Physically and emotionally exhausted

To give you a clue to my mood, I've been listening to Linkin Park and Breaking Benjamin this morning. Because of that, let's go over the good news first.

Oklahoma Republicans increased their majority and, for the first time in Oklahoman history, won the majority of senate seats. This is hugely wonderful! We can't get rid of Henry for another two years and I'm sure he will veto many a good bill, but that will only give us ammunition for 2010.

Jim Inhofe, Tad Jones, and Mike Helm all won their races by quite a bit. No surprises there, but still fantastic!

On a sidenote, today's Breakpoint is very good.

I was not at all surprised that Obama won. I think it's bad for the nation, but not as bad as we think. However, this is basically a death sentence for any kind of freedom in Iraq, and I'm predicting the same for Afghanistan. Last night, I decided to start giving regularly to Voice of the Martyrs. I'm praying about how much. I don't usually talk about who, what, when I give financially, but I'm mentioning this because I want y'all to think about what this election means for Christians in Iraq. They are already being persecuted now, but at least we have been able to offer protection for them and put pressure on their government to help them. When Obama pulls us out, whenever that is, it will be open season on Christians. Please pray seriously about what God would have you do.

Cole Butler lost and this was a surprise to me. Yesterday, I said that Cole would win because supporters win elections, not money. Cole had way more supporters door knocking, sign waving, and showing up at events than Scott Walton ever dreamed of, so I didn't think it really mattered how much more money Scott had. When I said this to Debbie, she said "Yeah, but Scott knows a lot of people." At the time, I discounted that because I thought it wouldn't matter because of how many new people are in the county. Well, I guess who you knew and how many you knew still counts in Rogers County. Rogers County is a good o' boy county, but it's changing. I thought this would be the race where we would see a turn away from that, but apparently not. I still live in a good ol' boy county.

I have never worked on campaigns because I thought my candidate would win. For me, campaigns are something I do first and foremost for God. Secondly, I do it to repay the debt I owe to my country for getting to live in a free society. To whom much has been given, much shall be required. I have been given much politically, so of course I need to give a lot back. Because it's only a matter of time until I'm in Israel and my primary focus will be that country, I feel like there's a timer on my debt to America, which makes me work that much harder. Thirdly, I do it for the candidate. Cole is a wonderful man of God and I would work for him again in a heartbeat, but unfortunately he says he won't run again. Fourthly, Cole's campaign was my college internship. I wanted to learn the thinking behind all the volunteer activities and I did get to see a ton of that and I learned an incredible amount of stuff. The whole team was so good to me and were willing to show or teach me anything. The internship was certain to be successful from the moment I started it, no matter how the race turned out.

I am so glad it's all over. I enjoyed it up until the very last hours and I would certainly do it again. Right now though, I just feel drained. I would feel drained if Cole had won, too, but not quite as bad as this. It's frustrating beyond words to have poured so much into something and have it not matter in the end. So, now I'm going to trust God, catch up on sleep, clean my desk, and focus on school.