Doris Haddock, better known as "Granny D" for the last few years of her century-long life, didn't win them all. But she played the political game with principle, fervor, joy and endless energy. And that was enough to make a difference.
Haddock, who died last Tuesday at her home in Dublin, N.H., had turned 100 in January. She didn't even become politically active until after she retired in 1972.
But by the mid-1990s she had become passionately interested in campaign finance reform, after the defeat of the first effort by Sens. John McCain and Russ Feingold to remove "soft" money from political campaigns. By then, she was meeting weekly with a group of women in Dublin to exercise and discuss world affairs.
That inspired her in 2000, at age 89, to walk 3,200 miles across the country to promote campaign finance reform. She covered about 10 miles a day, and the trek included crossing about 1,000 miles of desert and climbing the Appalachians in blizzard conditions.
She began a relative unknown, but had attracted national attention before she finished. It was a demonstration of the title of her autobiography, written with Dennis Burke: "You're Never Too Old to Raise a Little Hell."
The McCain-Feingold campaign finance reform became law in 2002.
In 2004, at 94, Haddock ran for the U.S. Senate against Republican Judd Gregg. She lost by a 2-1 margin, but maintained her sense of humor. "If you want something done right today, you have to run for Congress yourself — or at least send your grandmother," she said.
Most of all, she set an example that should inspire everyone in their later years: Just because you're retired doesn't mean you have to be retiring.
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