Minority Leader: on Principles & Values

Sometimes we fail, our task is to embrace the failure

Failing forward, that is, taking risks and potentially falling short, has a utility. Intervention, discovery, & empires are built on high degrees of failure. But screwing up serves as a form of mental cartography, which result in a map of what we should avoid and a preview of the terrain for better outcomes.

When time not on our side, prepare for the long haul

Texas state senator Wendy Davis held the floor of the State Senate in 2014 for eleven hours to block a regulation to roll back reproductive choice. She beat the bill that night , but the GOP passed it in the following session, leading a newspaper to declare she had won the battle but lost the war. The temporary win and latter loss seemed to agree with the headlines, but one of the aspects of holding power is understanding the long game-that battles up over time and creates space for others to feel emboldened to act. And sometimes a simple act of defiance raises awareness and action, which in Davis' case meant the federal court decision that latter blocked parts of the bill from taking effect.

Leadership requires confidence, insight, sheer bravado