Hear That? It’s the Sound of Millions of Disappointed Warren Supporters Grieving
By: Gina Gallois
Tags: Equality, Women, Politics, Grief, Feminism

Hear That? It’s the Sound of Millions of Disappointed Warren Supporters Grieving

American women absorb yet another crushing blow to their hopes and dreams for the future

I’m sure she’ll understand one day. Or maybe she’ll burn it all down. Image by ulkas, licensed from Canva Pro

I don’t know about you, but I’ve been walking around for months now in a state of low grade, chronic anger with intermittent flare ups of acute frustration and indignation.

To put it in perspective, I’m a sheltered, middle class, cis hetero, white woman. In spite of everything, my family and I are doing just fine. Still, I want this country to be better than it is — for everyone.

I dare not pretend to know the half of what people of color, LGBTQ folks, muslims, jews, and other marginalized groups are feeling right now. All I can think is that if I feel the way I do in the relatively secure position I’m in, there must be a great ragey stew a-simmerin’ all over this land and one of these days it will boil over.

I’m sad

Why the fuck can’t an amazingly intelligent, highly competent, qualified, personable woman catch a break in this shit-hole country? Or just have a chance?

Frustrating doesn’t even begin to describe the feeling one gets listening to NPR and reading article after article that barely even mentions Elizabeth Warren. It’s like she’s not even there.

Well, she’s gone now and god dammit, it’s devastating.

It feels like a death.

I thought it was devastating when Hilary lost even though she won. She was a flawed candidate, they told us. But her emails, they claimed.

Elizabeth Warren did one dumb little stunt with a DNA test — for which she sincerely apologized and owned the consequences of her actions. I admired her even more. She is not a flawed candidate and still, she had no chance.

Her debate performances should have won awards. Maybe they still will. She’s brilliant. She’s quick witted. She genuinely cares. She’s got a real, well-thought out plan for everything. Literally everything.

But it’s not enough.

It’s never enough.

And that’s damn sad.

How could we pass up an opportunity to have a leader like Elizabeth Warren in the highest office in the land?

I’m mourning the loss of what could have been.

And I’m not alone. My friends and I are sad.

Yes. For fuck’s sake, yes, I’ll vote for whatever old, crusty, yelling white guy isn’t Donald Trump. Thank god it won’t be Bloomberg — perhaps there are small mercies after all.

I won’t say all, but the large majority of my women friends wanted Warren. And we just found out we can’t have her.

We are crushed.

It feels like a death.

I’m not sure I even let myself truly imagine her getting there, because, well, I’ve been here a while now, and I know what this country is like. But, my god, what a beacon of light she is, was, would have been, if only we would have opened our eyes.

I’m exhausted

Even my husband, whose views are progressive and align very well with mine, keeps telling me there’s no talking to me right now.

Every time he tries to have a political discussion with me, I interrupt him and get angry and ranty. I cannot help it. Who else will hear me?

It’s exhausting trying to make myself understood even to the person who knows me and loves me best and gets it, for the most part.

I’m so tired of worrying about and fighting for equality, justice, healthcare, the environment, the world my children will inherit, the social safety net, everything that garbage human in the White House is doing his damndest to destroy out of pure spite every single day.

But it didn’t start with him. He’s just the rancid cherry on the top of this shit sundae the patriarchy has been serving up for decades.

I’m mad as hell

Remember that roiling growl in the core of my being from the beginning of this article?

I do not, for the life of me, know what to do about it.

The worst is that now I, and many millions like me, have to shove it down and work for a candidate I don’t care about.

I don’t care about Joe Biden. He’s fine. But he’s not what I want. And now I may have to summon all my strength to make sure he gets elected.

I don’t care about Bernie Sanders. He’s fine. I respect him, but I just don’t want him. And now I may have to force myself to work for him to be elected because the alternative is simply unthinkable.

I want to rage against our collective ignorance and resistance to real passion, knowledge, expertise, competence, humanity, especially in the form of a woman.

I’m gonna keep fighting, but…

Joe and Bernie, like I said, are fine. Whatever. I’ll pull myself together, just like those millions of others. I’ll write the post cards and knock the doors.

I’ll be truly glad and relieved if we manage to get Trump out of office, but right now, I’m just so deeply, viscerally, sad.

Thanks for reading.

When I’m in a better mood, I’m out celebrating the publication of my first children’s book, Opossum Opposites. Click here to find out more.

You may also enjoy: