I'd rather lose

The President has been impeached at a historic – yet somber – moment in our nation's history.

Since volunteering for Senator George McGovern – no relation by the way – on his presidential campaign in 1972, I've worked on races up and down the ballot, eventually asking voters to support me in my own campaigns. Decades later, I've felt both the exhilaration of winning a campaign and the stinging defeat of losing one.

I often think about kids today getting involved in the political process just like I did back in 1972:

What will they think if we say that the president's actions don't matter?

What should we tell them when, inevitably, they ask about bad actors a half-world away who were encouraged by American leaders to change the outcomes of our elections?

I casted my vote in favor of these two impeachment articles, my conscience is clear. I'm upholding the oath we take as we're sworn into Congress and defending our democracy. But I'm also doing something fundamentally as important: making sure the next kid who comes along and wants to make a difference in this country will know that their voice matters and their vote counts.

I would take losing an election any day of the week when the American people render that verdict. But I will never – never – be okay if foreign interference by other nations decided our leaders for us.

Jim