The Audacity of Hope

November 8, 2016 was a clear vindication for 26.3% of Americans who voted for Donald Trump, with a lingering hope to “Make America Great Again”. Liberals refused to vote for the presumed-dangerous-protectionist-promises and rampant insults Trump doled throughout the most contentious election campaign in recent American history.

Sadly, liberals are now gasping for meaning and licking their wounds in disbelief. Not only did Hillary Clinton lose, Democrats were nowhere close to winning the Senate back. Instead of teaching the GOP a lesson about the changing demographics in a supposed liberal America, the rug was just pulled from under our feet, as liberals were forced to confront the truth about the true American political ideology! How did Hillary Clinton – the solid candidate of the two, with a stellar public-service career and a strong lead heading into the election, lose at the scale she did?

As Democrats across the country are trying to make sense of this colossal American tragedy, many questions linger in our minds:

Was America ever ready for a woman President?
Did the email scandal of a woman candidate matter more than all the sexual assault allegations of a male candidate?
Does the public shaming of a woman candidate by calling her a “nasty woman” in a national debate not a turn off for all women in America?
Did the white women voters care more about their race than their gender in this election?
Could the pre-election results grossly overstating support for Clinton have resulted in a low Democratic turnout?
Would Bernie have been a better candidate for Democratic party after all?

And most importantly, are we more divided as a nation after this bitter and ugly election, and what does Trump’s win mean for liberals across the country?

As racist attacks across the country have continued growing, protests against bigotry, white nationalism, racism and hate against minority groups have been particularly dominant in blue states.

UC Berkeley’s revered Professor Robert Reich has emphasized the importance of peaceful protest against bigotry and hate to ensure the momentum reverberates! Prof. Reich says,

The “1 Million Women March” is already scheduled for the Inauguration —and will be executed with real skill. There will be “sister” marches around the country—in LA and elsewhere. They need to be coordinated and orchestrated. And then? 1 Million Muslims? 1 Million Latinos? What would keep the momentum alive and keep the message going?

John Stewart, however had a slightly different take on the elections and makes a valid point about liberals who have largely painted all Trump supporters with a broad brush. He says,

I don’t believe we are a fundamentally different country today than we were two weeks ago. The same country, with all its grace and flaws and volatility and insecurity and strength and resilience, exists today as existed two weeks ago. The same country that elected Donald Trump elected Barack Obama.

The confusion and the inability to latch on to a strong Democratic leader, has left liberals in a disarray, yet optimistic about working harder toward attaining liberal values. After all, one of the greatest Democratic leaders of our time, President Barack Obama stated,

Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.

San Francisco, the city known for inclusion, diversity, progressive values has hosted many peaceful demonstrations since the 2016 election results were announced. Regardless of the political side we choose to support, it is always a proud moment for the American democracy, when people of all cultures, races, genders and ages voice their passionate opinions in an open forum.

For liberals, maybe nothing changes for the next four years, maybe things get much worse before they get better. But we must still keep trying to spread the message of hope and dispel the fear! We are in this together and we must continue hoping and working toward a more inclusive tomorrow for our children.

I am sharing pictures from a peaceful rally on November 19, 2016 from Civic Center to Embarcadero, where 100s of people marched with their children, friends and family:

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