After Election Thoughts from Bruce Johnston
November 7, 2024
I have been feeling a mix of emotions—anger, frustration, fear, depression, grief, exhaustion—since Election Day. My guess is that you have been feeling the same way. I am grieving the loss of the opportunity to elect an historic candidate, the loss of innocence that most people in this country are good at heart, and the loss of hope for the future. I am bewildered about the choice the majority of American voters made, a disastrous choice, in my opinion. They have made that decision decisively and with their eyes wide open. Despite his flaws of character, judgment, and intellect, the American people decided that they wanted Trump or at least could accept him for the next four years
Give yourself permission to feel any emotions you may be having. Give yourself permission to “tune out” or “unplug” for a while. Do whatever you need to do to make it through this dark time. Remember, you are not alone. Please reach out to those who are going through the same process. There is strength, acceptance and love in community with like-minded people.
I will not try to analyze the causes of the loss; those will become clearer as time passes and more data emerges. In this moment the WHY doesn’t matter. The campaign was fought directly over the issues of democracy, rule of law, basic decency and respect, and protection for the marginalized. Those principles and values lost and lost badly. This is who we are—not all of us but a majority of us at least in this moment. For me accepting this fact has been the hardest part of Trump’s win. I mourn and acknowledge that many people will be hurt, some irreparably, by decisions the new administration will make. Those people are fearful right now. Reach out to them—women and girls, members of the LGBTQ community, Black, Hispanic and other ethnic minorities, Jews, Muslims, and other religious minorities, immigrants and their families. All those groups have reason to be fearful and angry. Show them that you can and will do what you can to minimize and/or eliminate damage done to them.
There’s another group I ask you to reach out to: first time voters. We need to let them know that elections are lost and losses hurt, but we cannot give in to despair. We want to honor those first time voters for taking the time to vote, even when it was inconvenient for many of them. We want them to become regular voters. We want them to feel and believe that the vote is sacred and, even when we lose, voting is worth the time and energy that it requires.
It’s okay and rational to take some time to regroup but I hope that all of you will also regain your enthusiasm to take action, to live your values. I have faith that together, we can find new joy, strengthen our communities. Do not get lost in a sea of despair. Be hopeful, be optimistic. Our struggle is not the struggle of a day, a week, a month or a year—it is the struggle of a lifetime. Never, ever be afraid to make some noise and get in good trouble, necessary trouble. John Lewis
We believe in the rule of law, in the promise of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. We believe in a pluralistic society in which all individuals are valued and honored. We believe in the peaceful transfer of power when elections are held. When our values and our principles are under assault, we resist the pressure to abandon them. In Trump 2.0 we will need to fight politically and to resist lawfully. We will do our best to limit the damage from Trump. We need to lay the groundwork for a recovery in the future. The methods we use and the timing of what we do will unfold in the future. What we will not do is to give up the power we have. To quote Rebecca Solnit:
They want you to feel powerless and to surrender and to let them trample everything and you are not going to let them. You are not giving up, and neither am I. The fact that we cannot save everything does not mean we cannot save anything and everything we can save is worth saving. You may need to grieve or scream or take time off, but you have a role no matter what, and right now good friends and good principles are worth gathering in. Remember what you love. Remember what loves you. Remember in this tide of hate what love is. The pain you feel is because of what you love.
Or, as Timothy Snyder says, don’t obey in advance. Don’t anticipate what the strong man wants and do it without being asked. By obeying in advance you are giving power voluntarily to the strong man. Winston Churchill said in his epigraph to his history of WWII that in defeat show defiance! In the next four years, we need to re-constitute a loyal opposition—loyalty to the Declaration and the Constitution, loyal to what America has been and should be. We need to organize to try to limit the damage Trump can do in his second term and lay the ground work for a future recovery.
If you haven’t done so already, I encourage you to listen to Kamala Harris’ concession speech. It was awesome. She demonstrated the grace and compassion in her speech that she demonstrated on the campaign trail.
A fundamental principle of American democracy is that when we lose an election, we accept the results. That principle, as much as any other, distinguishes democracy from monarchy or tyranny and anyone who seeks the public trust must honor it. At the same time in our nation, we owe loyalty not to a president or a party but to the Constitution of the United States and loyalty to our conscience and to our God. My allegiance to all three is why I am here to say while I concede this election, I do not concede the fight that fueled this campaign. The fight for freedom, for opportunity, for fairness and the dignity of all people. A fight for the ideals at the heart of our nation, the ideals that reflect America at our best. That is a fight. I will never give up. I will never give up the fight for a future where Americans can pursue their dreams, ambitions and aspirations. Where the women of America have the freedom to make decisions about their own body without a government telling them what to do.
We will never give up the fight to protect our schools and our streets from gun violence. And America, we will never give up the fight for our democracy, for the rule of law for equal justice and for the sacred idea that every one of us, no matter who we are or where we start out, has certain fundamental rights and freedoms that must be respected and upheld.
And her closing:
Only when it is dark enough can you see the stars. I know many people feel like we are entering a dark time, but for the benefit of us all I hope that is not the case. But here's the thing America: if it is, let us fill the sky with the light of a brilliant, brilliant billions of stars. The light of optimism, of faith, of truth and service.
May we all be one of those brilliant billions of stars.
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