Texas had a major gun debate that O’Rourke or Julián Castro probably could have led the fight on, had they not been running for even higher office. Could they have made more of a difference in Austin than Iowa? Yes.

The Indiana Legislature also passed hate crimes legislation this year, but the new law lacks language for crimes motivated by a person’s gender or gender identity.

Could Mayor Pete have changed that with a seat in the state Senate instead of a seat on “The Late Show”? It’s possible. It’s not to say that his candidacy, with a loving husband by his side, isn’t inspirational to many, but is the goal to inspire people or to protect them?

Homecoming

I was thinking about the futility of so much of the 2020 field a few weeks ago when I went to see Bernie Sanders at a rally in Birmingham, Alabama. Nobody thought the Vermont senator would make a dent in 2016, but he not only gave Hillary Clinton a run for her money, he managed to move a number of ideas that used to be called “radical” into the Democratic mainstream. And isn’t Bernie more powerful after running and losing than he would have been had he never run for president at all?

Absolutely. But I met a young woman at that same Sanders rally who reminded me that going out into the world, collecting your experience, and then taking it home to make a change in people’s lives is a powerful act in itself.