This is the end, and the official call to action to go forth and unite. The primary and the rehashing is officially over- fresh coverage begins here. I think it's worth it to post Bob Gammage's last comments from his campaign. You can also read Bell's post-election post at his site here and you should go sign up for his campaign if you are not already on it.
We didn't win this race. We didn't win this time.
And just as surely we didn't lose, either -- in fact so much of what we accomplished together in a few short weeks feels like a lasting and important victory.
With little money and even less time, we roused a sleepy party and raised an amazing core of principled, passionate volunteers who lent their hard work and enthusiasm to advancing the best values of the Democratic Party.
I am in awe, I am humbled and I am forever thankful to the thousands of you who rose of your own accord and worked tirelessly at the difficult job of beginning to rebuild our state on the basis of timeless principles and honorable values.
We called on you to stand up for your beliefs and you did, as Democrats and Texans and Americans. The story of the Democratic Party, and of democracy itself, is fundamentally a story about people who stood up for their beliefs, lost some battles, stood up again and kept standing up, over and over, as many times as it took, until they triumphed.
Often in life, as well as in politics, victory is not about whether or not you are beaten. It is about whether or not you yield.
And this campaign -- which means all of you -- did not ever yield, even in the face of long odds, from the first day to the last hours of this race. You did not yield to apathy from the public and the media, and you did not yield to scorn from pundits or the partisans of other candidates.
Most important of all, none of us yielded to the temptation to hide the truth to gain popular appeal or political advantage.
Some of you have said I inspired you, but it really was the other way around.
It was all of you who inspired me every day of this campaign -- to run this race, to criss-cross this big state from border to border, and to fight every day to tell the people of Texas that Democrats are as passionate as they ever were and as committed as they always have been to their principles, their faith, their community, their state and their nation. Please keep delivering that message.
Through it all, you gave me and my family your truest gift of steadfast support and we are forever grateful for your efforts and your commitment. We will continue trying to earn it. From the bottom of my heart, thank you.
Respectfully,
Bob Gammage
To Victory in November.
