While I write this with a heavy heart, it’s neither a call to arms or gloom and doom. What we witnessed last night was the last hurrah of white angry America. And Trump tapped into it and ran a truly insurgent campaign. His strategy was pure brilliance. Now it’s our turn to be angry and reap the rewards at the ballot box. And we will but with a great deal more education, intelligence, and organization. That revolution began last night. I believe the failures of the Trump administration will come in manners both great and small. In little than year, buyer’s remorse will set into the hearts and minds of many Americans. And they will mobilize and vote for change.
We will grieve our losses and examine what we did wrong. More importantly, we will figure out how to prevent those wrongs from ever occurring again. New candidates will arise from the rubble. Clinton wasn’t a horrible candidate but she wasn’t as inspiring as Obama. I believe the failures on our side come from many things such as Wikileaks, the FBI, and voter suppression laws combining for a damned perfect storm. But the biggest thing was the anger of so many white Americans. Anger has a way of making you blind and stupid. When they figure out that Trump can’t or won’t do the things he has promised, those angry Americans will need our help to build a better America. An America that is good for all and not just the few.
They’ll be ready for us and we will need their help. Our policies didn’t lose last night — Marijuana was approved in quite a few states, the solar bill was stopped in Florida, gun laws were passed in Washington state, and the minimum wage was increased in a few others. Our candidate lost and she took a lot of other candidates with her but not all of them. Science and evidence based practices are going to take a hit. Most of our saving/checking accounts, jobs, and insurance are going to take hits. Minorities of every type are going to take hits. Women are going to suffer.
We will take those hits and absorb them and then turn them into votes and then policy. That process will begin in the elections of 2017 and 2018 and then 2020. It won’t be easy and frankly it shouldn’t. While demographics definitely favor a more inclusive America and a far more liberal one, last night proved we are years from that. We need turnout of every color and every political stripe. We will be the party of all and the best part of that is the Trump Administration will deliver many to us.
The Republicans have just been handed the keys to all functions of federal government. It’s their turn to be on the national stage and it’s gonna be a big fucking mess.