What I would say to my daughter this morning (if I had one)

Good morning, honey. We’re waking up to some bad news today. That bad man on the news who treats and talks about women in terrible ways is going to be our next President. Yes, that means that more people voted for him than voted to elect the first female President.

But that doesn’t mean Americans voted for him because they agree with him about how women should be treated. And it doesn’t mean they voted for him because they don’t think a woman should be President.

They voted for him because they are scared and angry.

They are scared of change, of losing their voice and their way of life. They are scared of things they don’t know anything about, like other nations and other religions. They are angry because they feel ridiculed and made fun of by everyone on television and in the news. They feel like the people we supported don’t speak for them.

That’s because instead of working to include them in the dialogue over the last eight years, we made fun of them. We told them they were stupid and backwards and small-minded. And when you tell people these things, they get even more angry.

So, what we’re going through right now is called a backlash. It’s what happens when people feel angry and held down. Because those emotions are extremely motivating.

After 8 years of Obama, the people who supported that bad man felt very motivated, but the people on our side didn’t feel as motivated. They thought the bad man was a joke and they didn’t take the anger and motivation on the other side all that seriously. It caught everyone off guard.

And that’s why he won. Not because people don’t want a female president. But because his supporters were scared and angry and motivated. More scared, angry, and motivated than us, apparently.

But the good news is that politics almost always runs in cycles. And the next four years will be VERY motivating for our side. In fact, this bad man is probably going to do such a bad job that many of the people who were angry and motivated enough to support him this time will be embarrassed by their decision in four years.

And if we greet those people with open arms and stop making fun of them and their fears, we may be able to count on them to support an even better team for President and Vice President. That will be the perfect time for someone amazing like Elizabeth Warren, Van Jones or Martin Heinrich to run for President in 2020.

Sometimes we just need to be patient, honey. It will be a hard four years, but our time is coming.