Being a Candidate is quite an experience.
I enjoy being a candidate, most of the time. It’s a lot of work and it takes up a lot of time and even after that, I still feel like I’m not devoting enough time to it. Really, the only time I don’t enjoy it is when a speech doesn’t go well, or I feel I let someone down. I spoke in July and had that experience.
I was well prepared. I knew what I was going to talk about and was confident enough about it that I didn’t feel I needed notes. I walked into the meeting and several people came up to me. One man thanked me for helping him out with a problem he was having with the school system. My advice had solved the problem. Another person was anxious to introduce me to her friend. She introduced me as the man that she had been telling him about. Someone came up and said I was handsome. And another came up to me with a donation.
I was feeling excellent. It would be a good night.
Within minutes they called the candidates up front. We were to speak first. I lined up behind a man who I hadn’t met before. He told me he had been working on another man’s campaign. I mistakenly assumed he was there to speak for the other candidate. He went up to the podium and began talking casually. He announced he was running for State House in a district that spans across the Skyway. Within seconds he had the crowd. They cheered. They stood. And, I believe they might have even shouted Amen. As he walked away from the podium, their eyes followed him back to his seat. They were moved. It was heart pounding excitement. And then it was my turn.
I stood at the podium and waited for their eyes to drift back. I commented on what an exciting candidate he is, and then I started my speech. The contrast was so great, I felt I was putting myself to sleep and then, the worst happened. I completely forgot what the middle of my speech was going to be. I went black. I said something like “And that’s just not right, but I’ll tell you something else that’s not right. Everybody probably thought the pause was for effect. In a split second I moved onto an issue that I hadn’t even planned on talking about. It actually got some applause. I wrapped it up and walked back to a seat. Maybe nobody noticed?
