Many, including myself previously, have referred to the 2020 presidential election as the “most important election of our lifetime.” Recently, I’ve reflected on that sentiment and have come to the conclusion, while still recognizing the severity and importance of this year’s election, that the 2016 presidential election was actually the most important of our lifetime. In this post, I will explain how America’s course of history changed permanently four years ago, and why it’s imperative we redirect it back in the right direction in November.
There are many reasons why one can reasonably call the results of the 2016 election a fluke. Various predictive election models overwhelmingly expected Hillary Clinton to become the 45th president in the last election. Foreign meddling, voter suppression, Democratic overconfidence, and third party disruption culminated in the perfect storm which allowed a former reality TV show host to become the president of the United States. While many of Donald Trump’s supporters downplayed (and still do) the negative consequences of choosing an inexperienced candidate for this job, his opposition has consistently warned of the potential failings we are now facing, including the mishandling of the coronavirus, the permanence of racial injustice, a potential Conservative majority Supreme Court, and a crippled economy. The sheer incompetence and brazen attitude Trump has adopted has caused nearly irreparable damage in just four years — damage which could’ve easily been avoided if Clinton had instead been elected.
Hillary Clinton was easily one of the most qualified candidates for the presidency of the United States in the country’s history. Clinton would’ve kept in place Barack Obama’s pandemic response protocols, swiftly addressed and disavowed police brutality, and would’ve kept things moving in a more progressive direction generally, such as maintaining the Affordable Care Act and decriminalizing nonviolent crime, among other issues. Instead, Donald Trump became president and did nearly the opposite on all of those issues. While many say that Trump is simply a symptom of deeper, underlying ignorance, bigotry, xenophobia, and racism in the country which would’ve existed either way, I believe three consecutive Democratic presidential terms would’ve fully suppressed the regressive and vile ideologies which have now been platformed by Trump.
As a progressive, I still recognize that there is so much further this country needs to go. We need to systemically address racial injustice, offer healthcare free at the point of use under a universal single-payer system, address climate change, and constitutionally secure the safety of basic human rights including a woman’s right to choose and the LGBTQ+ community’s equal treatment. No systemic change takes place overnight in this country. The Women’s Suffrage Movement, Civil Rights Movement, and every other substantive movement in this country has been a slow but steady effort. The 2020 election has already started, and it’s imperative we don’t let the same apathy we saw previously compound with the obstacles we know we will be facing yet again. Electing Joe Biden as the next president will help turn things around, partially nullifying the damage caused by 2016’s election, which was the most important in our country’s history. Get out and vote.
Thanks for reading.
