Tulsi Gabbard

There was an opportunity as an opening to run for an open state house seat in my neighborhood.

And I thought, well, I can talk about it or I can do it.

And the odds were not in my favor.

I was 21, didn't have a bachelor's degree.

I wasn't like one of these young phenoms who started like a successful tech company when I'm 16 or anything like that.

And I was running against people who were very well-established, an engineer and a doctor and a nurse and people who were... All of us running for office for the first time.

There's no incumbent.

And I just figured...

I have the opportunity to take action and offer to serve.

If people say, yes, we want you to serve, then I will have the opportunity to actually bring this fresh leadership and problem-solving mindset to our legislature.

And if people say no,

Like, what have I lost?

Nothing.

I will have only gained experience and knowledge and understanding.

And so that's what happened.

And I knocked on every door in my district over like two and a half times and actually got to listen to people and hear about their concerns.

And they allowed me to serve in that role.

They have received some.

They've received some, but the bureaucracy, like the short answer is the bureaucracy of the government, FEMA in particular, has been extremely constraining and limiting in what people have been able to actually get.

The rebuild process hasn't even begun.