I spent the weekend in Washington, D.C. with my son and my granddaughter. We went to watch the Astros play the Nationals, and it was one of those trips that ended up being about a lot more than baseball.
I’ve been to Washington many times over the years, but this time I noticed something different.
You know what surprised me?
Hope.
For all the cable news screaming, for all the political chaos, for all the finger-pointing… the people I met weren’t walking around defeated.
Quite the opposite.
They were optimistic.
They were friendly.
They were tolerant.
They were engaged.
Washington gets painted as this angry city where everybody hates everybody else. That wasn’t the Washington I saw.
I saw people who believe democracy is bigger than any one president.
I saw people who have lived through difficult moments before and understand something we’ve forgotten in the rest of the country.
Nothing is permanent.
Administrations change.
Parties change.
The country changes.
But only if the people participate.
That’s what struck me.
People weren’t sitting around waiting for a superhero to save America.
They understood that the job belongs to all of us.
That’s really what the Truth Party has been about from the beginning.
It’s never been about finding the perfect candidate.
It’s never been about worshipping politicians.
It’s about citizens remembering they have more power than they think.
Vote.
Stay involved.
Hold leaders accountable.
Repeat.
Democracy isn’t a spectator sport.
You don’t get to sit on the couch every four years, complain about the score, and then wonder why your team keeps losing.
If only 40 or 50 percent of eligible people vote, we’re letting a minority decide the future for everybody else.
Imagine if 90 percent of Americans voted.
Imagine the message that would send.
Every elected official would wake up the next morning knowing the people are actually paying attention.
That’s accountability.
Washington reminded me of something I needed to remember.
Hope isn’t naïve.
Hope is a decision.
It’s deciding that this country is still under construction.
It’s deciding that tomorrow can be better than today.
And then getting off your ass and doing something about it.
That’s how America has always moved forward.
Not because one person saved us.
Because millions of ordinary people decided it was their turn to participate.
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