A few days after the primary, a lot of us are still licking our wounds in defeat, even as we move to support another candidate or focus on other races.  It can be devastating to lose a campaign and make one very pessimistic when they commit themselves to a candidate, fully believing that they will win, and finding that the voters didn't make the same choice. 

I wanted to write this diary to ask that we try to hold on to our optimism and to give a special thank you to those of you who worked to elect candidates because you truly believe in a better future.  I was most inspired to write this thank you note by my experiences with the staff of Ed Fallon's primary campaign.

We have a new round of Iowa staffer updates.

As Chris Woods reported yesterday, Chris Hayler of John Kerry and Evan Bayh fame has been picked up by the Hillary campaign as its Iowa Political Director.

This morning’s Hotline reports that Mark Daley has been picked up by Hillary as her Iowa Communications Director.  Daley is the executive director of One Iowa, and previously held posts as Communications Director for the Iowa Democratic Party and Leonard Boswell for Congress.

I am also hearing rumblings that Steve Chasse has been picked up by the Obama campaign.  He’s a great pick up.  Formerly with John Kerry in 2004 and more recently aligned with Governor Mark Warner’s bid, Chasse has solid labor ties.