Let me tell you a story – a story of hope, political hope. On the morning after the Trump victory, really later the same morning I dropped off at 0500, I started getting phone calls. They were not the phone calls one expects – they were from Democrats.

Now, of course, you will immediately think these calls were harsh and accusatory, complaining and negative, that my old Democrat friends were unhappy, a bitter pill, no reign of “joy.”

You will imagine my Democrat friends needed someone to vent to, someone to blame for this calamity, as colleges canceled classes, staged cry-ins, and talk television melted down.

I fielded my first Democrat call somewhere after 0800, not sure who the caller was until she spoke, then surprised. I thought maybe she needed a favor or had seen a moose – which, living in Maine, happens occasionally.

Trying to be polite, knowing my Democrat friends would be in ill temper, I stayed away from the obvious, and said it was a lovely fall day, my kettle on the stove, brisk outside, even windy. She said yes. I filled the silence, kept it light, hoped her family was well, and gradually … tapered off.

“Aren’t you curious why I am calling?” she said. Now, I recognized there must be import here, and began to dread what would follow. “Well, yes, I am,” I said, “now that you mention it.”

“Bobby, we have been talking for several years, and I have been working to better understand the politics and the truth, and you know I liked Bobby Kennedy Jr…” I said I knew. What I did not say is, that until she and her husband began talking with me, they had never spoken to a conservative.

What I also did not say is that this friend, like several others on the left end of the spectrum, would probably never speak to me, except she knew me from childhood. I was an exception. Others tolerate me because they think I am just naïve, misguided, or quaintly all-American.

Now, I just listened. “Bobby, what I am about to tell you has to be on the low down because my best friends would disown me, never speak to me again… but I voted for Trump.”

She continued. “I just had to go with my heart, I think it was about good and evil, and I think he has the chance for a legacy like no one has seen in a hundred years. I think if he can pull this nation together, be inclusive, healing, we could find more purpose than we have ever seen.”

Knock me over with a feather; I had to sit down and keep listening. “You know I am a real Democrat, and I liked Bobby Kennedy Jr. I am not sure what the future holds but I followed my heart, I had to choose Trump. I know you are shocked, but I had to vote for him.”

Needless to say, I told her how proud I was of her independent thinking. She told me it seemed there was room for independent thought, critical thinking, in my world. Then she said something that rocked me more than her vote, something all the pollsters missed, and yet is so true.

She said, “You know, all my Democrat friends would never talk to me again if they knew I voted for Trump … even some in my family, but you know, that is one reason I voted for him. They are judgmental. He seems open to new things, and unafraid to listen. I think he could really heal us.”

Incredibly, she went on to tell me her gay sister and her sister’s partner also voted for Trump, that her liberal daughter voted for Trump. Within minutes, I had other incoming calls, similar.

I got a call from a friend who wondered if she had made the right choice, a young woman and her male friend in their 30s. Both voted for Trump and felt he was right for America. They both work hard at modest jobs, and she felt he had their back. I said she was right.

Later in the same day, I met a young working man in his 40s, divorced, raising his eight-year-old child, who confided he voted for Trump. Another friend called, wondered if her vote was the right one, said she had … voted for Trump.

Somewhere toward evening, having fielded plenty from those “relieved beyond words,” “praying with thanks,” and “skipping around the house,” I began to absorb the enormity of what happened, what is happening. Faith in America is returning, a gamble by some, but hope in the future.

Hope was refreshed by Trump’s vision and authenticity. The crucial nature of this election, the extraordinary courage, tenacity, and commitment shown by Trump, actually moved people. Willingness to withstand terrible pressure, survive, understand, and keep fighting for core freedoms began restoring trust in America, even before the vote. He opened hearts. That is the real story.   

Robert Charles is a former Assistant Secretary of State under Colin Powell, former Reagan and Bush 41 White House staffer, attorney, and naval intelligence officer (USNR). He wrote “Narcotics and Terrorism” (2003), “Eagles and Evergreens” (2018), and is National Spokesman for AMAC. Robert Charles has also just released an uplifting new book, “Cherish America: Stories of Courage, Character, and Kindness” (Tower Publishing, 2024).