Reply #148: No, the REAL reality

[Mairead]

is the one so many resist: we create 'electability'. It is not in the candidate, it is in us.

Jimmy Carter was not 'electable' - he was a total unknown, a very religious, conservative, first-term governor from the Deep South who farmed peanuts. But we elected him (Goddess knows why!).

We can view the locus of control as being outside ourselves, and tell ourselves that there are mystical forces at work that we can only sit back and watch because we can neither understand nor control them...

...or we can follow the lead of Tip O'Neill, Wellstone, Kucinich, and others who have upset the conventional wisdom by retail, door-knocking education on the issues. We can go out, knock doors, hand out flyers, and win hearts and minds one by one.

Being willing to strive for what we need doesn't guarantee victory, but it changes the odds. We can do our best. No one can do more.