SAN FRANCISCO \u2014 They filed in tentatively, taking seats on plush couches and folding chairs arranged in a semicircle in the cafe\u2019s gently lit backroom. Here would be safe to share their deepest feelings, they were assured, to unspool their still-fresh emotions.<\/p>\n
And the Democrats gathered at Manny\u2019s \u2014 for what looked and sounded a lot like group therapy \u2014 had a lot to unpack.<\/p>\n
In one of America\u2019s most liberal cities, this is where San Franciscans come when they need a place to process the latest political bombshell. So they did Monday, gathering after President Biden ended his reelection campaign and ceded the spotlight to one of the Bay Area\u2019s own. In confessional tones, person after person reported how their mood had changed overnight: from depression to delight, anxiety to excitement.<\/p>\n
The preceding weeks had been traumatizing, the previous 24 hours life-affirming.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think for the first time in months I feel so optimistic,\u201d said Chandru Murthi, a 77-year-old resident who was the first in the circle to share.<\/p>\n
Manny Yekutiel imagined exactly this type of discussion when he founded his hybrid coffee shop, bar, bookstore and event space in the Mission district in 2018. The 34-year-old political science major is a longtime Democratic fundraiser and strategist, and he decided to open shop after Donald Trump\u2019s election.<\/p>\n
Since then, Manny\u2019s has become a pillar of the city\u2019s political scene, a physical retreat for like-minded souls to talk at a time when so much discourse is chronically online. The back of the cafe is decorated like a living room, with floor lamps, house plants, even a red vintage rug from Yekutiel\u2019s childhood home in Los Angeles.<\/p>\n
California Gov. Gavin Newsom, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and first lady Jill Biden are among the prominent Democrats who have all stopped in. Vice President Harris, now the party\u2019s likely ticket-topper in the November election, is also a fan. \u201cYou\u2019re amazing,\u201d she told Yekutiel during one of her visits.<\/p>\n
For anyone looking to do a wellness check on the psyche of a deeply blue stronghold at this historic moment, Manny\u2019s is where to go.<\/p>\n
Responding to Biden\u2019s news, Yekutiel reworked the week\u2019s schedule, starting with Monday\u2019s session. He kicked things off as discussion leader. \u201cLet\u2019s ground this in how we feel right now,\u201d he told the crowd of about three dozen people. \u201cHow are we feeling as Democrats, as San Franciscans, as people who have a lot at stake in this election?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel excited, I feel hopeful,\u201d said Angelina Polselli, 24. \u201cIt feels like everyone finally woke up from a long, long nap.\u201d<\/p>\n
As Manny\u2019s resident Gen Z expert, she noted that young people have some concerns with Harris, particularly her record as a prosecutor. But there\u2019s also the \u201cbrat\u201d factor, which Polselli had to explain to an audience who appeared largely unfamiliar with the catalogue of Charli XCX.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt feels exciting to have a young candidate who is energized and youthful and who is also talking to young people and using the language we use,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n
Soon, however, that familiar fear crept back in.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m a little bit worried about a San Francisco liberal carrying the battleground states,\u201d said Dan Rink, 81 and himself a liberal from the Bay Area.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not sure she\u2019s a liberal, I view her as more moderate,\u201d David Anderson, 55, a film industry veteran, chimed in.<\/p>\n
Yekutiel took a poll: \u201cHow many of you, if you\u2019re willing to raise your hand, are worried about her ability to win?\u201d About half the circle responded, though several acknowledged they were \u201cmore hopeful than 24 hours ago.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hope has been in short supply all year for this crowd. Enthusiasm, even shorter.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe last few weeks were really difficult because people have just felt this dread, that there\u2019s no point,\u201d Yekutiel said. \u201cAnd now I have all these ideas, my mind has been racing, people are reaching out to me, asking how they can help. That was not happening 24 hours ago.\u201d<\/p>\n
Two nights later, Manny\u2019s hosted a watch party for Biden\u2019s Oval Office address, his first since exiting the campaign. Despite the new themed drinks \u2014 \u201cKamalattes,\u201d sweetened with coconut syrup, of course \u2014 the affair was solemn.<\/p>\n
As the president\u2019s speech played on a small TV opposite the barista station, some 20 people fell silent and clustered around the screen. Passersby stopped to watch through the cafe\u2019s open front windows. A woman named Lydia walked in to order a mocha and wound up staying for the whole thing.<\/p>\n
The elated embrace of Harris expanded to a tearful appreciation of Biden.<\/p>\n
\u201cI felt in his voice and his speech and his words so much love for this country,\u201d Michelle Jeong said, choking up. \u201cThe hope, unity and the lack of ego.\u201d<\/p>\n
For Mike Madison, who had also attended the Monday gathering, the sentiment was overdue. Lost in the memes and the Harris hullabaloo was the fact that Biden had just made a tremendous sacrifice, he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wanted people to remember what he\u2019s done, his real accomplishments,\u201d Madison said.<\/p>\n
If night one\u2019s theme was relief and celebration and night two\u2019s was gratitude, a third event Thursday was something of a reality check. It was also the largest gathering of the week, squeezing about 175 people into Manny\u2019s backroom for a panel featuring two journalists dissecting the upcoming campaign and Harris\u2019s prospects for victory.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not going to be easy, let\u2019s be clear. It\u2019s not going to be easy to win in November,\u201d said Scott Shafer, politics editor at KQED, a Bay Area public radio station.<\/p>\n
The evening served as a call to action: \u201cThis is our hometown candidate, she\u2019s one of us,\u201d Yekutiel said. \u201cSo we are going to be needed to propel her to this highest office.\u201d<\/p>\n
For those interested in getting involved, he announced a very San Francisco option: A \u201cdisco for democracy\u201d party, with proceeds going to get-out-the-vote efforts in neighboring Nevada. Only days earlier, when Biden was still heading the Democratic ticket, such festivities were a harder sell, Yekutiel said. But now there was something to dance about.<\/p>\n
Lalita Abhyankar, a physician, was ready to volunteer. \u201cI want to knock on doors,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019ve never felt this way about a candidate, not even Obama. \u2026 I can vote for her instead of just voting against Trump. It feels amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Thursday was her first time at a Manny\u2019s discussion, she said. A friend told her it was the place to be this week, and she wanted company as she reveled in her new enthusiasm. Sometimes even those who didn\u2019t know they cared leave Manny\u2019s fired up \u2014 like the woman who happened to walk in just before Biden\u2019s address.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe came in for a mocha and participated in a major historic moment,\u201d Yekutiel said. \u201cThat was my vision for this place \u2014 you trap people with beer and coffee so they don\u2019t even realize they\u2019re walking into a political space. And then, they\u2019re in.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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