Monday, November 8, 2010

Quantitative vs. Qualitative Victories

There are different kinds of victories.

Some are indicated by the final score. This was not to be one of those. Not this time. In the world of quantitative scores, 27.88% is not considered a victory.

Nevertheless, on November 2, 2010, 1,878 voters in Orem’s District 60 did cast their ballots for Alan Keele. That’s a lot of voters.

And each one of those voters must have had compelling reasons not to follow the Utah County crowd by simply voting a straight R ticket.

If even one of those voters had a choice and a voice because of my candidacy, if even one voter had the satisfaction of knowing that he or she was able to make a statement about the need for more moderate voices to be heard here in Utah County, that was worth all the work and expense and trouble of my campaign.

We moderates were not born yesterday. This is Utah County. So these 1,877 other voters and I knew from the outset that most likely we would only be able to accomplish a little bit.

But we hoped that because of our voices the so-called “Anointed Ones” of the moonstruck fringe would now be a bit less secure in their supposed sinecures.

(Had they been entirely unopposed, had they gotten 100% of the votes, who can say that they would not have been encouraged to move ahead even more recklessly with their extreme agendas?)

So ours was a moral victory. A qualitative victory. A victory for hope.

Linda joins me in thanking each voter for his and her support. We salute you! We encourage each of you to remain optimistic, to continue boldly to stand up for good causes, to stay on the high ground, and to never, ever lose hope!

Fully expecting to work with you again sometime in the near future, we remain most profoundly grateful for each of you!

Cordially,


Alan and Linda Keele