By Siena Iwasaki Milbauer (AAOP Content Creator Intern, Fall 2020-Present)
The first election I seriously got involved in was the 2016 presidential election. I was 17.5 years old that November, six months too young to vote. But I paid attention to candidate profiles, debates, and political rhetoric more than I ever had before. I even volunteered, phone banking for a certain female president that was never to be. It was essentially my political awakening.
Of course, given the results of the 2016 election, it was a pretty brutal political awakening. When the results were finalized early Wednesday morning, I went through the whole cycle of negative emotions: disbelief, outrage, fear, disappointment. My idealistic political balloon got popped right after I’d filled it with all my hopes and dreams. To quote he who shall not be named, sad.
And yet, 5 years later, here I still am, a committed organizer and more politically engaged than ever. I survived my first big political loss (and the many losses that came after) and you can too!
It’s fair to say that this year’s Minneapolis elections did not turn out the way so many of us had hoped and worked so hard for. It’s a big bummer. But it’s also not the end of the road for the issues that we are all so passionate about. We still have so much potential and promise in our future, but we have to shake off this loss in order to seize it. So, from someone who’s been there before, here are my 5 tips for processing a disappointing election and coming out on the other side a more powerful, motivated, and even more optimistic organizer!
Firstly, and maybe most importantly: give yourself space to feel your feelings. Your reaction, be it angry, scared, disheartened, or all of the above, is totally valid.
And don’t keep your feelings to yourself: talk it out with a friend, scream into your pillow, go for a brisk fall walk while shooting metaphorical lasers out of your eyes at the sidewalk. Feeling and expressing post-election emotions is healthy and you deserve space to process.
It can be tempting after a tough election to throw yourself back into political work right away. There’s so much to be done, after all. But especially if you just worked super hard in the weeks leading up to the election, rest is a must.
Take a week off of social media. Take a day to just curl up in a corner and listen to your favorite album or read a good book. Take a literal vacation, if you can. Just because your work didn’t create every single result you wanted, doesn’t mean your work wasn’t tough and worthwhile. Take a break before you get back on the horse!
No election, even a rough one, comes without silver linings. Once you’ve let yourself vent and rest, take a moment to notice all the amazing things that the election accomplished.
For example, this election saw progress on rent control in both Minneapolis and St. Paul, with Minneapolis giving their City Council the green light to pursue rent control, and St. Paul passing a full rent control policy! For the first time ever, the incoming Minneapolis City Council will be majority people of color! And Duluth elected its very first Asian American city council member in Azrin Awal! Celebrate these accomplishments for the amazing steps forward for our communities they are.
In the hustle and bustle of election season, it can be easy to get completely caught up in phone banking, relative-cajoling, and polling. As we all run around like crazy chickens, we can lose sight of why we wanted to get civically involved in the first place. The post-election downtime is an amazing moment to reconnect with those motivations.
Ask yourself: What policy issues get you the most fired up? What challenges is your community facing that you want to work on? Who are your elected representatives and what do you think of the job they are doing? Start from the ground up and figure out what you are most passionate about. Then find ways to tap into that work!
Pre-election, during an election, and post-election, our community is our number one resource. We hold us up, move us forward, and yes, keep us safe. This might be your first disappointing election, but trust me, it won’t be the last. But what I’ve found is that whenever I’m feeling disenchanted with community organizing, all I have to do is look at my actual community and all that cynicism melts away. We are worth fighting for. And together, one step at a time, we can and we will build a brighter future.
Sources
Ansari Hibah; Sahan Journal. “Duluth elects Azrin Awal as its first Asian American City Council member.” MPR, 3 Nov 2021. https://www.mprnews.org/story/2021/11/03/duluth-elects-azrin-awal-as-its-first-asian-american-city-council-member. Accessed 5 Nov 2021.
Ansari, Hibah. “For the first time, majority of Minneapolis City Council members will be people of color.” Sahan Journal, 2 Nov 2021. https://sahanjournal.com/democracy-politics/minneapolis-city-council-election-2021-results/. Accessed 5 Nov 2021.
Collins, Jon; MPR news staff. “St. Paul, Minneapolis voters back rent control.” MPR, 2 Nov 2021, https://www.mprnews.org/story/2021/11/02/rent-control-minneapolis-st-paul-votes. Accessed 5 Nov 2021.