Who Wants it More?

Within the Romney campaign, the slogan carrying them through these grueling last hours comes from Friday Night Lights: Clear eyes, full hearts, can’t lose.  I love this — it captures the idealism of Mitt Romney and the deep desire to serve and to make a profound difference.  But for those of us down here in the trenches, I prefer something grittier.  As this election is polling closer than any national election of our lifetime, here’s the question: Who really wants to win?

I’ve linked the Al Pacino video below before, but it particularly resonates for me today.  More than 100 million Americans will vote in this election — almost 70 million of them tomorrow.  That’s a huge number, but it happens one vote at a time, one person at a time.  For our side to win, millions of our people need to make a simple decision: If I can only influence one vote — my own — I’m going to make sure that vote is recorded.  If I can only influence three votes, or four, or ten, I’m going to make sure those votes are counted.

Tomorrow is not about the grand gesture, it’s about commitment — individual commitment by a vast movement of people who know that life matters, that liberty matters, and that this — the greatest nation on earth — is destined for more than debt and decline.  If you’re not doing everything you can — even if it means fighting only for the inch of ground around you — then you are asking to lose.

Who wants it more?