The Gift of Failure by Dan Bongino

Author:Dan Bongino [Bongino, Dan]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9798888450635
Publisher: Post Hill Press
Published: 2023-07-13T13:03:35+00:00

9

“Don’t fear failure—not failure, but low aim is the crime. In great attempts, it is glorious even to fail.”

―Bruce Lee

Election night was a devastating experience. Winning the primary had been incredible. But on that winning primary night, the impossible nature of what was ahead had not hit me: a first-time candidate, with no significant fundraising, so no shot of winning the Senate race. That was the prevailing attitude.

Primary night I thought, this isn’t too bad. I’ve beaten nine other people. My father was proud of me that night. He was there. He’s a more practical guy than me, very methodical. He reminds me of a drill sergeant, and I mean that respectfully. He gets up at 4 a.m., writes down his to-do list, and that’s what’s going to happen the rest of the day. He had been skeptical of my decision to run. My grandparents were very risk averse. For them, if you had a government job, that was gold. You would never give that up. It was a Depression-era mentality that carried down, so my dad was skeptical when I jumped into the race. When we won that night, seeing his reaction, it was an emotional reward for me. There’s nothing like making a father proud.

Once I won the primary, it had not hit me that I had probably less than a 1 percent chance of winning. So I just enjoyed that moment. It was one of those nights you say to yourself, I want to wake up in the morning, but if I don’t, I could go out like this.

I was learning that in politics, you have to lie to yourself a little bit (or in this case, a lot). You have to tell yourself that anything is possible. Even when you know it isn’t. I thought maybe I had some special political gift that people would respond to and help override the massive political chasm. Make them vote for me. I don’t mean in the liberal way, like dead people in the cemetery. I mean like the power of persuasion. I was out there in the pouring rain, the freezing cold, knocking on doors. At train stations, I tried to greet everyone who passed by. People were laughing at me at Ravens games, Orioles games…as I waved to them. It was a lot of work. I did all of that because I lied to myself. I thought I had some profound political gift, and maybe I did, but political tribalism is hard to overcome. Reality is a beast.

So you know, I don’t like being around groups of people in public. I’m almost clinically antisocial when I’m in public. Very low-key. I don’t initiate many conversations. I like people, but I’m just not that social. So becoming a politician was counterintuitive. If you’re not a social person, getting into politics is the most asinine thing on planet earth. Parents tell you two things: (1) don’t ask people for money and (2) don’t talk about yourself. That’s all politics is.

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