Three days after the election results declaring me unsuccessful for the post of Women’s Representative were announced, I had a significant and enlightening visit from an old hand in politics and a family friend.
It was very instructive to me in my dejected state.
My guest who had lost three elections told me of interactions with distinct groups or persons I would have in the coming days, each quite different in content and emphasis from the others.
The first group would consist of highly distraught ladies, some of whom would not be able to contain their tears, with their infectious grief overwhelming everyone in the room.
Their loss would be apparent and powerfully bring home the full weight of personal and community ambitions that had been pinned to my anticipated victory.
Some would blame their inadequacies, while most would identify those true traitors responsible for faltering at the very last moment.
Unanimously, they would vow the lessons learnt would certainly guarantee a win in five years’ time. I was urged not to be surprised that the group was made up of persons quite peripheral to my campaign team.
A second category, I was told, would be persons who either decried unforeseeable circumstances that hindered them from meeting their financial pledges or those who said had they known I was a credible candidate, they certainly would have contributed tenfold, which would have assured victory.
The financial and logistics supporters would then declare that now as the budgets required were better defined and had adequate time to mobilise, the seat was as good as won.
They would also be keen to know what connections I might still have with the centres of power. This group, I was told, would be comprised of persons whose contributions I would probably not remember due to the insignificance to the total kitty.
The third group would be supporters with ‘prima facie evidence’, and I was cautioned to be wary of them.
They would present content ‘proving’ the sheer unpopularity of the victor, including voice notes and clandestinely acquired videos of the shock in my competitors’ camp, and the fury from various caucuses, claiming theft of votes and irregularities.
They would assert the results ought to be challenged in court, with an overall consensus that the results would undoubtedly be overturned.
Many of those presenting what they termed as foolproof evidence, I was again cautioned, were either not willing to testify or required facilitation to unearth incontestable evidence.
My visitor then went on to inform me of the fourth group and collective mindset I would encounter.
These optimists would claim the loss was a blessing in disguise, proclaiming the voting populace were about to see for themselves the sheer incompetence of the declared winner, thus securing not only an inevitable win, but an ineradicable legacy as well.
The rider to my inevitable win, however, would be dependent on my starting early. Very, very, early. These optimists, I was informed, are always ready and willing to begin with grassroots support consolidation immediately, as long as there was a stipend to defray their costs.
With most politicians being at their lowest ebb at the end of an election, whether they have won or lost, they are plagued by physical, emotional and cognitive fatigue, it is most debilitating to further interact with these four categories of persons.
I was to learn, however, of an additional aspect we did not discuss that day.
And that is the role a political party can play in holding the hand of an unsuccessful candidate and in keeping his or her ambitions from being extinguished.
This support is especially important for the youth who need formal structured agencies to infl uence decisions, as a better alternative to advocating a nihilist approach to change.
I later corroborated the post-election conversation with other sources who all seem to state this as the road all would-be politicians have to tread, and I was assured this was a sifting of focused politicians from wannabes and emulators.
I am not sure whether it would surprise any of you that despite the experiences described above, not only is my former guest, who lost thrice, revving up to contest the next general election, but so am I.
