Sometime in the distant past, when David Strauss and I were managing the campaigns of the North Dakota Democratic-NPL Party, I received a note from David with those words. They struck home. I went looking for their source. I found the actual quote, ironically, from President Calvin Coolidge, who said this:
“Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan ‘Press On!’ has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race.”
The quote comes to mind as I open my e-mails each morning. I am reminded of the first e-mail I received from Vice President Kamala Harris at 6:33 p.m. Sunday, July 21, the day she announced her campaign for president. It started, “I am running to be President of the United States.”
It was a brief e-mail, fewer than 300 words, and she asked me to make a donation of $25 to her campaign. And at the bottom was a small, wonderful, photo of her.
I’ve not been in the habit of sending money to presidential candidates, although I know I should, so I didn’t respond. I probably should have because this is the most persistent woman I have ever encountered. In the 60 days since I received that e-mail, I have received 269 more.
You read that right: 269 e-mails in 60 days. I know that because I saved them all. In the days that followed her announcement, I became fascinated by the frequency she contacted me asking for my support and, occasionally, some money. They’re all still there, in my Inbox.
Oh, and they ‘re not just from her. She has a lot of friends with e-mail accounts, including James Carville, Robert DeNiro, Barack Obama, Sherrod Brown, Gavin Newsom, Michelle Obama, Bill Clinton, Carole King, Joe Biden, both Tim and Gwen Walz and her husband, Doug Emhoff. They’ve all let me know they are supporting her candidacy.
Yep, THAT Carole King, who wrote:
“The original Cat Lady is all in for Kamala. I’m personally writing this to invite you to join the movement to elect Vice President Kamala Harris as President of the United States and defeat the orange guy decisively!”
And sent me a picture of her and her cat.
And THAT Robert DeNiro, who said,
“Jim, it’s Robert De Niro.
“When Trump ran in 2016, I thought it was a joke. We New Yorkers used to tolerate him when he was just another grubby hustler masquerading as a big shot, a two-bit playboy lying his way into the tabloids.
“Then the unthinkable happened.
“Now, like a recurring nightmare, it can happen again . …”
Well, it was fun reading them all. I’m finally going to send money today, just to see if they stop coming. Or come with more frequency, if that is possible.
And I hope, and really do think, that on Election Day, she’ll prove old Silent Cal right, the man who apparently didn’t say much, but when he said something, it was important: “Persistence is omnipotent.”
Press On, Kamala!
Postscript: I just did it. Sent $50. On ActBlue. Using Lillian’s PayPal account. Guess who’s going to start getting e-mails now.
