Underdogs Never Stop Winning!

My taste for underdog campaigns came early.  You might remember my mentioning the O’Dwyer Senate race in “36 Days.” That’s when Paul O’Dwyer ran as an anti-war Democrat against the ever-popular three term Republican Senator, Jack Javits…  Historians will tell you that every headline revealed how badly we lost, but, talk to anyone who was there and you’ll hear how we sank with smiles on our faces.  And Al’s legend lives on, long after he lost to Carter Burden, who spent a good part of his Vanderbilt family fortune to win a dead-end primary.  Carter Burden?   Here in Oregon, I’ve felt the electricity flow when callers rose to the cause to beef up sagging  poll numbers, or to persuade voters that reporters’ news bytes told only part of the story.   Shoulder to shoulder, whispers between every call — the heart pumps harder in the toughest races.  And no doubt — the fire burns brighter when underdogs run.