{"id":37488,"date":"2024-11-05T23:32:13","date_gmt":"2024-11-06T07:32:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=37488"},"modified":"2024-11-05T23:32:14","modified_gmt":"2024-11-06T07:32:14","slug":"san-franciscans-steel-themselves-for-a-potential-trump-victory","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2024\/11\/05\/san-franciscans-steel-themselves-for-a-potential-trump-victory\/","title":{"rendered":"San Franciscans steel themselves for a potential Trump victory"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"A
Isabella Madruga, bottom, watches the presidential election results on a jumbo screen in San Francisco. | Source:Noah Berger\/AP Photo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

By\u00a0Sam Mondros<\/a>,\u00a0Jillian D\u2019Onfro<\/a>,\u00a0Joe Fitzgerald Rodriguez<\/a>,\u00a0Max Harrison-Caldwell<\/a>,\u00a0Jon Steinberg<\/a>, and\u00a0Kevin V. Nguyen<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Published\u00a0Nov. 05, 2024 \u2022 SFStandard.com<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At 9:15 Tuesday night, under fluorescent lights and multiple MSNBC projections, the crowd at the SF Dems party on Market St. let lose a primal scream. They were rapidly realizing that former President Donald Trump had a high likelihood<\/a> of becoming president again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After the stress-releasing roar reverberated through the former Downtown Nordstrom Rack, City Attorney David Chiu instructed everyone to tell the person next to them that they were beautiful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chiu and a slate of speakers, including the soon-to-be reelected Assemblymember Matt Haney and state Sen. Scott Wiener, were hard-pressed to calm or cheer the evening\u2019s attendees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re all anxious, but this is not over yet,\u201d Weiner said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Onlookers didn\u2019t appear to have the same confidence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite there being several swing states yet to call and millions of votes yet to count, a palpable sense of dread permeated the room \u2014 as it did within concert halls, cafes, street corners, and watch parties<\/a> all over deep-blue San Francisco. Though early returns showed Vice President Kamala Harris garnering 80% of the city vote, she was getting trounced in almost all the places it mattered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m nervous eating,\u201d said Tri Tan, gesturing to his heaping plate of Indian food. \u201cI\u2019m anxious. I\u2019m very emotional.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A
State senator Scott Weiner, standing center, listens to mayor London Breed speaks to supporters at Victory Hall. | Source:Amanda Andrade-Rhoades\/The Standard<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Two
Attendees at the Mark Farrell for Mayor and Yes on Prop D watch party felt disappointment on both the national and local levels. | Source:Morgan Ellis\/The Standard<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m very nervous \u2014 it\u2019s a lot closer than I was expecting,\u201d said Thom Davies, an attendee at Democratic headquarters who, as a Green Card holder, couldn\u2019t vote himself. \u201cI was holding out hope for a surprise landslide.\u201d He worries how a Trump presidency could affect western liberalism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amidst his campaign party at Bimbo\u2019s 365 Club in North Beach, mayoral candidate Aaron Peskin took a long pause after being asked for his reaction to the New York Times\u2019s prediction around 8 p.m. that Trump would be the next president.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m speechless,\u201d he said at last. \u201cIt is going to make it much, much harder for every city in America to provide for our people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI would much rather I lost and Kamala Harris won, but based on what The New York Times is saying, it looks like it will be the opposite,\u201d he added. (Early returns<\/a> in the mayor\u2019s race also didn\u2019t look promising for Peskin.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The longtime city legislator said San Francisco and California would have to join forces with other cities and states to push back against the executive branch, and that Trump\u2019s policies would have an outsized impact on poor and homeless people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe best defense is a coordinated offense,\u201d he said. \u201cBut it\u2019ll make our ability to govern much harder.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Coming to grips<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSo, how ya feelin\u2019?\u201d was a common droll refrain at election watch parties across San Francisco. \u201cNot great,\u201d was the common retort.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sporting a T-shirt that reads \u201cDivorce your Republican husband,\u201d Lily Contino sat anxiously watching the election results around 9 p.m. at District 3 Supervisor candidate Sharon Lai\u2019s watch party at Harbor View Restaurant and Bar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m trying not to freak out,\u201d she said. \u201cAnything could happen. It would be a sad day for everyone, including trans people if Harris loses.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m really trying not to think about it because I might start to cry if I do,\u201d said Lai, who was also trailing in early results for her race. \u201cI have trauma from 2016. I had just had my second son, and I was still very hormonal when the election results came in and I just remember bawling my eyes out. It\u2019s a little triggering.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, just a mile away, the mood at the SF GOP party in North Beach turned from cautiously optimistic to outright jovial.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Democrats are freaking out,\u201d said Assembly candidate Manuel Noris-Barrera, who was looking likely to lose his race against Matt Haney, but nevertheless basked in the applause and cheers. \u201cDonald Trump is going to be President and we\u2019re going to celebrate tonight.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A
San Francisco Republican Party Executive Director Jacob Spangler at the GOP watch party at Maykadeh Persian restaurant. | Source:Michale Vatcheva for The Standard<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Yvette Corkrean, a likely loser in her state Senate run against Scott Wiener, claimed her opponent is \u201cnot very kind to our family and kids,\u201d which drew sneers from the crowd. One heckler yelled that Wiener was a \u201cpervert.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat\u2019s not very nice,\u201d Cockrean responded. \u201cBut with that attitude, we can defeat him together.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At El Chato, a popular Spanish wine bar in the Mission, co-owner Erin Rickenbaker tried to create \u201cgood election vibes\u201d for the bar\u2019s election watch party. She poured list\u00e1n negros and cai\u00f1o longos \u2014both indigenous Spanish varieties of wine \u2014 freely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A
Erin Rickenbaker drowns out the election at El Chato. | Source:Beki San Martin\/The Standard<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

