The important thing to remember here is
not that an eager young man got laid but that the excitement for the
candidate rubs off onto the people around the candidate. What I am
talking about here is not necessarily a physical proximity to the
candidate either it is an ideological proximity; it is the sharing of
a cause, a purpose, and a hope. A corollary to this is that the more
charismatic the candidate at the top of the ticket the longer the
coat tails will be. Enthusiasm for the cause(s) defined by a
charismatic candidate will extend to the people who are helping to
advance the cause(s). It is this dynamic this ability to get people
excited about a vision or cause that allows charismatic leaders to
start and advance social and political movements. Along with that
dynamic, however, there is often the problematic perception that the
leader and the cause are not just inseparable but are the same. The
dangers there are two fold: The first is that this perception is too
likely to evolve into the great man syndrome which makes a political
movement vulnerable to fascism or some other form of despotism (No to
Trump please). The second problem is that if the cause and the man
are viewed as synonymous their fates become intertwined making it all
too likely that the demise of one will result in the demise of the
other.
The more effort you put into a campaign
the more emotionally vested you become in the candidate and the
cause. The sharing of a cause, a purpose, and a hope with other
highly motivated people is an inspirational experience, and, at least
on an unconscious level, you do not want it to end. If your
charismatic candidate is successful there is the popping of champagne
corks and an elation that ends all too abruptly with a hangover and
the feeling that something is missing. Gone is the sense of urgency
and purpose that have been such a driving force. There is no
campaign headquarters to go to, and you miss the closeness of the
comrades with whom you shared the dream and the struggle. Getting
back to the routine of your normal life is not a passive thing. It
takes a real effort to start working on all of the tasks you have
been neglecting. Left, left! Your left, right, left! You struggle
to fall in step with the humdrum drum. How mundane your life
becomes depends... I do not know anything about your family, your
friends or how rewarding you find your profession. What I can tell
you is that the more committed you are to the cause the more likely you are to stay involved and to help
build a political base to advance the cause rather than naively depending on the newly elected candidate to make it happen.
If your candidate does not succeed the
end of the campaign hangover and sense of loss is even more painful.
But whether it is a question of whither thou or wither thou depends
on you. Bear in mind that during the early stages of most
revolutions there are setbacks and the movements appear to falter
before they pick up momentum. Fight for every advancement of the
cause no matter how small it may appear to be. It is not a matter of
settling for less it is a matter of positioning! As disappointed as
I am about Hillary Clinton, I do not want to waste all the valuable
time it would take to clean up the disastrous mess of a Trump
Presidency. Do not forget about congressional or local candidates;
they are important and mid-terms are only two years away. As Bernie
Sanders has been trying to tell us revolutions move from the bottom
up! Stay committed and help build and expand the base. The rewards
of being involved are still greater than the disappointments. Far
from being over, the revolution Bernie Sanders envisions has just
begun!
