To help us through these dark days, over at Politico I offered "Five Reasons For Liberals To Have Hope." I'll excerpt it here:
1. Most Americans Did Not Want Donald Trump to be President
Trump ran second in the popular vote at 47.5 percent as of Wednesday morning, a number that actually could tick down as the last votes trickle in. Moreover, the exit polls found 60 percent of voters held an “unfavorable” opinion of Trump. About one in five of his own voters viewed him as unqualified and lacking the temperament to be president. Most of America is not happy...
2. Most Americans Did Not Support Trump’s Signature Proposal
Despite running on a crackdown against illegal immigration, only 25 percent of voters in the exit polls support deportation of undocumented immigrants, while 70 percent support legalization. And only 41 percent support a border wall, versus 54 percent who oppose....
3. Democrats Have Throttled a Republican President Before
After George W. Bush finally won a popular-vote majority in 2004, regaining full Republican control of Congress in the process, he swaggered back to Washington and said, “I earned capital in this campaign, political capital, and now I intend to spend it.” He pledged to add private accounts to Social Security and simplify the tax code.
He failed. Social Security reform quickly hit a brick wall. Progressive activists turned public opinion against the measure buttressing a united Democratic opposition that proved stronger than its reduced numbers might have suggested. ..
4. The Presidential Election Pendulum Can Swing Fast
In 1976, Jimmy Carter, an outsider populist with little governing experience, seemed to usher in a new Democratic Era after the Nixon-Ford years. But his popularity tanked thanks to his ill-fated crusade for energy independence, runaway inflation and the protracted Iran hostage crisis. Carter, despite banking several underappreciated policy wins, proved to be, politically speaking, a temporary four-year road bump en route to a multi-decade conservative era personified by Ronald Reagan, who trounced Carter in 1980...
5. Winning In 2020 Is More Important Than Winning In 2016
No one wishes for the global economy to crumble or for the world to be embroiled in deadly international crises. But it’s not that hard to imagine a Trump presidency going off the rails without any Democratic assistance. And that would cause enormous political consequences.
If Trump manages to drag down the entire Republican Party with him over the next four years, Democrats might be able to snag the biggest political prize of all in the 2020 elections: majority control of state legislative chambers — just in time for the congressional redistricting process that will follow the 2020 Census...
For the full piece, click here.
