OK, everybody huddle here on the sideline. Gather in close.
Listen up.
Take hold of the hands of those next to you.
This is it, we’re heading into the fourth quarter of the game, just one full month to go of this election season.
I know you’re tired. Many of you have been out there day after day week after week month after month. We’re all tired.
When we started down this road together, do you remember what our opponents said? They said they were going to have a “permanent majority.” Do you remember that? They called us traitors and worse. They were going to crush us.
But we hung in there. We took their hits and we kept on going.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again the words that were handed down to me and that I pass on to you: What matters is not the size of the dogs in the fight it’s the size of the fight in the dogs.
That has always been true throughout history: from the men who made a stand on a bridge at Concord to the Screaming Eagles dropped behind the lines of Normandy to the Battered Bastards of Bastogne to a man who took that first step on the Moon to a woman who would not give up her seat on a bus in the South.
When we started down this road, there were not many of us. We stood up against a president who more than 90 percent of the people at one time approved and we stood our ground and refused to be swept along by the tyranny of the majority.
They told us here in West Virginia we were too backwards to vote for Barack Obama. They told us there was NO HOPE for us to win here. The Republicans told us McCain would blow us out by 20 points or more here in West Virginia. They told us it’d be impossible to win this state for Barack Obama and Joe Biden. That we couldn’t win it for us.
But we knew better. We had faith in our fellow West Virginians. We believed in them because we know what good people they are, that no matter how much you knock us down, we keep getting back up and we keep getting the job done.
Now look at us. Look where we are. We are just 4 points down. In the words of a wise man, we are doing the impossible and that makes us mighty.
That is striking distance. Forget their lead. It’s zero to zero. We’re not going to do anything different. We’re going to do the same things that got us here, we’re only going to do more of them. We’re going to phonebank, canvass, identify our voters, register new ones, write letters and emails, spread our message of hope. We’re going to reach deep inside and do more of the above. And we’re going to win.
We’re going to execute on all of the fundamentals. Not play defense, not make risky attacks. We’re just going to keep on doing what got us here in the first place. And we’re going to win.
Now look at the people to your left and your right with you when you phonebank and when you canvass. Remember them. These are the people who are making history with you. We lost dear friends along the way. If you’re weary, remember them. If it’s raining, remember them. If you’re discouraged because of your last call/door knock, remember them. If you don’t think you can keep going on, remember them. They are the angels who will lift you up on the wings of eagles. They will be with us when we win.
I don’t want anyone on the sidelines now. If you’re not in the field, strap your helmet on and get in there. On 3…1,2,3
Fired up! Ready to go!