Jeff Smith lost! :(

Dear Readers,

Well, Jeff Smith lost.

I'm sad, but I'm not completely surprised. Jeff Flake is the incumbent, he has a lot of name recognition, and he hasn't had any big scandals. There were a lot of people who told me I was crazy for supporting Jeff Smith just because he had no chance. It seemed that those naysayers never talked about the issues or compared and contrasted the candidates or anything, they just said, "Well, Jeff Flake isn't doing too bad, and he's well-known, and Jeff Smith doesn't have enough money or a big enough name." And I got discouraged when I read that Espresso Pundit wrote, "This isn't even a race. Jeff Smith is taking on Jeff Flake. Smith has no money and no chance." Espresso Pundit was echoing the conventional wisdom that an underfunded, honest grassroots tea-party candidate can't beat a career politician.

Gosh, I'm really upset and I need to go to bed.

I just wrote Jeff Smith the following letter:

Jeff Smith,

Sorry to hear the news about your loss. I voted for you, my wife voted for you, I wore a Jeff Smith button when I was out and about, I told my family and friends and co-workers about you, I blogged about you, I put a Jeff Smith bumpersticker on my car, I distributed signs and literature to a few people around San Tan Valley, I put a sign in my yard, I put up a few signs around my neighborhood, I sat in front of the polling place for two hours this morning, I knocked on just a few doors, I left your literature on maybe a hundred doors, I spent about 8 - 10 hours on the phone calling people, I donated 25 bucks to your campaign, and I hosted a Meet and Greet.

And I know that you did a ga-zillion times more than I did. But you still lost. I'm disappointed.

I'm really really bummed right now. I'm afraid for our country. One of the things that upsets me the most is Ben Qualye winning in CD 3. Did the people voting for him look into his record at all? Or were they convinced by all those TV ads his Dad and his Dad's friends bought for him? Another thing that makes me mad is the really really low voter turnout rate- about 20 % I think. Why don't more people care about the direction of our country? I don't get it. But, I think your campaign did some good, and I don't regret helping you get a few more votes. Maybe you could run again in two years, but I'm sure you don't want to think about that now.

Thank you for running. I hope you don't think that all your effort was wasted. You inspired a lot of people, including me, and you added to the public political discourse in a positive way. People need to hear your message of fiscal and social conservatism, and they need to hear what Flake's stances are on illegal immigration and global warming, among other things.

Thanks again for running against Jeff Flake. It's been a pleasure getting to know you and working with you. I think you're a great man and a true patriot. Best of luck to you on your future endeavors.

Sincerely,
Telemoonfa

P.S. I have plenty more commentary on the other Primary election results, like the Governor race and the Senate race and stuff, but I have to go to bed now. For more up-to-the-minute commentary on the election results, refer to pundits who get paid to be pundits. Goodnight.