” that I want to keep alive in some way. That process will not be entirely my decision to make. My family, friends and trusted advisers will have to help me sort that out. If there is any one thing that defeated me it is voter apathy, VA, and I promise to keep the fight to overcome VA alive in some way. Over 800 hundred people voted for me. I was beaten by a margin of 400 out of 2000 votes cast in a ward with 17,000 registered voters. We can do better than that. The way I see it I have chance to get 15,800 votes in the next election.
Thank you for all your efforts, Stew. We were behind you all the way and are disappointed you didn’t win. I’m happy to see that you’ve taken this as a learning experience and will continue to stay involved in the public process; your underlying goal for your involvement — to make Ann Arbor a better place — is the best reason to continue. You’ve helped Ann Arbor’s citizens to become more aware of the goings-on in their community and that is a huge accomplishment in itself.
All the best,
Laura