ANALYSIS: Integrity, Character Shine

By Martin Davis
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Derrick Anderson, with his fiancé to his right, acknowledges the crowd as Ella — in the camo hat and holding a sign — stands just behind them.

Ella stood just behind Derrick Anderson and his fiancé, wearing an Army hat and a Derrick Anderson t-shirt and hoisting an Anderson sign.

Early in the campaign, she sent a letter to Anderson asking him to help make life more affordable for her and her mom.

More than 382,000 votes later, Anderson fell short by just over 8,200 votes of his being the one to fulfill Ella’s wish. Even though there are some 11,000 provisional ballots still to be counted, the campaign decided today that there was no path forward and it was time to concede the race.

“In the best interest of the 7th District,” he said, and “it’s time to let our leaders get to work.”

He described the race as the “most rewarding mission” he’s ever been part of, before shifting to saying that he believes congressman-elect Eugene Vindman “will do everything in his power in Congress to make life better for the people in the district.”

Early in Anderson’s speech, a spectator up front in the room of about 60 people asked, “Can we do it again”?

That question elicited laughter, and reflected the overall upbeat feeling among those in attendance who felt good about the campaign their candidate had run.

Anderson had reason to feel good about that. His campaign was largely run on the ideas he had for improving life for the people in the 7th, and was relatively thin on attack ads.

Anderson’s message played well with those who heard it. He lost by a considerably smaller margin than Yesli Vega did just two years ago. But in the end, Vindman’s paying $68 per vote to Anderson’s $11 per vote proved too much to overcome.

Attack Ad

It was an attack ad from Vindman that may have cost Anderson the campaign; it was one of Anderson with a family that was not his own. Called the “fake family” ad, it doesn’t rate with the Willie Horton ad for fear-mongering or the Dukakis tank ad for distorting a candidate’s record. It does, however, make political hay out of something that was a relative nonissue.

Anderson’s fellow Green Beret, Scott Eshom, was on hand to support his former brother-in-arms.

That it hurt Anderson politically would seem apparent. Anderson told the Advance that it came up in almost every interview he had with media after that.

For Anderson’s former brother-in-arms Scott Eshom, however, it was Anderson’s response to the ad that was most telling. “I was impressed with how he handled” those attacks, he told the Advance. He described the attacks as “unfair.”

Eshom served with Anderson as a Green Beret in the 5th Special Forces Group. Describing himself as “more moderate” than most people in the room, he was nonetheless there to support his friend.

“He ran a good, fair race.”

Stuck on Skinny

Anderson choked up only once during the speech.

“America is the greatest country in the world,” he began. “It’s a country where a skinny little kid …” he said before beginning to cry as his fiancé held on to him.

“You got it buddy,” a man from the audience said before the crowd broke into chants of “Derrick, Derrick, Derrick.”

Anderson responded, “I got stuck on skinny.”

The audience laughed, and Anderson moved on with what he hoped the new leadership in Washington, D.C., would accomplish.

“We expect them to make life more affordable,” he began. “It’s time Washington balanced the budget.” He went on to say “it’s time Washington’s number one concern become the impact their policies have on our pocketbooks, wallets, and kitchen table.”

“We expect them to secure our border so our communities are safe again.”

And then, as he had in his speech the night he won the Republican primary in June, broke with the isolationism of Donald Trump.

“We expect them to support our allies, our troops, and our veterans in the conflicts brewing and those yet to come. Because I believe as the greatest country in the world, we must be able to stand on multiple fronts against the enemies who threaten us.”

Ella

Through it all this afternoon was Ella. Standing, smiling, and knowing that her candidate had fought his hardest to meet her requests.

She is no doubt proud of the effort Anderson put into the campaign, and proud of the way he both accepted defeat, and let it be known that he expects those who won to carry on with the important work of the American people.

Spotsylvanians no doubt shared Ella’s pride.

Their native son did well. And though Anderson told the Advance his next steps are to deal with things he’s ignored over the course of the campaign — “doctors, dentists, laundry” — don’t be surprised if we see the skinny kid again making a run.

Though no longer a newbie to politics — this was his second run at Congress — Anderson brings a refreshing air of integrity and character that Americans want and need in the political arena.

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