AWKWARD ZOMBIE

I doubt the Republicans can successfully support a candidacy against the incumbent of their own party, that seems like political suicide considering Trump's current popularity with their main demographic.

There are two solids chances for Democrats, Independents, and moderate Republicans to take back the government and steer it in a more palatable direction: The Senate elections of 2018 and the election in 2020. Basically, the best course of action for political organizations looking for said goal is to start keeping a tally of promises kept and promises broken over the next few years. Point out the amount of broken promises (such as if they fail to repeal Obamacare and replace it with something effective, or if Trump's trade and economic policies fail to create jobs for the working-class Americans that voted for him, etc.) over the course of the next four years, and use that as rhetorical ammo actually rooted in facts.

In more positive news, recreational marijuana is now legal in Massachusetts, Nevada, and California (Maine was mentioned in the article but sadly they did not vote to legalize.) A highly-populated state like California legalizing recreational marijuana could very well get the people at the federal level looking at changing their policies, paving the way for more widespread legalization. Hey, maybe if the Trump-voting working-class Americans loosen up just a bit on their values, they might be able to find stable employment in jobs related to the marijuana industry...

I will say that while I still don't like the idea of him holding the office, I am pleased with how he presented/prioritized his victory speech. While he was an ass during the campaign, at least he is winning with grace (for right now.) I hope this trend in how he presents himself continues, as that is honestly my biggest area of concern, is that his words are too unpredictable, and while words may not mean much on a playground, they are just as important as actions on an international level.

Also, now that I've had a chance to chill out from initial reactions, a reminder of reassurance/forewarning:
Most of the crazier/loftier (depending on your point of view) "promises" are either projects that will take far too long to implement, and will then be abandoned, or he actually won't have the power to do those things without the majority of congress backing him. As Burnt to Shreds pointed out, keep a tally, since I have a feeling that the majority of it won't come through, as with most presidents.

But what about my China-sponsored wall? Surely that wasn't just hot gas.

The fun part is that the KKK- and Nazi-approved serial rapist billionaire conman despot you guys just handed total control over your country to is scheduled to be prosecuted later this month for fraud. But Hillary used email and had a vagina so I guess it's better this way.

not sure if this is comforting at this point but, young voters alone would have voted Hillary into office in a landslide.

This of course doesn't account for the people who abstained (though they likely would have abstained anyways) and voter turnout for this demographic is down from what it was in 2008. The biggest thing we can do is get friends to at least register to vote so they can vote in the future.

Hey thanks, I didn't realise the situation until you couched it in such crass and bitter vocabulary. Good to know that being an American has once more made me the bad guy.


I'd bet anything there is a horde of Bernie supporters who refused to vote solely for what the DNC did.

That's a lot of Millennial votes I am not a part of. Millennials kind of drive me crazy, but that's probably why I agree more with Trump than Hillary.

Where's that article about why hating "millennials" is a misguided waste of time...
You realize that you are saying the political equivalent of "omg all music these days is trash. I only listen to REAL music from the 70's"? Like, you are free to have whatever opinions you want, just don't fall into the trap of making sweeping generalizations to support those opinions.

That's me. I voted, but I voted third party out of spite. It was either that, or I wasn't going to vote at all.

Russia's Putin already says he is ready to restore ties with the U.S since Trump was elected.

Then they are just as culpable for what happened as the rest of the voterbase who didn't vote or voted out of spite. I'm a Bernie supporter and I think it is absolute booty what happened with the DNC, but in a vote between Hillary and Trump, Hillary is still a good secondary candidate. There are plenty of Bernie supporters who would never dream of letting Trump win but still abstained from voting to teach Hillary and the DNC a lesson. They certainly got taught. The screw should have been put to the DNC to do better by the people they represent in the future, the same argument that the RNC should have heeded this year. But you don't put the screws to the whole country to prove a point. Everyone should be getting registered to vote. There was never an excuse not to before. There certainly isn't an excuse after this.



Like it or not, millennials are the next generation in line to be charged with carrying this country in the workforce. To have such a stark contrast between the results and their vote shows exactly how much of a generational gap there is. Draw your own conclusions as to why that may be, but the fact still remains that it's up to the millennials to run the country in the future. Ignoring their viewpoints as misguided and childish ignores the fact that at some point they will be the parents and majority voice of America, and when that time comes, their voice will be radically different than their parents and grandparents. That is how it has always been.

The difference is this isn't gradually leading to that. This is the older generation stubbornly holding onto power and ignoring the signs of inevitable change. It hurts everyone in the process to have this arrested or regressive development. A development that favors them and their idealized golden age rather than how the reality actually is.



Not all alliances with Russia (or countries in general) are good things.

I never said I hated millennials, or ignored their views, trust me, they make it very loud and clear what their views are. There are still millennials who don't agree with those majority, do we simply ignore their views? I also believe that views can change with age, you never know what will happen.

I also think that peace talks with Russia is a better step then threatening them with attacks over alleged cyber attacks.

We're certainly ignoring the views of the overwhelming majority of the voting millennials, along with the views of the popular vote. There will always be people who lose their voice in an election. What matters is the message that got drowned out.

Segueing into this:



The same can be said of anyone, including the minority of millennials who were in favor of Trump. In 2008 I was just one year too young to vote, but being raised in a pro-republican household meant I was more pre-disposed to vote alongside my parents. I was conflicted that election mostly because I was scared America was not ready for the future yet. It wasn't ready to grow that fast and we were going to have upheaval because of it. I grew as a person after that though and grew out of the fear my parents fostered in me of change. Even my mom, a dyed in the wool republican who used to help the local campaigns has changed her views since 2008. 2012 was the first time she voted democrat for a candidate she did not personally know, and this year she voted primarily out of the Republican Party out of disgust that Trump even got support from the party in running.

Even barring that, while the general trend with aging is that the older you get, the more you shift towards conservative values, we do not hold the same values as our ancestors. At least a portion of the population holds onto newer ideas from their younger days as important values. That is still change that is enacted and a shift in the pool of thought of those in power. There is no regressing back from this without denial and self-harm. The only time evolution stops is when there is extinction.



Peace talks are fine as long as you know what you are getting into. An alliance with anyone means that some measure of trust should be placed in the opposing side. Russia does not seem the kind of place to trust us in an agreement and personally I do not trust them to not be palming a dagger even as they go to shake our hand.

I've certainly felt the shift towards more conservative values, I thought that Obama would be great for America, but it didn't work out that well imo.