The crowd was unexpectedly large last evening at the home of Clark and Kelly Mercer in Ashland, Virginia. Expecting 50, more like 150 swarmed the unassuming Democratic candidate for Virginia’s 7th Congressional District. The excitement was evident. Jack Trammell, has been thrust into a high profile race for Congress.
“I’m going to be a candidate of “yes.” I’m going to be about the positive. I want to be able to reach across the aisle; I want to work with people. My career in academia … I have friends here in the crowd who work at Randolph-Macon … in academia we learn that research and social science functions within a peer review process where you work together collaboratively to solve problems.”
Trammell’s open and engaging personality is matched by his genuine sincerity and optimism. These qualities will more than make up for his freshman political status as he campaigns for soon to be former Congressman Eric Cantor’s seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. It is reflected in his supporters who are motivated by what is right about America rather than by bitterness and anger toward their own shadows.
“I like to say “yes” rather than “no.” I say yes to change; I say yes to diversity; I say yes to ownership of your own body and mind; I say yes to possibilities; I say yes to equity; I say yes to opportunity; I say yes to responsibility to our collective good, we’re too wealthy and too successful to stand by to watch that just happen without us; I say yes to a clean environment; I say yes to rules for fair play; I say yes to care before punishment; I say yes to access to healthcare; I say yes to love who you want to love; I say yes to access to education; I say yes to a fair wage.”
There is much more to Jack Trammell as we will all discover going forward. My connection with him was immediate and personal as I learned his son attended Fishburne Military School in Waynesboro and later served in the Marine Corps. Mine served in Iraq; his Afghanistan. Mine returned whole; his was wounded by an IED (sadly, I don’t have to spell out the acronym). There’s just a whole lot more that I look forward to watching unfold.
Yes, Virginia, Trammell is positively a serious force to be reckoned with.
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