‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌To my friends, family, and supporters:

One year ago, our nation was in the grip of anger and grief as a violent attack on the Capitol brought fear and needless death. The insurrection led to the tragic loss of multiple heroic law enforcement officers, and my heart is with their loved ones on this anniversary.

I wrote up my thoughts in the days following the attack and as we mark this somber day, I thought it would be appropriate to revisit them.

In addition to the lessons about human nature that the January 6th attack made clear -- that character is destiny, and that the success of evil depends on the degree to which people choose to be bystanders -- a truth that feels particularly important to remember as we enter 2022 is this:

We like to pat ourselves on the back and embrace the notions of "American exceptionalism" or America as "the indispensable nation." Any truth to these notions resides in what we do rather than who we are. We cannot just claim honors for ourselves without doing the work to justify them. When we are true to our values, we approach becoming exceptional and indispensable. But when we are not, self-congratulation is unjustified and hollow, even ridiculous.

So what will we do to be true to our values? One thing that we can, and indeed must do is take decisive action to protect the right to vote.

January 6th and voting rights are inextricably connected. It was a deliberate attack on a particular day and time specifically designed to overturn an election in which more than 80 million people had chosen Joe Biden and Kamala Harris to be their next president and vice president. It was the biggest voter disenfranchisement effort in recent American history.

And what’s more, the same corrosive lie that fueled the January 6th attack -- that because Trump lost, there must have been fraud -- is what continues to fuel draconian voter suppression efforts all across our country. Citing this “big lie,” states with Republican governors and legislatures are restricting access to the ballot, allowing partisan politicians to override nonpartisan election officials, and even using fines and jail time to punish Americans who help their neighbors vote.

Having lived through January 6th, all of us in the Senate are duty-bound by the oath we took to support and defend the Constitution to ensure that citizens of this country have the freedom to vote without obstacles or intimidation. That’s exactly what my Freedom to Vote Act would do.

I said a year ago that our next chapter is not written -- its outcome is not a function of words or institutions; it is dependent on us. As we begin a new year, with new challenges and opportunities -- including the monumentally important midterm elections and the existential need to protect the freedom to vote for all Americans -- I hope we all take those words to heart, remembering to be true to our values and work to live up to them as best we can.

As my friend Hillary Clinton has often said, as taught by her mother and inspired by their Methodist faith, “Do all the good you can, for all the people you can, in all the ways you can, as long as ever you can.”

I will spend the year ahead doing all the good I can -- in the Senate, in my community, in our country -- and I'm grateful to stand alongside each and every one of you in this effort.

I've copied my full thoughts from January 6th, 2021 below.

Wishing you all peace and resilience in the year ahead,

Tim Kaine




Friends:

So many of you have reached out -- while the Capitol attack was going on and in the days since -- to ask how I am and express your deep concern over what you saw happening. Rather than respond briefly to each, I thought I would write up my thoughts to share with you all.

January 6th re-proved a very old lesson about human nature: character is destiny. America trusted its most important post to a moral defective. Some thought he would grow into the job, or moderate his behavior under the weight of responsibility. That is just not how life works. In all but a very few cases, an adult will behave as she or he has behaved throughout life. In this sense, the set of outrages of the last few years -- culminating in a 2020 marked by mismanaging a pandemic thus occasioning unnecessary death and then the violence and racism at the Capitol -- is a completely logical ending to a very sad chapter in American life.

A second human nature lesson is this -- the presence of evil is constant, but the success of evil depends upon a key variable: the degree to which people choose to be bystanders. We over-analyze why the President has such a devoted base of supporters. I am more focused on this fact: An awful lot of smart, educated people chose to be bystanders in the last years and that allowed a pathetic and insecure leader to do things that most of us thought unimaginable in this great nation. The bystanderism started with the tens of millions of Americans who just sat things out in 2016, not able to see the danger that was so clearly before us. And it has sadly continued everywhere, most visibly in Congress. I have lost count of the number of my Senate colleagues who, though privately worried, went along with the unacceptable because they wanted a tax cut, or a judge they liked, an invitation to golf or to avoid a primary challenge. And now some finally awake to the wisdom of the Gospel lesson: "what doth it profit a man to gain the whole world and lose his soul?"

And then there are lessons about our nation, humbling lessons. We like to pat ourselves on the back and embrace the notions of "American exceptionalism" or America as "the indispensable nation." Any truth to these notions resides in what we do rather than who we are. We cannot just claim honors for ourselves without doing the work to justify them. When we are true to our values, we approach becoming exceptional and indispensable. But when we are not, self-congratulation is unjustified and hollow, even ridiculous.

I remember saying, in the weeks after the November 2016 election, that the next years would be a stress-test of American democracy. And that has been the case every day. Virtually all basic values and our institutions have come under attack from within. Have we passed the test? It might be too early to say for sure. But our democracy has survived the test.

My overwhelming emotion on January 6 was anger -- that our Capitol was attacked and people died needlessly. But as I walked to work the next morning, there was a beautiful sunrise. I thought about the massive engagement of everyday citizens after 2016 in elections and activism. I thought about the historic turnout in the November 2020 election and then again earlier this week in Georgia. And I grew hopeful that we are rejecting the disease of bystanderism to begin a new chapter on January 20th.

That chapter is not written and its outcome is not a function of words or institutions. It is dependent on us. But the sweep of our history shows that painful periods are often followed by times of great progress. I am an optimist about our next chapter.

-Tim











Paid for by Kaine for Virginia

Kaine for Virginia
P.O. Box 239
Alexandria, VA 22313
United States

If you believe you received this message in error or wish to no longer receive email from us, please unsubscribe: [link removed] .