In Politics, You Can't Always Get What You Want

It's hard for a candidate to be told "no," I get it. Every candidate thinks they are new and different, and that they are the "future." Every candidate thinks they are the one that can win. Every candidate thinks they should be the choice of the party. I've had to tell candidates they wouldn't be getting party resources before, that their poll numbers are bad, it's a tough conversation.

Recently, I've been following a local story where "the party elders" told a candidate they were not the first choice of the party. This candidate was told that the party is going to put it's energy behind a different candidate. They were told the opponent would have a better organized campaign, and would be a better candidate. The other candidate has long-standing, deep roots in the community, they have solid policy positions, and they would start a general election with a lot better profile to run on. That may not be true in a few years. That may not be true for a different office. Nothing is ever set in stone. The great part about this is, if you don't agree with the thoughts of "the party elders," you can run anyone and try to prove them wrong. Even so, the "party elders" are usually right. These types of calls aren't made based on how much people "like" the person involved, they're based on facts and history.

Whether they are or not, the wrong response is to lash out and behave like a martyr. In a totally unrelated case, a different local Democrat who wasn't happy about the delegate selection process for the convention called the entire process "fixed" once they found out they weren't selected. I understand, feelings get hurt in this stuff. It's tough. Lashing out and attacking the integrity or motives of others isn't necessary. It's not productive. It's also usually incorrect. No one "feels bad for you" after you go on the attack like that. You prove no point, at least not about other people.