Former U.S. Sen. Mark Begich spoke to First Alaskans Institute\u2019s Elders and Youth Conference Monday, one of his biggest Alaskan audiences since he lost re-election and left office in January.<\/p>\n
Begich urged the young attendees to participate in their communities, to vote and to stay positive. He drew on his own life for illustration.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou know, a lot of people assume that somehow I was born and then I was in public office. Just magically occurred,\u201d Begich said. \u201cThat is not the case.\u00a0I have won elections and I have lost elections. The question is, what do you do?\u201d<\/p>\n
Begich recounted his early beginnings in civic life, how he started a non-alcoholic teen nightclub to give Anchorage youth like himself something to do, and why he first ran for public office at the age of 26 and ended up the youngest person serving on assembly.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe reason I decided to run was not because I said to myself, jeez I want to be an assembly person. I ran because I wanted to do something for the community I lived in. That I felt it had already been good to me, at that young age, and I wanted to give something back,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
If it bore some resemblance to a campaign speech, his spokeswoman, Rachel Barinbaum says the ex-senator was asked to discuss \u201caction and advocacy.\u201d One of his key messages is to remain tenacious and not take rejection as the final word.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I ran for mayor and lost twice before winning, it wasn\u2019t sitting around moping and saying, well, the sky has fallen. I lost an election. My life is over,\u201d he said. \u201cNo. Got right back up. As I said earlier:\u00a0persistence, positive attitude, know you can make a difference.\u201d<\/p>\n
Begich has been repeatedly asked if he is considering a run against Sen.\u00a0Lisa Murkowski, or Congressman Don Young. He hasn\u2019t announced any future political plans.<\/p>\n
After leaving the Senate, Begich formed a consulting group and signed on with a D.C. lobbying firm to be a strategic advisor. He has also worked as an adviser for the law firm Sonosky Chambers and on a campaign to kill the Iran nuclear deal.<\/p>\n
Young and Sen. Dan Sullivan, the man who unseated Begich, are due to address the AFN convention on Thursday, followed by Murkowski on Friday.<\/p>\n