woensdag 8 november 2017

More Kindness

Post-election day.  Even though this wasn’t a huge election year, there were a lot of important local races going on (my preferred city council rep won!) and this morning, there is a lot of commentary out there.  But this really caught my eye, and I keep returning to it.

 

I’m not sure how much coverage this local race got, but in sum, a transgender woman was running against a 13-term incumbent who had once called himself Virginia’s chief-homophobe.  He introduced the state’s bathroom bill.

But Roem didn’t campaign on those issues, at least not initially.  She campaigned on the local issues important to her potential constituents.  Her big focus was traffic, something my friends in that area say is a huge issue.  She didn’t even bring up gender until her opponent started to use it to attack her.

And the whole time, she refused to stoop to his level.  She kept her messaging positive.  We could learn a lot from her.  She was being attacked and she went high.  It’s so easy to respond with anger and frustration and lash out, but Roem managed to keep herself out of the fray, and I have so much respect for her because of it.  I’m looking forward to her political future.

Also, I just love this from the Washington Post:

Standing on a table inside the pub, Roem dedicated her win “to every person who’s ever been singled out, who’s ever been stigmatized, who’s ever been the misfit, who’s ever been the kid in the corner, who’s ever needed someone to stand up for them when they didn’t have a voice of their own. This one is for you.”

 

She then reiterated her promises of alleviating traffic congestion on Route 28.

 

“That’s why I got in this race,” Roem said. “Because I’m fed up with the frickin’ road over in my home town.”

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