On a gloomy Wednesday afternoon, the hopes of thousands crashed like the persistent rain. Kerry had lost, and the passions around campus were palpable. Student, staff and faculty emoted rage, sorrow, bewilderment – and confusion. And on that night the Democratic Guilford community gathered in King 126 at 10 p.m. to figure out what to do next.

I went to the meeting seeking the raw emotions – hatred and frustration – I saw on Nov 3. I asked the 70 people who gathered in that fashion mistake of a room (mixing tones of vomit and blood), to tell me what they would do with themselves now that Kerry had lost.

I encouraged sarcasm, cynicism, dark humor, and rejected objectivity. I wanted to unearth that zealous frenzy, not mask it in a practical press release.

Instead I found the paradigm had shifted. At first I’d seen rage, but now only sadness; sorrow became melancholy; bewilderment eroded into a dangerous sensation of hope waning for liberal ideals. Confusion remained.

The room fragmented into small pockets of conversation, but then regrouped to discuss individual conclusions. The conversation flowed into a pool of lucid consensus.

One person after another deduced that Democrats needed to connect with Republicans.

I was shocked that so many people had become wholly constructive in their disappointment. Having lost the war, the group realized that liberals had forgotten Sun Tsu’s dictum: “Know thine enemy as thyself.”

Each person agreed that we must take a more microcosmic approach and attempt to understand the mentality of the individual Republicans around us. We need to talk to our opponents and try to understand their perspective. The time for war has ended; the time for conversation has begun.

If liberals can converse with conservatives, aiming to attain an understanding instead of a victory, then maybe a middle road can be reached.

The purposive mentality offers the heartening perspective that Kerry’s defeat is not the end. To a group of lost and disillusioned people, the idea of sincere political dialogue suddenly seems encouraging.

And so I realized that my dark-humor expos was no longer relevant. I still asked my question: “What will you do with yourself now that Kerry has lost?” And some people joked and others didn’t, but nobody felt the fervor I was looking for. And I realized that this is a good thing, for the sake of our sanity.

In the spirit of this conclusion, I invite a Republican who would like to engage in sincere discussion on the issues that divide the two parties to contact me through The Guilfordian at cmcalpin@guilford.edu. Join me in helping the divided sides comprehend each other.