Three Wins Today: Nov 20, 2025

Run for SOMETHING, Not Congress.

Why has everyone decided that they should START their political career in Congress?

When I tell people to “run for something,” I mean school board, city council, board of supervisors, town select board, water board, state house/assembly, maybe even mayor.

The only time I will ever mean Congress is when there isn’t another Dem running. Congress is not the place to learn the ropes of how government works. It’s not the first stepping stone.

We need a bench, if everyone runs for Congress, there is no bench. There are just a lot of people with failed high profile candidacies and nothing to back that up.

Congressional campaigns are also really expensive, and, especially if you’re just trying to primary a Dem, who is not going anywhere, all you’re doing is taking funding that could be going to ousting a Republican and using it to divide the party further.

Campaigning is about celebrity, it sucks, but it is, but governing isn’t. You can’t get by on nice Instagram videos and the most TikTok followers. And with this influx of young people with no experience running for Congress, I can’t see it being for anything else.

If you really want to make a difference, start local. Look at Rep Adelita Grijalva. She was on the Tuscon Unified School District Board for 20 years. And then she became County Supervisor and THEN Congress.

Congress is made up of older people because they’ve put in the work. Because it takes work to understand government.

I’m not asking you to wait 20 years, but get elected to something else first. Anything else. Prove you can get elected. Prove to your constituents that you can be trusted to make change and listen to them. Prove that you care about them more than making well received statements to your Instagram followers.

Maybe Congress is a stepping stone for some, but it’s not the first, and sometimes, Senate and President don’t have to be “next,” sometimes, the difference someone can make in Congress should be enough.

Don’t let your ego get in the way of actually representing your constituents, no matter how many or how few people that is.

Run for SOMETHING, but don’t start with Congress.

“The Library” by Mackenzie Kuck (If you want me to use your artwork as my cover, keep watching my socials!)

Nationwide

Thu, Nov 13 - The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops have launched the “You Are Not Alone” initiative. This initiative will be all about making sure immigrants are safe and cared for.

Through:

Emergency and Family Support - which is self explanatory. That’s the kind of stuff every organization is doing.

Public Prayer and Witness - which includes toolkits for how to be “Missionaries of Hope.” And, while you can think whatever you want about prayers, in terms of a higher power, remember it connects communities and gives hope and that’s not a small thing.

Accompaniment and Pastoral Care - trainings and guidance for clergy and church leaders. It sounds like this includes things like how to lead those in prayer who are detained, and help families in the immigration system. On the practical level this is probably about court watchers, among other things.

The announcement also says:

Our Catholic faith teaches that every person is made in the image of God and deserves respect, dignity, and care. While people have the right to build a future in their homeland, they also have the right to migrate when life at home becomes unsafe or unsustainable.

I never thought, in my wildest dreams that religion, especially Catholicism, would play such a role in my daily wins, but here we are.

Charlotte, North Carolina

Sun, Nov 16 - Martha White is the literary executor for her grandfather. Her grandfather being E.B. White. He wrote Charlotte’s Web.

Unfortunately, that is what the Trump Administration is calling these raids in Charlotte, NC.

And Martha White is not staying silent. She shared a statement with CNN.

Unfortunately they only shared pieces of it with the public, but here’s what she said.

[My grandfather] certainly didn’t believe in masked men, in unmarked cars, raiding people’s homes and workplaces without IDs or summons. He didn’t condone fearmongering He believed in the rule of law and due process…It’s important to know when to speak up. to expose the lies or misperceptions and when to deny the limelight that feeds the cruelty.

What a powerful statement.

And the book is about protecting and caring for those who can’t fully do so for themselves. Taking a runt pig, naming him Wilbur, and not telling him be slaughtered. If that’s not the perfect reminder of how we have to take care of each other, the exact opposite of “Operation Charlotte’s Web,” I really don’t know what is.

Georgia

Mon, Nov 17 - A new study found that Georgia libraries have generated a huge amount of “economic return,” and a massive increase from the previous study in 2020.

The study was conducted by The Carl Vinson Institute of Government at the University of Georgia to analyze the Georgia Public Library Services.

It concludes:

Georgia’s public libraries provide tremendous value in return for the investment of public dollars and private donations. For each dollar entrusted to the libraries, society receives an estimated $3.75 in goods and services, and indirect and induced economic benefit. In addition to the traditional services of book circulation and reference assistance, today’s libraries provide eBooks, electronic videos and music, plus access to vast amounts of data and information from resources across the globe. Civic clubs and organizations in many communities use library meeting space, as do student tutoring and mentoring programs.

We all know that libraries across the country are in trouble, or perceived that way, so it’s a big deal to see a study like this now.

Especially when looking at Baton Rouge, where the mayor Sid Edwards, tried to take funding from local libraries to offset city expenses in his THRIVE tax proposal.

Libraries are not just sitting there to be used to save a politicians ass. And this just proves they are as important economically as they are intellectually.

I hope we get more studies like this to remind everyone that books and libraries and all they have to offer aren’t going anywhere.

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I hope these wins bring you hope and strength to keep fighting. Wins come in all shapes and sizes, and that’s important to remember and really easy to forget.

Our voices are our superpower, but only when we use them!