This election was one of the most shocking since the 2016 Presidential election for the same reasons.

A second Trump presidency is scary for many to imagine and, to others, impossible.

Still, it happened. Trump will be the first president since Grover Cleveland in 1893 to serve two non-consecutive terms. He has proven to be one of the most divisive political figures in history and is strongly criticized for his racist, misogynistic, islamophobic, homophobic and transphobic rhetoric.

But it happened– for the same reason as 2016 too. Democrats refuse to follow Trump’s lead and embrace populism to engage and rally working class voters. 

Populism is a rallying cry of an ideology, meant to organize a large base of low-to-middle class voters in opposition of some elite ruling class.

Both Trump and Bernie Sanders used it as a cornerstone of their policies in 2016 and 2020, but only one of them ever ended up on the presidential ticket. 

Sanders was snubbed in both the 2016 and 2020 primaries in favor of less radical options – Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden, respectively. At that time, it seemed that Democrats were moving right, instead of left, to capture disgruntled Republicans put off by Trump’s rise to the helm of the party.

That didn’t work, though. Clinton narrowly lost in 2016, and Biden narrowly won in 2020. Unfortunately, by the 2022 midterms, Biden was clearly too old for his position and was showing obvious signs of cognitive decline.

At this moment, he or some executive at the Democratic National Committee (DNC) should have seen him step down. Members of the House of Representatives had already begun the process of invoking the 25th Amendment on Biden shortly after his debate flub in July. It was not long after this deliberation began that Biden stepped down.

It is not controversial to say that Biden should have given up on his reelection campaign around midterms. This would have given Democrats plenty of time to hold a proper primary process and allow their voters to pick a solid and representative candidate.

But this didn’t happen, and Kamala Harris ascended to the ballot without much say from voters. 

She was clearly the best option given the circumstances. Harris directed one of the most chaotic and powerful campaigns in recent history for five short months. Harris raised over a billion dollars in grassroots donations alone, organized countless rallies headlined by big-name celebrities and began one of the largest door-knocking campaigns ever heard of. 

She could have been the first female Black and South Asian president in the country’s history. Yet, because of Democrats’ reluctance to allow real progressive policy proposals, especially economic ones, she lost all seven swing states by indisputable margins. She even lost the popular vote, something that hasn’t happened to a Democratic candidate since Bush Jr. in 2004.

It should be noted that most countries globally saw massive shifts in leadership, regardless of political affiliation. There were shifts both right and left depending on who was in power, mostly as a result of the post-pandemic world. 

The U.S. sadly got the short end of the stick, and now will have to deal with another four years of MAGA buffoonery.

But it did not have to be this way. If Democrats offered real and substantive populist policy, there could have genuinely been an argument for working class voters to vote blue. 

The most major solution to this issue that anyone can do is talk to Trump voters. Pull down the curtains, unblock them and genuinely discuss economic policy with them. 

That was their deciding factor for Trump, so you should make a genuine effort to understand why they think he will be so good for the economy. Do not debate them, just listen.

There is only one exception to this, and that is bigoted, Nick Fuentes-esc Trump voters. Do not talk to them. They represent only a portion of his voter base. The others simply just do not understand his shortcoming, and are too far into their right-wing echo chambers to hear  anything.

Times will soon be much harder than they have been. When that time comes, we need to rally together behind a new candidate who genuinely values the working class and strives for economic policy designed to enshrine their importance in the country.