Investing in People 

Kevin started as a volunteer who knocked twenty hours a week for free. When we finally had money to hire, he applied. He showed the two things you can’t teach: hunger and heart.

I want him to leave this campaign not just as someone who knocked a lot of doors, but as someone who can build a field program from scratch.

Then there’s Cleveland.

He’s my campaign manager and the yin to my yang.
I build structure.
He builds energy.

We’ve clashed.
We’ve learned.
We’ve become a real team.

He cut his own salary so we could hire a part-time organizer, Noah.
So when Cleveland barely missed automatic qualification for a national karaoke competition, I watched the People’s Choice votes tick down to the wire and I put in more of my own money than I'd like to admit to push him through.

He earned it.

And if we’re going to talk about “lifting as you climb,” that has to apply inside our own team too.

A campaign isn’t just the candidate.
It’s the people who make the climb with you.