And I felt a moment of resonance, thinking back to the first time I ever laid eyes on Andy Kim in person. As an Elections Counsel, the morning after Election Day, with votes still being counted, my trusted Republican counterpart and I were sent up by the U.S. House to a tiny town in New Jersey, just to go keep an eye on the final election results in Andy’s New Jersey district. The results were razor-close because so many showed up to exercise that sacred obligation and privilege we have—to vote.
And, still in Jersey, I remember the night Andy’s victory was announced. After a quiet day spent observing the tireless election workers at their tables, I headed over to victory headquarters. There were so many people who came to that otherwise unremarkable ground floor office space that you couldn’t even see everybody. The room was packed to overflow, and people were lining the halls, all waving these tiny American flags. Simply elated.
Of course, I hadn’t voted for Andy Kim. I’m not a New Jersey voter, and I didn’t know him. But for me, as an attorney of the United States government, the triumph of that night wasn’t for a candidate; it was watching families bring their kids, it was watching people who showed up because they knew in their bones this wasdemocracy. In this tiny New Jersey town, like in so many small towns and big cities all across America, what was being celebrated was that when we participate it matters.
I wish I could hold them by the hand and look them in the eye, just to explain to them that my America isSo, I guess, like Andy Kim, today I’m still in some version of picking up the pieces. I watched the hearings not necessarily because I’m looking for accountability, or a governmental sanction against the people, big and small, who facilitated this horrible moment. Of course those matter. But I watched simply because I would like to have it acknowledged, witnessed, that Jan.
I am eternally grateful for all of those who do the work to protect us from the ugliest of our impulses, and to drive us forward, always, instead, toward the better angels of our nature. And because of them, on this final day of witnessing, I look forward to tomorrow for America.