|
insights Archive for: January 2008
Personal Report to My Friends
posted by snarko2 on January 13 2008
Many of you urged me to run for public office again this year in the 2008 elections. Your entreaties were encouraging and heartwarming. I owe you a personal report on why I am not doing so.
Let me begin here. Rachel and I rented a suite in a downtown Austin hotel for election night in November 2006. We brought all the family with us - B.J., Kay Cee, Maya and Leya. The youngest two, Maya and Leya, 10 and 9 at the time, got all dressed up to be with their daddy that big night. The election campaign had included a huge experience for them - traveling with mom and dad for a few weeks of the whistlestop tour during the summer when school was out. My two young daughters saw a lot of their state and experienced the political processes of democracy up close. The children were proud of their dad and excited about the possibility of him winning the election for attorney general of Texas.
But the election campaign was both a good and a bad experience for them. When the whistlestop tour was in full swing, apart from the summer weeks they traveled with us Rachel and I were gone for weeks at a time, traveling Monday through Friday, often gone on Saturdays and Sundays too, home only some weekends. During this hectic time the children either camped at generous friends' homes or their big sister Kay Cee stayed with them at our house. While the girls had good support systems around them during our travels, nothing could completely compensate for missing mom and dad. It caused them a lot of emotional struggle.
Maya and Leya were also conflicted about the possibility of my winning the election. While they would have been proud and excited about it, at the same time they did not want to have to move to Austin and leave their San Antonio schools and their many friends behind. That part too was an emotional struggle for them.
None of these conflicts felt by Maya and Leya affected B.J. and Kay Cee, who at ages 23 and 22 were already living independent lives. The older two kids were simply proud and excited about the whole thing.
So here we were in the hotel suite, surrounded by friends and supporters, with our children doing their best to soak it in.
As the reports made it clear that Greg Abbott was getting re-elected attorney general, Maya and Leya's little faces showed the inner conflicts they were struggling with. Their dad was losing the election and that was a big letdown. But at the same time, they were relieved about not having to move to Austin and about mom and dad's traveling being over, while at the same time feeling guilty about their feelings of relief.
About midnight Maya was sitting beside me and visibly showing her inner tension. She wanted to say something but was afraid to say it. I asked her if she would like to go on a little walk with me outside on Congress Avenue. Her response was one of visible relief - "oh yes daddy, can we please go on a walk together."
So I took my little daughter, whom I love more than anything in the world, downstairs through the crowds of political observers in the hotel lobby, and out onto Congress Avenue for our little walk. She tightly gripped my hand. After walking a block up Congress toward the State Capitol, we stopped to sit on a sidewalk bench. Finally she let it out - "Daddy, since you didn't win, can we please stay in San Antonio? Leya and I don't want to leave our friends. And Daddy, can you please not run for office next time? Leya and I have missed you soooo much."
At that moment I reflected on the fact that I had been campaigning for office for three straight years - all of 2004 for the Texas Supreme Court, and all of 2005 and 2006 for Attorney General. I had been absent for a lot of the time during three of my daughters' precious elementary grade years. I looked at my sweet daughter and said, "Angel, I promise you we won't move to Austin now and I won't run for office next time. I'm going to spend lots and lots of time with you and Leya." My little daughter squealed her delight and gave her daddy her biggest possible hug. This is the first time I have told this story in public.
Beginning that very moment, over the past 14 months my free time has joyfully revolved around hanging out with my young children. I've given them back their dad. My weekends are special times set aside for the kids. In November and December 2006 I taught the girls to ride bicycles without training wheels, and we began going on bike rides together every weekend. We go to movies, we go to the park, we do hobbies together, we go on our bike rides, we play board games, we do everything we can think of; and the girls still have plenty of time for the frequent pajama parties with their friends. Perhaps most important of all, I'm there to help with their homework. The girls have not yet reached the teen years when they will begin leading more independent lives, so my promise to my daughters remains meaningful for 2008. It was one of the best promises I ever made; and it is one that has brought incalculable joy to the young children to whom I have the greatest duty of all, to be a good parent, as well as to me.
In addition, during the past year I've re-become fulltime busy in the hands-on legal arena as an advocate for the causes I care about - working people, unions, social and economic justice, Constitutional liberties, and fighting the robber barons. In my capacity as a private lawyer there are now many legal fights for justice in which I am engaged, to which I am committed and I must see through before I am ready to offer myself again to fight for the public.
2010 is the next cycle of our Texas state elections. In 2010 Maya and Leya will be teenagers and not as interested in time with mom and dad. In 2010 I will be ready again to answer your calls. Thank you always for your support, your friendship, and your determination. Meanwhile, keep fighting the robber barons and the Constitution thieves. Fight 'em till hell freezes over; then fight 'em on the ice.
|
Take Action >>
More Insights >>
My Challenge to You >>
July 4
The US Supreme Court Does Its Job This Time >>
June 15
$4 Gasoline and the Corporate-Government Complex >>
May 28
In the Press >>
|
