The most vivid realization of that promise for me came in 1990. That year I ran for the office of attorney general of Idaho. I knew I faced a daunting task because there had not been a member of my political party elected as attorney general in 20 years. There had not been a person from my county elected to any statewide office in 38 years. And, in all the history of the United States, there had never been an American Indian elected to any statewide, state constitutional office (like governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state, or attorney general).
Furthermore, right after I filed my declaration of candidacy with the secretary of state, a political writer for the largest newspaper in the state wrote that I had no chance to win the race for attorney general. He said that I had started the election with three strikes against me because I was a Mormon, an Indian, and a Democrat. In response to this challenge, I just went out and worked as hard as I could on that campaign.
2 comments:
I love that.
I find Echohawk very inspiring.
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