Our senior year in college, a few of us clever lads hatched a post-graduation plan. We would start a regional arts/entertainment magazine for the students at the small galaxy of learning institutions around central and southwest Virginia. We set up shop in a house in Roanoke and unleashed the literary charm offensive known as the Mojo Sloth.

We were just interesting enough, and Roanoke was just small enough, so that our enterprise raised an editorial eyebrow at the Roanoke Times. To visit the Sloth House and do a writeup on us, the Times sent a reporter in her third or fourth year on the job, not much older then we were. We were inexperienced publishing underdogs (and wouldn’t make it two years). The article was kind without cheerleading.

As much as the subsequent little feature was a thrill for us, Beth Macy would go on to bigger and better things. She built a career in journalism but did not try to climb up the circulation ladder. She spent around 25 years at that newspaper before finally pivoting in 2014 to writing books rooted in the region.

Factory Man told the story of a business owner fighting offshoring.

Truevine told the true story of two albino African-American brothers who were kidnapped by a circus.

Dopesick you’re certainly heard of, an unflinching look at the toll of the opioid epidemic.

And last year’s Paper Girl, which uses memoir in part to delve into poverty and our shifting politics.

The books were all well received, all very specific in place, and all showing Macy’s unwavering interest in the obstacles and the welfare of Americans living an uphill battle one way or another. The collective subject matter demonstrates a moral bona fides that not many elected officials can match.

Uphill But Uncompromising
So it was a surprise but not illogical to hear that Beth Macy had decided to run for Congress to serve VA-06. I can’t say that VA-06 has been a blue or even a purple district in recent years. Press in Virginia reflects that it’s an uphill battle for her as a Democratic candidate — much less a first-time candidate, even with some notoriety on her side.

That said, Macy’s work has taught her a lot about surviving in the face of difficulty, and her career more than reinforces that she has entered this race to speak for, and work for, the right people and the right issues.

One thing I like that the Harrisonburg newspaper linked above pointed out: She’s not trying to soften her edges or convictions to make a run for the middle as the path to a win. She is focusing on turning out every existing registered Democrat in the district on the strength of a solidly Democratic perspective.

And The Pitch …
As Adrastos wrote a few days ago, campaign season is officially on. A lot of us are going to warm up those online donations, to one degree or another. There will be bigger names and “bigger” races, but winning back the House is the major starting point for any real improvement over the next two years. Really, the entire Trump presidency has always been predicated on the GOP keeping that majority.

So I’m linking to her ActBlue in case anybody wants to throw an early $20 toward a candidate who would immediately improve the character of the chamber. She will need support from beyond her district. She will also be a seasoned voice and vote for many beyond her district who deserve better than they’ve gotten so far.

As you might’ve guessed, the leisure engineers at the Mojo Sloth are (by far) the least important underdogs in this post. But our talents would have definitely included picking good walk-off songs. Take it away, Spoon …