But as the night wore on, the vibes shifted. \u201cWhat I\u2019ve heard mostly is that people have been dissociating and today are starting to freak out,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The only remaining path was clear: Drown your election woes, or go home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With his state Senate reelection all but wrapped up, Scott Wiener was thrust into the role of group therapist for the forlorn Harris supporters at the SF Dems party.

\u201cLet\u2019s just take a deep breath,\u201d he told them as the tide turned gradually toward Trump.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt is not over, but I also just want to say, first of all, regardless of who wins \u2014 we know this just from the last few years, when we had a Democratic president, a Democratic Senate\u2014 we still have had to fight like crazy to protect our fundamental rights. And so no matter who\u2019s in control, we have to be prepared to fight. And if, God forbid, the worst happens tonight. Let me tell you, we\u2019ve seen this and gone through this before.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sam Mondros can be reached at smondros@sfstandard.com<\/a>
Jillian D\u2019Onfro can be reached at jdonfro@sfstandard.com<\/a>
Joe Fitzgerald Rodriguez can be reached at joefitz@sfstandard.com<\/a>
Max Harrison-Caldwell can be reached at maxhc@sfstandard.com<\/a>
Jon Steinberg can be reached at jsteinberg@sfstandard.com<\/a>
Kevin V. Nguyen can be reached at knguyen@sfstandard.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By\u00a0Sam Mondros,\u00a0Jillian D\u2019Onfro,\u00a0Joe Fitzgerald Rodriguez,\u00a0Max Harrison-Caldwell,\u00a0Jon Steinberg, and\u00a0Kevin V. Nguyen Published\u00a0Nov. 05, 2024 \u2022 SFStandard.com At 9:15 Tuesday night, under fluorescent lights and multiple MSNBC projections, the crowd at the SF Dems party on Market St. let lose a primal scream. They were rapidly realizing that former President Donald Trump… Continue reading → <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37488"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37488"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37488\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":37489,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37488\/revisions\/37489"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37488"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37488"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37488"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}