See hard times ahead? Have some hope.

There are good reasons to be hopeful.

First, don’t overstate the claim of a mandate. Consider the numbers. As this is written, the tally is 78.5 million votes for Donald Trump (49.9%) and 76.2 million votes for Kamala Harris (48.4%). That’s the closest victory since Richard Nixon defeated Hubert Humphrey in 1968 by 0.7%.

And, again, more than 76 million Americans didn’t vote for Trump (even more if the 2.6 million votes for others are included).

Nevertheless, some venting can be healthy:

* “A massive number of people across the nation did not find it disqualifying a candidate is a convicted criminal [who] spews racist and sexist rhetoric, spreads lies and conspiracies, and wants to punish his political enemies. And I know I am leaving some things out.” – Lynn Sweet, Chicago Sun-Times

* “Among the many disappointments is knowing that all of his crimes, lies, gaslighting, narcissism, bigotry and greed weren’t punished on Election Day, but rewarded. Bad guys aren’t supposed to win, and he is without question a bad guy.” – conservative columnist S.E. Cupp

* “It is a disastrous revelation about what the United States really is, as opposed to the country that so many hoped that it could be. A convicted felon, a chronic liar who mismanaged a deadly once-in-a-century pandemic, who tried to overturn the last election and unleashed a violent mob on the nation’s Capitol, who calls America ‘a garbage can for the world,’ and who threatens retribution against his political enemies could win.” – Susan B. Glasser, The New Yorker

* “The nation witnessed a vast and majestic spectacle: the American people participating in a democratic election to strike a blow against democracy. Enjoying the powers entrusted to them by the Constitution of the United States, they elected a man to be president who is no more willing to abide by it than he is to shave his head.” – Steve Chapman, Chicago Tribune

* “We all deserve a moment to curl up in the fetal position. But when that moment is over, I want to do what I can to make life better for my children and grandchildren (not to mention people I don’t happen to be related to). Remaining silent and surrendering to despair is exactly what fascists want us to do. So let’s not.” – humorist Andy Borowitz

* “Setbacks are unavoidable, but giving up is unforgivable. We all get knocked down, but the measure of our character – as my dad would say – is how quickly we get back up.” – President Joe Biden

* “The election of Donald Trump is a gut punch for Americans committed to unity, equality and workers’ rights. Eight years ago when he was first elected, many of us were paralyzed by our grief over the direction of this country. As we face those same emotions today, we cannot let our grief hold us back from action. We know Trump’s playbook; we can and we will organize to defeat it.” - Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO President April Sims and Secretary Treasurer Cherika Carter

* “Here’s what we know: We don’t really know anything, and that we’re going to come out of this election and we are going to make all kind of pronouncements about what this country is and what this world is, and the truth is, we’re not really going to know shit, and we’re going to make it seem like this is the finality of our civilization. And this is the thing — we are all going to have to wake up tomorrow morning and work like hell to move the world to the place that we prefer it to be.” – comic Jon Stewart

* “You can’t despair, Because that’s what they want. They want you to think that it’s hopeless. It’s never hopeless.”  - Timothy Snyder, Yale professor and author of On Tyranny: 20 Lessons from the 20^th Century

I lived in Washington, D.C., in 1984 during a campaign that resulted in a genuine landslide: Ronald Reagan beat Walter Mondale 58.8% to 37.5%. Even then, with the Iran-Contra scandal brewing and 3.8% inflation almost twice the Federal Reserve’s goal, Democrats retook control of Congress two years later.

Retaining democracy and recovering progress aren’t inevitable. It can be difficult.

A few final quotes:

* (This exchange is about baseball, but it can apply to opposing authoritarians)

“It just got too hard,” said a player thinking of giving up.

A one-time all-star and manager replied, “It's supposed to be hard. If it wasn't hard, everyone would do it. The hard is what makes it great.”

* “It’s time to think up ideas to implement the sign on the Oregon AFL-CIO’s wall during Trump’s first term: ‘Resist. Persist. Repeat’.”

* Finally, the inspiring advice from lifelong activist John Lewis, a civil rights champion, friend of labor and Congressman –

“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.”