People who communicate by email have to think
twice before pushing the send button.
Aditya Pai, a Democratic candidate for Congress, “accidentally” sent out an email with the subject line, "I am
suspending my campaign today. Thank you for your support," according to media reports.
But eight hours later, Pai took it back, saying the email was never supposed to be
sent.
Pai is running for the House seat of Rep. Michelle Steel (R-Calif.).
In the original
email, Pai admitted to a degree of campaign burnout.
"Life is short,” he said. “I believe one should enjoy their work. For the past four months, I have not
enjoyed mine. My pursuit of office ends today."
The follow-up email explained the gaffe as follows:
"I wrote that letter as an emotional processing exercise after an exhausting glimpse
into the political machine,” he said.
“I sent it to some mentors and staff for perspective before getting back to work; it was never supposed to be shared.”
But now that it has, “I see a silver lining in your seeing it. You should know the thought of calling it quits has occurred to me. Running is hard and sometimes painful: 'an MRI for the
soul.'"
The incident has drawn nationwide publicity.
Meanwhile, Pai has rebooted his campaign. He still has to defeat two Democratic primary
rivals before running up against Steel.