September 14, 2005

Brian's Remarks from Tuesday's Post-Election Celebration:

Thank you.

This has been an amazing, sleepless campaign.

A campaign that has been about convincing people, one by one, that ours was the campaign of ideas and energy.

We’ve done that, and I couldn’t be prouder.

We didn’t catch all the breaks. We didn’t have the support of the clubs or the career politicians.

Yet despite that, it appears that we finished third in a field of nine career electeds. More than 18,000 Manhattan residents supported our campaign.

To me, that makes this night even more meaningful – because every single one of our votes tonight was a vote we earned.

We earned it through hard work – through the blood, sweat and tears that we all shared.

We earned it because we never stopped talking about the things that matter:

Like real equality.

I’m tired of getting on buses at 5 in the morning to go up to Albany to lobby for things like equal benefits for the partners of officers killed in the line of duty – or to march across the Brooklyn Bridge for marriage equality.

Our campaign might come to an end tonight, but we’ll never stop fighting until we have real equality in New York.

And I’ve spent much of this race talking about the subtle racism and segregation that still exists in the inequality of services provided for those who live uptown and downtown – I call it the 96th Street divide.

Some people have been surprised to hear a candidate like me talk about things like asthma rates in Harlem --

But as long as kids are getting sick, we’ll keep fighting.

-- As long as HIV spreads as an epidemic.

-- As long as schools continue to crumble.

-- As long as senior citizens are forced to choose between meals and medicine – because this city can’t get its act together to buy drugs in bulk.

-- As long as we continue to lag on stem cell research and the environment.

-- As long as teachers don’t earn a fair living wage and –and efirefighters have to live in their parents’ basements out in Queens because they can’t afford to live in the Borough they protect.

-- As long as neighborhoods are torn down to build up highrise apartments and chain stores.

-- As long as the soul of Manhattan is threatened –

We will keep fighting.

This campaign may be over tonight, but we’ll always keep fighting for the City we love.

We knew from day one that this was a tough race. We knew it wouldn’t be easy.

And it’s true -- if we judge the success of this campaign on winning or losing, then we came up a little bit short.

But in my judgment, the final score is just a small part of our story.

When I think back on this campaign, I’ll think of the people who were inspired to action.

I’ll think of Antonio, our superstar intern, who I met at a Live Out Loud dinner where he was honored with a college scholarship.

I’ll remember with pride that we were able to show Antonio – and thousands of other gay kids and teenagers –

-- That they should live their lives proud and open and never apologize for who they are to anyone.

I’ll think of the thousands of people from across the country and literally throughout the world –

-- Who called and emailed us to say thanks for having the courage to introduce Simon on TV.

I’ll think of the young voters who were discouraged by last year’s presidential election –

-- But who were inspired by the idea that government really can be courageous, progressive and truthful.

I’ll think of the volunteers who rallied around us because we gave them the chance to feel good about voting again.

We have everything to be proud of – and I am grateful beyond words to every single one of you.

For all the people who have believed in us, and for the values we’ve stood for – I promise you that this is just the beginning.

Thank you.

Posted by John at September 14, 2005 04:05 PM