LOSERS IN POLITICS AND LIFE HAVE MY SYMPATHY

After writing this post last night I was especially taken with my Your Stars horoscope in the newspaper this morning, Thursday, Oct. 13.  "Whatever you do, someone will criticize you for it.  Or, at the very least, they will question you about it.  If you are feeling sensitive and defensive, you may interpret their doubt as disapproval.  Then you may waste much precious time and energy, either worring unduly or preparing an unnecessarily strong defence.  What's really important today, is that you give your own intuition the trust that it deserves.  Your judgment is sound.  Your insight is astute.  Believe in yourself..."

Hmmmm.

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I received a rather negative, anonymous response to my post on the defeat of Huron-Bruce Liberal candidate Carol Mitchell in last week's provincial election.  (See comment below, inappropriately attached to my offbeat "Thanks"giving sentiment.)

I have seen many elections come and go in my 74 years, a number of which I covered as a journalist.  I have not been beyond contributing to some election campaigns in my capacity as a publicist.  The elation of victory and the agony of defeat are never more prevalent than in campaign headquarters as emotions ebb and flow with each incoming pole result.  I am aware also, of how well (debatable) compensated politicians are and of the perceived perks of public office, but that was not the point in my piece on Carol Mitchell, and all other losers in elections past and present.

None of us, politicians included, anticipate losing.  Even though there is the realistic possibility of losing, we naturally undertake challenges in life with the expectation of emerging victorious.  Otherwise, why bother?  We celebrate victory and we mourn a loss of any kind, again that is only natural.  The sting of defeat is measured by the degree in which we have applied ourselves to a task or cause.  As with any walk of life, the harder we try the harder it is to fall.  In spite of skin that is thick out of necessity, politicians are capable of bleeding and are deserving of a little compassion when the life that they have known comes to a screeching halt at the polls.  No amount of transitional compensation ever completely makes up for the price that is paid emotionally, hense my comment:  "You couldn't pay me enough..."  That point alone should not be too difficult to appreciate.


I was merely writing from a human standpoint about the disappointment and anguish that comes with losing.  Carol Mitchell's upset last week simply gave me a peg on which to hang a long-held belief, albeit spontaneously expressed.   There is a lot of insensitivity and callousness in politics and I felt that I wanted to present a sensitive perspective on losing that is often overlooked in media reports and conversations in the coffee shop.  As I have written on many occasions, that is the nice thing about publishing your own web site -- you can freely express what is on your mind and in your heart and you can go on and on about it to your heart's content.

As a commentator of everyday life, I put myself in other peoples' shoes and give the benefit of doubt whenever possible.  I just happen to have a soft spot for losers.  I kind of know how it feels.

I write, for the most part, with gut-felt emotion and from experience.  If I feel something strong enough, I commit it to this site with as much emphasis as I am capable.  That's my style and that's what Wrights Lane is all about -- like it or not.

And my name is always attached to any comments I make in this and all other forums.


Perhaps some would say that I have "gone on" long enough!?