A Hidden Opportunity
Hello, I hope that the Spring is off to a great start for you and yours. I just spoke at the Hudson Valley Ideas Fast this weekend and it was a lovely experience.
There’s a lot of frustration with our political process right now, for good reason. Congress, after months of delay, just passed an aid package. But it’s important to take advantage of opportunities to improve our leadership when they do come up. Andy Kim is one example – he’ll make a tremendous U.S. Senator from New Jersey as a true voice of the people.
There’s another massive opportunity to install a high-quality U.S. Senator that most everyone is overlooking. That is the race to replace Mitt Romney in Utah.
Mitt Romney announced last year that he would not run for re-election, citing his advanced age and a desire to pass the torch to the next generation. As you’d imagine, this set off a rush of candidates to replace him. 11 candidates have declared in the Republican primary. Of these, the vast majority – 8 - have endorsed Donald Trump.
The ninth? John Curtis, a four-term member of Congress. John is his own person. “If they’re expecting me to be Mitt Romney, I’m going to disappoint them. If they’re expecting me to be Mike Lee, I’m going to disappoint them. I’m John Curtis, and I’m really happy with who that is and what I’ve been able to do and accomplish.” Among those accomplishments, John founded the Conservative Climate Caucus for Republicans who believe that climate change is a problem and want to help address it. John has his beliefs and is willing to stand up for them.
“I thought long and hard about running for this office. And I became convinced that it’s the best way I can serve.” John and I had lunch together recently and he struck me as someone of character and leadership. Despite his service in Washington, he seemed very circumspect in taking on this race. Other members of Congress I’ve spoken to – even those who disagree with him on some fronts – rave about his ability to work together.
The Republican primary in Utah is on June 25th. Who would you rather have, a Romney-esque leader who believes in climate change and isn’t bending the knee to Trump or one of the eight candidates who has already endorsed Trump? This is a rare opportunity because, in such a crowded field, someone like John could emerge from the primary and be on a glide path straight to the Senate.
One frustration I have with Democrats is that they act like all Republicans are the same, sometimes while actually backing election deniers in primaries to increase their own chances in the general. Here, the opportunity is to back a non-Maga Senator who can help provide a bulwark against the extremes of his own party. That’s a big deal. And the Democrats will be uncompetitive in this particular race in November.
I’ve donated to John and I hope you will consider doing so as well. Let your friends in Utah know about his race. We have to take advantage of opportunities when they arise and leaders like John don’t come along every day.
To see what Forward is up to in your area click here. To better understand why our political process is so dysfunctional, pick up Forward: Notes on the Future of our Democracy. And I just found out my TED Talk comes out on May 7th next week – pumped to share it with the world!
