Donald Trump speaks at December rally. Brynn Anderson AP/Press Association Images. All rights reserved.In the run-up to the presidential election of 2016, an unprecedented cross-section of the United States population seeking hope and change at any cost sent a defiant message to Uncle Sam by throwing their weight behind essentially unelectable candidates – Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump – or by withholding their support altogether. They received a rude awakening when the unelectable actually got elected. The unexpected election results, however, have brought us closer to desired change in America, not in a way that many progressives would have liked, but in a more dramatic way than under a second status quo Clintonian presidency. Here are seven reasons why:
1) It will shock and shake America out of complacency and mobilise the dormant segment of the population that voted for hope in 2008 and gave Obama a blank check to lead.
Blind faith in the electoral process has been a hallmark of the American democratic tradition. This election cycle, which has dramatically tested our trust, has taught us that we cannot take anything for granted. It is not enough to place our hope or trust in the politicians we vote – or fail to vote – into office. Our democracy and its accompanying civil liberties need to be maintained on a daily basis through more direct forms of engagement. A Trump presidency will demand of the American citizenry a greater level of civic attention and participation from here on out. It will hopefully cause Americans to hold their leaders to higher standards in the future, and hold them to account at every step of the way, not just once every few years on the campaign trail and at the ballot-box.
