Reader: Fletcher ‘Bold Even In Defeat’

Dear Mr. Nathan Fletcher:

You don’t know me, but my wife Alicia and sister-in-law Jennifer have been volunteering for your campaign for several months, and I was at your election party at the U.S. Grant. I wanted to tell you that what you’ve achieved is substantial. People tend to measure success by victories, but this belittles success. When someone takes on a challenge that is outside convention generally the difference between bold and stupid is that if you win you were bold and if you lose you were stupid — but you are bold even in defeat.

Of all the virtues courage is the one that is most lacking in American politics and you’ve done the people of San Diego the considerable favor of showing us all what courage looks like. For most people their normal mode is to sit on the couch and complain about the problems of the world. To get up from the couch and do something about it takes effort, to participate in the political process takes even more, but to commit to a cause and campaign for that cause takes herculean effort, commitment and persistence and your campaign was not in vain. Some fights are biased against you from the start — at the end of the day all a man can do is fight the good fight and hope others follow. Sometimes the effort is more important than the result — you’ve provided leadership in a political vacuum and your campaign will be remembered in that light. To quote the French philosopher Voltaire “every man is guilty of all the good he did not do” — even in defeat you have done good Mr. Fletcher and that’s all that can be asked of any man. Thank you for the inspiration.

— Jim Snook

Jim Snook lives in Clairemont.

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