It’s barely been 7 months since Donald Trump became the leader of the free world, and already, almost every intersection of humanity has been tested. With scandals from left to right, the White House is beginning to look like an HBO prime time drama, and everyone is tuning in to watch the plot thicken. This includes the Democrats who are itching to take down Republicans from congress in 2018 and Donald Trump in 2020. The media has gotten a kick out of everything that’s been happening, and they’re on the edge of their seats to see what the DNC has in store. The 2020 presidential election will be an iconic year where we’ll see if the Democratic National Committee has learned anything from Hillary Clinton’s unprecedented and unfortunate loss in November 2016. Although we have a long way to go until Trump is up for re-election, the media has already begun to humor themselves and compile lists of possible contenders and the DNC has reportedly begun to search for the “chosen one”.
Let’s put it this way: if the Democrats lose in 2020 and even 2018, they might as well dig their own grave.
As a progressive, seeing the DNC struggle is worrisome, but in the back of my head, I know these struggles are self-inflicted and they’re all the product of one simple misunderstanding, to put it lightly. It’s because of one thing that the Democrats simply can’t get their head around. Hillary Clinton didn’t win. So what does this mean? That the outdated ideology and campaign tactics they believe in, aren’t enough. And quite frankly, the DNC seems to think that Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton are the holy grail politicians that every nominated candidate must emulate in order to win, and unfortunately it’s not true. If it was, Donald Trump would not have won, in fact, a candidate like him would not even have gotten that far if it was true. So, if Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton couldn’t prevent a Trump presidency then why would Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton prototypes end a Trump presidency. It’s a simple logic, and as much as it personally hurts me to say that (because I love Barack Obama and the impact he’s had on my life) you cannot deny what has happened.
The next step? Stop nominating establishment Democrats, and stop going to same donors that invested in Hillary Clinton. Fundraising isn’t everything, neither is endorsements or donors when people don’t like you. The common people have begun to see that Wall Street politicians aren’t looking out for them, we’ve begun to see the hypocrisy and quite frankly Americans have become tired of being lied to. That’s where people, progressives like Senator Bernie Sanders, Senator Elizabeth Warren, and Congressmen Keith Ellison (who ran to be the DNC chair but ultimately lost to a less progressive Tom Perez) come in. Progressives have proven that they don’t believe in the big money donors, they believe in the people as evidenced by Bernie Sanders presidential campaign. If the DNC wants a win, to end the Democratic drought in Congress and Donald Trumps presidency, they need to stop pushing forward candidates like Corey Booker and Kristen Gillibrand (AKA Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton lite) and start talking to the progressives that have kept their party alive.
Do I think they’ll start supporting progressives? Maybe. The DNC is known to turn against anyone that doesn’t support their agenda, as evidenced by the DNC leaks in October of 2016 which showed Clinton Fundraisers cutting off Tulsi Gabbard from receiving fundraising when she endorsed Bernie Sanders. However, Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren have surged in popularity and they have a better chance of taking down Donald Trump than anyone else. If they can see this, and see past other interests like donors, then it’s possible. And if they go with the cookie cutter establishment Democrat, then they may suffer an irreversible blow. They have to get themselves out of being in a “lesser of two evils” situation and find a candidate that’s transparent, active and not a flip-flop on their positions. They have to take advantage of the fact 2/3 of Americans don’t like Donald Trump, and only then can a Democratic 2020 presidency seem possible. In 2020 we need the Democrats in power, in Congress and the Senate, and we definitely need one as president. It’s clear that America is a 2 party system, and although I don’t like that, 2020 is not the time to experiment.
As of now, there are 1,183 days until November 8, 2020. In those days we will see some of the biggest scandals, the biggest upsets, but in that time we will also see the case against Donald Trump enlarging exponentially, and maybe in the near future, Donald Trump’s presidency will be a tale to tell our children. Of how we survived having one of the biggest clowns in office, and how the people took back their government from his regime. It will be a story of resistance and true perseverance. The story of how the people of America won. Until then, the future may seem bleak, but there is good in this world and maybe if we can manifest this progressive momentum we’ve created, 2020 can be a victory for humanity.
