Trump defeated Harris and won the election. I'm ready this time

Good things can happen when you choose to be active and involved in bringing the world closer to the world you hope to live in.

On Tuesday, November 8, 2016, around 11:00 PM PST, I was standing outside my friend’s apartment in San Francisco’s Pacific Heights neighborhood. I was sniffing a Parliament Light and drinking about a bottle and a half of wine trying to grapple with the reality that, to everyone’s surprise, even his own, Donald Trump had defeated Hillary Clinton to win the presidency.

At the time, I was director of global sales development for a B2B Saas Marketing company, living in San Francisco and about a month away from moving to Brooklyn, without any thought of politics or media work as a possible career change.

But despite not knowing much about politics and not spending my money, time or energy on a single election, I was devastated. I know I was devastated because I can still go back and read my 800-word Facebook essay I wrote in response (reminder that the internet is forever), in which my dramatic ending includes a proclamation about my motivation: “To do more than I have done.”

Eight years later, a different role and another Trump victory

Fast forward to November 5, around 11:00 PM CST: I had just wrapped up election night coverage on WTMJ 620AMwhich was looked at every time we updated the national election results even worse for Vice President Kamala Harris and Democrats across the country. I went home to my husband, had a glass of bourbon (and no cigarettes) before asking him to turn off the election coverage so we could watch an episode of “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” and laugh a bit before watching went to bed and dealt with the inevitable feelings in the morning.

I share these two plot points in my life because the latter doesn’t happen without the former. Trump’s election in 2016 changed the trajectory of my life. If he hadn’t won, I wouldn’t have quit working in tech, I wouldn’t have ever moved to Wisconsin again, and I certainly wouldn’t be as knowledgeable and involved in politics and government as I am today.

If he hadn’t won, I wouldn’t have done it this column or a daily radio show. I wouldn’t have met my husband, which means I wouldn’t be the mother of my daughter either.

If he hadn’t won, I wouldn’t be surrounded by people who care, professionally or personally. I wouldn’t work with journalists doing the laborious work of local and state reporting in a swing state. I wouldn’t have multiple friends who were elected candidates, or any other type of official. I wouldn’t have a community of people who have my values and commitments.

I’m not sharing this anecdote because I’m trying to say, “My life is better because Donald Trump was president and maybe this time it will!”

Good things happen when we choose to be active and involved

I share this as a reminder that good things can happen when you choose to be active and involved in bringing the world closer to the world you hope to live in.

Those good things can be personal and professional, but they can also be qualities such as perseverance. Because when I compare my reaction in 2016 to 2024, I think the reason I was less desperate this time is because I don’t feel helpless or hopeless.

I woke up on Wednesday incredibly sad, but I also knew that my role is to continue sharing accurate information that provides context and humor. I also woke up knowing that I have a lot of people in my life who believe that just because we can’t save everything doesn’t mean we’re not working to save something.

It is also worth remembering that there is a consequential loss Elections to the Wisconsin Supreme Court in just over four months, and the midterm elections in two years. Everyone can play a role if he or she chooses to accept it.

There are countless ways to show up and make a difference

And I woke up knowing this advice from Howard Zinn: “Do not look for a moment of total triumph. Think of it as an ongoing battle, with victories and defeats, but in the long run people’s consciousness grows. So you need patience and perseverance, and you need to understand that even if you don’t ‘win’, there is pleasure and satisfaction in having been involved, along with other good people, in something worthwhile.”

So whether you’re someone celebrating or mourning last week’s election results, remember that national elections are just one place where we express our values and exercise our political power. There are countless ways to show up and help and make a difference – at PTO meetings, school boards, city council, volunteer work, etc.

Maybe these elections are the reason for you to get off the couch, just as it was for me eight years ago. Perhaps you have been involved and engaged for longer than you can remember.

Wherever you are on that spectrum, we all need to remember that positive action is the only way forward.

Kristin Brey is the “My Take” columnist for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, where this column originally appeared.