Kossacks,
My father dropped in on y'all last week with a post in support of my Senate campaign in Nevada (and again yesterday with a follow-up). I expected the magnitude of the response - after all, this is the first President of the United States to honor the blogosphere with his presence, but I was overwhelmed at the sheer love and respect you guys displayed for him.
I currently spend much of my day in a windowless room using a telephone to reach willing contributors to my campaign. Last week, in the course of my calling I was talking to one of my contemporaries (late 50's) when the conversation turned to Bobby Kennedy. I have a bust of him on my TV cabinet wearing a 1976 New Hampshire Carter for President ski hat. Bobby Kennedy was assassinated while I was in boot camp, 1968, and something died in me. He was my last hero.
I was relating that story when the thought struck me that my father had rekindled the flame. He has become my new hero - one with much more gravitas than Bobby ever had in his short life. Bobby was a meteor, an orator with charismatic appeal, geared to the boomer generation. My father is a bricklayer, one who goes to work every day, trowel in hand, and lays his line honestly with respect for a hard days work by his fellows and a sincere wish to do the best he can. As a member of the family, I am so close to these incremental changes that sometimes I don't recognize their impact until something happens to make me turn around and look back.
I turned around last week. What I discovered was that my father has, brick by brick, day by day, built a magnificent edifice, a towering monument to the best that humankind has to offer - peace, love, alleviation of suffering, compassion, joy, freedom and democracy. Wow! I'm impressed, too.
Thanks for your thoughts. Y'all inspire me.
Jack Carter
Carter for Nevada