A solitary figure stood on top of the station steps, hair and clothes being snatched by the early morning wind. It was 6 a.m., I was going to the train, and the figure handed me an election flyer through the gloom.
It was my local Labor candidate, doing what candidates do. She is standing in an electorate which is odds-on to swing against her in about 3 weeks. She's lining up to replace a high profile, well-regarded local Labor member who has decided not to run again. The timing and circumstances are all against her.
In that early morning context, I didn't think I should just take the flyer and run. We had a brief chat, and I asked her how she was feeling about her campaign. "Determined," she said. "I'm not entitled to claim confidence, but people like me need to stand up at times like these for what the Labor Party really is."
I had to admire her determination, and her willingness to take a stand. The commitment to occupy a lonely corner before dawn to connect with prospective voters; the guts to be part of an election race when so many in her party have either screwed up or bailed out, or both; the willingness to cling to core purpose in the face of a potential rout. Whatever your politics, you've got to respect that kind of courage and belief.
There's a difference between plonking yourself futilely in front of a tide that won't be turned back, and the commitment to be counted for your belief even knowing that success is unlikely. May I be granted the wisdom to know that difference.
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