It is official, America. Donald Trump has won the 58th presidential election and will have the title of 45th President of the United States of America. Congratulations to Trump and the Republican Party. I personally believed, like many other Americans, that Trump and company had zero chances of making it into the White House. Hell, I did not even think Trump would make it past the first few months of the Republican primary race, but I was wrong. Mr. Trump beat 16 other Republicans to win the nomination. Then he went on to beat out Hillary Clinton in the presidential election. I am still in awe: he beat the odds.
This loss is hard for Democrat to swallow, so much so that it required Pepto-Bismol to actually digest the results of the election for some people. What is done is done, though. We cannot turn around and change laws to favor us because we have lost. Now it is time to look towards the future. Here are 5 things Democrats need to keep in mind going forward:
1. We need to stay united!
Leaders like President Barack Obama and Senator Bernie Sanders have already spoken out about the election. The one thing they made clear is that we need to give Trump a chance. Furthermore, we as a country need to work together to make things happen for the American people. I said this exact same thing in my article the week before the election (read it here). This country will move backwards instead of forwards if we shut down and refuse to create bipartisan legislation that favors this country.
2. Trump won the Electoral College but lost the popular vote.
This one hurts. Hillary won the popular by roughly 400,000 votes, yet she will not be the 45th POTUS. How does that make sense? The Electoral College has a purpose. It helps balance out the low amount of large cities with large populations and large amount of small cities with small populations. Those in scattered population areas actually have a chance against those in the large cities. We cannot change our democratic processes because we lost. They have their purposes, and they should stay as they are.
3. Did Trump win the election or did Hillary lose it?
CNN, MSNBC, ABC, and any other mainstream media sources claimed in their polls and predictions that Hillary had this one in the bag. After she won the nomination, they were entirely sure that she would be the next president of this great nation. Following the presidential debates, they were quick to call her the winner. If Hillary was winning from the beginning, then how did she manage to lose? Hillary Clinton lost because she underestimated Trump. We all did. In the swing states Trump won, his victories were defined by very small margins. Hillary failed to rally the masses like Trump did. She lacked the energy Trump had in this race. Moving forward, Democrats need to prepare themselves better and not underestimate their foe because it cost them big time in this race.
4. The Democratic National Committee (DNC) needs to go or it needs a serious reformation.
The Democratic Party's primary process involves two kinds of delegates: pledge delegates (they vote for a candidate based on the number of votes they received) and superdelegates (they can pick whomever they feel is best, no matter who the people think is a better candidate). The numbers speak the truth. Hillary won 2,205 (of the 4,051) pledge delegates and 602 (of the 649) superdelegates. Meanwhile, Bernie won 1,893 of the pledge delegates but only 47 of the superdelegates. How is it possible to claim that the Democratic Party's primary process is fair when Bernie won 47% of the pledge delegates but only 7% of the superdelegates? As hard as it may seem to acknowledge, the process is unfair and put Bernie at a disadvantage. The nomination was stolen from him. Many independents found themselves in a bind when it came to presidential election and ended up voting third party. Bernie, who identifies himself as an independent, would have related better than Hillary to those voters.
5. Continue being the voice of the minorities in America!
As a Hispanic voter, I was crushed when Hillary did not come out strongly in support of undocumented immigrants as President Obama had during his successful run for president. The Hispanic community looks to the Democratic Party when Republicans like Trump threaten to deport people we call family and friends due to the simple fact that they lack proper documentation. This expands to all the minorities that the Republican Party has turned its back on. The Democratic Party needs to rally those who have been belittled and bring them together to make a real change in future elections.
When the dust clears and tension falls, this nation will have to embrace a Trump presidency. Whether you supported him or trashed him, he is this nation’s president-elect. All we can do is stand together, fight for freedom, and play with cards we were dealt.
