When I turned 18 back in 2015, one of the first things I thought about was voting in the 2016 Presidential election. At the time, it seemed inevitable to me that Jeb Bush and Hillary Clinton would win their respective primaries, which would then lead to a “business as usual” general election.

Donald Trump had entered the race to be the Republican candidate at this point, but much like in 2012, his candidacy was treated as if it were a publicity stunt and was laughed at. I didn’t entertain the possibility of a Trump presidency until he started to win primary elections and caucuses by unusually large margins. Even after Governor John Kasich was eliminated in July of 2016 and Trump became the Republican nominee, I assumed that Clinton would have no trouble winning the general election, and most other Americans (including many Trump supporters) thought the same.

Throughout the next few months, the Trump team kept gaining steam while the Democrat voters and the DNC laughed at the spectacle. It was absurd and hilarious to watch this garbage bag of a human being try and piece sentences together while conservative media outlets attempted to defend him. This laughter from what was perceived as the “liberal elite” only provoked conservatives to grow even stronger. For as long as I have been even slightly politically aware, the Republican party has been thought of by Democrats as the unintelligent party controlled by corporate greed, whose only voters are those who are wealthy or those who are too stupid to realize they are being conned. While I may personally agree with that sentiment, I am aware that publicly stating such ideas will not make for an easier election. Conservatives didn’t want to be called stupid and “deplorable” anymore, so they made sure that they were going to show up on election day.

The Democrats had a different outlook.

There was no doubt in many liberal minds that Hillary would be the first female president and they would be able to celebrate on November 8^th. This mentality made some would-be Hillary voters skip the voting process, because they thought the results were already in. Obviously, this was not the case and Donald Trump is currently the 45^th President of the United States. Somehow, despite all the memes, videos of celebrities saying how shitty Trump is, and pro-Hillary songs, Trump managed to win (the electoral college at least, but still a win).

Nothing that I’ve stated so far is new to anyone reading this, but it’s still all important to note because we are now eight months on the day into the Trump presidency and the Democrats have made no effort to adapt to the situation. Sometimes when I read the news coverage of this administration I want to vomit because I am still choosing to align myself with the Democratic party.

Day after day I see retweeted articles and celebrity interviews talking about how Trump is a huge douchebag, but if people haven’t noticed, Trump supporters don’t give a shit at all about the conduct of their lord and savior.

The GOP currently controls the White House, Congress, and Trump might appoint up to three new Supreme Court justices, but I’m glad we can all have a good laugh at him still. Some people (including myself) live in an ideological bubble, but holy shit was it cringeworthy to watch every single celebrity who spoke at the Emmys roast Trump. Yeah, most people who are watching an award show probably agree that Trump sucks. Great job pandering to your audience. But millions of Americans might end up being affected by new healthcare legislation or immigration legislation and this just isn’t funny anymore. Also, if they REALLY want to protest Trump, it’s probably not a good idea to bring out Sean Spicer for the sake of a joke. Spicer was the mouthpiece of an administration that willingly lied to the American public in order to help Trump feel better about his failure as a human being. It’s in poor taste and is only going to fuel the argument that we as liberals think of ourselves as elite.

Another thing that is not going to help the Democrats win in 2018 and 2020 is division, but Hillary seems to want to seal our fate once again.

Her new book “What Happened” illustrates the failure of her 2016 campaign, but she seems she wants to make sure others go down for her loss without taking any of the blame herself. She cast a good deal of blame upon Bernie Sanders and his supporters for being divisive, which is strange because Sanders endorsed Clinton and almost all of his primary voters (including myself) voted for Clinton in the general election.

But she continues to critique Sanders by saying that “he could be helpful if he so chose, which is what I’m calling on him to do,” which really irritates me because Sanders is currently serving in the Senate and just introduced a “Medicare for All” bill, while Clinton is a private citizen trying to deflect the blame of her past failure. We need to move on from 2016 and move toward a more progressive agenda because that is what will win elections. If we continue to endorse Neoliberal politicians like Clinton, then I think the Democrats will lose every single future presidential election, regardless of who the Republican candidate may be. I do agree with some of what Clinton has been saying recently regarding sexism during the campaign, which surely played a role in her loss, and is an issue which our country needs to start a more expanded dialogue about, but Hillary ran a flawed campaign which she should acknowledge.

The crux of what I’m saying is this: if liberal Americans do not speak up about policy issues and demand more from their representatives, then I think Trump will win again in 2020. His approval ratings may be low, but he’s come from a position before in which no one thought he would win an election, and he can easily do it again. The United States can easily bounce back from the Trump regime, but it is the Democratic party’s job to make sure that we do, and I do not have a lot of confidence that they will change their methods of operation. I really hope I’m wrong.