Campaign supernovas: how to deal with premature political deaths
Every industry knows the loss of bright young stars who leave this world too soon. The causes can be natural, self-inflicted or accidental.
If Cora Faith Walker — God rest her beautiful soul — was the first young political death you came close to, consider opening up to those who have experienced this type of loss.
There are two paths.
The first one:
- Solipsism: It’s only about you. Post your relationship to the deceased early and often on social media. The looser your affiliate, the more you need to sell it.
- CSI: Missouri. Obtain as much information as possible about the circumstances of the death. Call or text true friends of the deceased under the guise of commiseration. “Wasn’t he just on vacation?” “I wonder who was with him that night…you know? I also want to contact them, just to let them know I’m thinking of them and see if they’re okay. Imagine the star model: the more information you glean about his death, the more your gossip circles will come to you with their own information.
- True friends of the deceased only: Avoid passive and painful mourning and plunge headlong into vengeful anger. Mourning is for the weak. You’re a #BossBabe or John Wayne/Vin Diesel, whichever suits you. It hurts to sit with the pain, but it hurts so good take a pound of flesh. Armed with your knowledge/speculation from Stage 2, you won’t just find the smoking gun – you’ll point it at whoever caused it.
- Men only: It’s peak time for the White Knights. While true friends of the deceased are still grieving, jump into their (public) social media responses and sneak into their (private) direct messages to show how empathetic and empathetic you are. pleasant you are. This little withered flower needs a strong stake to lean on, and it will be you. You’re already pecking at your “heart” with her selfies and pictures of rocks/plants/furniture, and now it’s time for those hundreds of micro-pleadings to pay off. Experienced men would tell you that women are finely tuned to detect transparent flattery from simps – while laughing at you at their friends and lovers – but they don’t know you. You are different.
- Writing of the deceased. You were already at war with something – an ex-partner, an ex-boss, “the system”, whatever. As you reject the healthy grieving process and refuse to seek acceptance, enlist the deceased in your self-righteous war in anger against no matter. It allows you to rationalize staying mired in pain — something you secretly enjoy — while you tweet about it using the name of the deceased.
Or, the alternate path:
- It’s not about you. You can recognize your friendship or acquaintance on social media – yes, even with those photos that make you look Hello — and always shine the spotlight on the personality of the deceased, their best traits, and the things in life that were close to their hearts.
- You don’t need all the answers. “But I need closing!” has a pronoun, and it’s you. Can you afford to release your need to know his last words, his last drink, his last text? Let the family search for the answers they need. They will share the details if and when they want.
- “What do you need? How can I help?” These two phrases, aimed at family and true friends, are more easily handled than 1,000-word Facebook posts. Start here.
- True friends of the deceased only: You weren’t his keeper. Natural cause, accident, chronic empowerment or self-inflicted – however the death occurred, you may feel responsible in some way. You’re not, but don’t take my word for it. If you’re crazy enough to play politics for a living, which I strongly advise against, you should already have a professional therapist handy. If not, find one now.
- “Can I afford to be positive and honor his memory despite what happened?” These words – in a format I shamelessly stole from author Larry Crane – are for repeating as you move through the weeks, months and years following your friend’s death. They can help guide you away from hopeless apathy and blind anger and towards acceptance, peace and love. As with any mantra, it means absolutely nothing if your actions don’t follow your words.
Cora Faith Walker’s family and friends need time to grieve. Ultimately, one way to honor his legacy might be to follow the example set by relatives of Spence Jackson, Missouri. We lost Spence — a veteran political communications man from Missouri — seven years ago this month, at the age of 44. Jeff Layman and Joe Passanise worked with Spence’s family to establish the Spence Jackson Memorial Scholarship at Missouri State University.
For all that Cora has done for the many communities she has served – as a Missouri State Representative, as a health policy advocate at the Missouri Foundation for Health, and as Policy Director of the St. Louis County Government – I am sure Washington University and Saint Louis University Law School would be honored to establish the Cora Faith Walker Memorial Scholarship. Tuition, mentorship, and – if the recipient pleases – an elegant dress and pool heels to boot.
John Combest began publishing johncombest.com daily in October 2001 to centralize Missouri political news and decentralize truth. You can reach him at [email protected], or follow him on Instagram (@johncombest_com) and Twitter (@johncombest_com.) He grew up in Spanish Lake (Hazelwood East HS) and lives in Chesterfield.