Written by Jonah Halpern

Just a few months ago, we experienced the most turbulent and tumultuous election cycle since perhaps 1860, a time when states like South Carolina seceded from the Union due to Lincoln’s landslide victory; however, this time, Trump was the one to deliver the knockout punch. He won every Swing State including the entire “Blue Wall”. He won both Nevada and the popular vote, achievements unclaimed by a Republican since 2004, and he improved across nearly all demographics, including races, ethnicities, religions, genders, and ages. He improved in every or almost every county as well. He even improved in reliably blue states like California and New York. Not only did Vice President Harris suffer such a resounding loss, but the Democrats as a whole failed to flip the Republicans’ slim lead in the House or retain their own lead in the Senate.

The American Public has spoken, and they want change. They have given President Trump a mandate for change, and now it’s up to him to deliver on his campaign promises. Democrats have a lesson to learn here as well: if you’re going to choose a new candidate, there are some conditions if you want to win. Namely, choose the candidate based on merit and accomplishments, not on identity; swap out the candidate at least a year before the election, giving the new candidate time to actually introduce him or herself to the American public. Most importantly, let the party actually vote for who their candidate is going to be! Don’t undermine the democratic process by replacing the sitting President four months before the election. Lastly, when Americans overwhelmingly say they want a change in administration, don’t replace the incumbent POTUS with the incumbent VPOTUS. 

Perhaps, if the Democrats want to win in 2028, they should return to their former glory. For example, instead of allowing Illegal Aliens into our country, (which was a losing topic for Vice President Harris) they ought to learn from President Bill Clinton’s State of the Union address, when he said that:

“We are a nation of Immigrants, but we are also a nation of laws. It is wrong and ultimately self-defeating for a nation of Immigrants to permit the kind of abuse of our Immigration laws we have seen in recent years, and we must do more to stop it.”

Instead of censoring what they deem “misinformation” or “hate speech”, they should take President Kennedy’s advice on freedom of speech from a monologue he gave at Voice of America on Feb. 26, 1962:

“We are not afraid to entrust the American people with unpleasant facts, foreign ideas, alien philosophies, and competitive values. For a nation that is afraid to let its people judge the truth and falsehood in an open market is a nation that is afraid of its people.” 

I could go on for a hundred more pages, but you get the point. So, when President Trump assumes office on January 20th, the Democrats will be forced to ponder how the next election will be different from this one. Will they continue to call Trump (and by extension, his voters) racist, sexist and fascist, or will they present their own policies and plans for America to prosper and try to win them over?