More Than Just One Poster

It is common knowledge that political campaigns, whether they are for Democrats or Republicans, cost a lot of money to maintain, support, and carry to what is the end goal: the candidate becoming elected.

Some campaigns cost more than others and are more heavily invested in. The campaign of Kamala Harris, for example, had at the very least $1 billion to support her desired candidacy. Other political candidates have done the same and spent in similar ways.

However, if a campaign is not well led, or if its resources are not efficient, if the candidate does not even care enough about the people they desire to serve and chooses to not give the people their all, a candidate should not be surprised if he or she loses their election.

This logic can be applied to local, state, and federal elections. It can even be applied all the way back to where many aspiring politicians first get their start: running for student council.

In September 2003, I chose to run for a student council position as an eighth-grade student at my middle school in the South. I had a speech, written out on a single page and I only had one very small poster, with the words “Vote for Jacob” written with markers, that I posted near a favorite teacher’s classroom door.

Being a politician, or running for anything, was never really something that was appealing to me. Yet, over the summer and beginning that fall semester, I entered a brief period where I started to become more social and be more accepted both at school and at my youth group at church. By the end of the school year, I would give a mini-sermon in front of my school’s FCA/FCS three times. This fall semester was the beginning of me becoming temporarily more brave.

On the day of the speeches, the entire eighth-grade class of at least 200 kids gathered in the school gymnasium. I sat down with my fellow classmates, at the bottom of the bleachers, as I waited for my turn to give my speech.

One by one, they gave their speeches. Giving typical promises that widely appealed to their adolescent base, their words were met with cheers and applause.

Then the moment came when it was my turn. I walked slowly to the podium, speech in my hands. My hair was messy, overgrown, and greasy. My shoes were untied as I stepped up to the microphone to address my peers.

Nervously, I read my speech and before I knew it I was done. I received some cheers and applause, but it was not nearly as much as my fellow candidates. Thinking I performed poorly, I quickly exited the gym when I was done and only heard two classmates tell me that I did well, whose names and faces I do not remember.

Later on, at the end of the day, students voted and the results were announced over the intercom. Having only given one speech and only produced a single poster, I foolishly thought I had a chance. My aspirations were crushed when the results were announced and I then realized that I had lost.

When a student runs for student council, the process does not require expensive political ads. It does not require town halls or celebrity endorsements. The student does not need to give massive rallies or be on podcasts, or various television shows.

Running for student council requires you to be social, and to interact with your peers, of varying backgrounds and cliques. To run for student council, you must be in touch with the changes students want to see at your school, like dress code requirements such as school uniforms. It also requires you to be well-loved by all of your fellow students and to make many posters, easily visible in all areas of your school, to do everything that you possibly can, if you want to win.

If there was a plan to run and win for student council, doing the things I just mentioned, I failed tremendously. My sole attempt at running for office had obvious and major issues. I was mildly social, compared to the rest of my peers. I was not popular or athletic. While I could speak and perform in front of many, I feared basic conversations and often desired to sit alone in the lunchroom. Having only a single poster, that I made and put up in the hall the day before the election, did not help things either.

This week, a certain kind of election happened: the 2024 election for the President of the United States. Both candidates, whether you liked them or not, made their cases for the American people. Both spent significant amounts of money to push themselves to victory. Whether their efforts were sufficient enough or whether their causes are virtuous is currently being debated on both sides of the aisle.

Yet, in three months, the current administration will transfer power into the hands of a new and yet familiar administration, with a leader who beat all the odds to once again become President of the United States.

It takes much to run a government, armed forces, and a country of many people. It also takes the efforts of many ordinary people, daily doing their jobs, going to work, and living life honorably, loving their fellow citizens, regardless of their differences.

Empires fall due to wickedness, depravity, and wreckless decision-making. A business or school cannot even function without order, without rules, or without basic morals.

Many have said the election result of former President Donald Trump becoming the 47th President of the United States is a confirmation that God has heard the prayers of His people and that He is giving the nation of America another chance to live right and to restore our land as one that honors Him.

Will you do your part? It will definitely take us giving everything we’ve got to honor God with our lives and do our part to fight for what is right and what will keep our nation truly great.

I may not be all that important, very wise, or someone people would vote for. But I know this. The effort, the fight to do what is right, to win and advocate for righteous causes, will require more than just our words. It will require more than a social media post, more than one single action, and it will require more than just one poster.