Nov 26, 2017 5 min read

There is a ritual I perform each evening to maintain some balance in a world full of uncertainty. The ritual involves simply recalling the best and worst event that I experience each day, and being grateful for both. Viewing the Trump presidency through this lens, I find several reasons to be grateful for what the country is enduring, despite the anger, disruption and scandal surrounding the commander in chief.

Over the eight years of Barack Obama’s presidency, Democrats lost, on net, more than 1,000 elected offices, including 13 Senate seats, 69 House seats, 12 governorships, and more than 900 seats in state legislatures. Then Donald Trump became president. Clearly, Democrats were heading in the wrong direction well before Trump was elected. Moreover, while President Obama was in office, his party was not able to govern most of the time.

While I supported Hillary Clinton and mourn the damage that the Trump presidency has wrought, I am not sure that a Clinton presidency would have done much to turn the tide of Republican gains. Her election could have resulted in years of rancor and calls for investigations, uniting the Republican Party as never before. With a Clinton victory, Republicans could have quickly moved beyond Trump and added to their ranks, all the while blaming her for problems both domestic and foreign.

Clinton did not win, and a man with dubious Republican credentials, questionable moral character and no interest in party unity now heads the Republican Party. Whether he is replaced, impeached or remains the laughingstock of the civilized world for the remainder of his term, the Trump presidency cannot end well for Republicans. The traditional pendulum effect that moves the electorate away from the party in power will be strengthened because of the Trump presidency and his party’s inability to coalesce around him or to move the country forward. Assuming that Democrats stop gloating over Trump gaffes and get to work with grassroots campaigns, the fallout will give Democrats a distinct advantage in 2018, 2020 and well beyond.

Second, I am grateful that the Trump election is compelling the reorganization of the Democratic Party. It has united both moderate and progressive Democrats, and some Republicans, with the singular goal of replacing Trump and his nationalist, nativist views. The Trump election has provoked serious soul-searching among Democrats as to whether the party made fatal errors in forsaking previous supporters, most notably white voters with only a high school education. It has forced the party to begin a new, post-Clinton era where fresh faces must be groomed to carry the banner in upcoming national elections.

While no one knows who will lead the Democratic Party out of the wilderness, I am certain there will be plenty of qualified candidates to do so. This is one of those moments when one step backward could easily result in three steps forward, as the next Franklin Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy or Barrack Obama comes into focus.

Race relations, LGBT rights, women’s issues and religious tolerance all appeared to have made significant gains over the eight years Obama was in office. I am grateful that Trump has shown how much work remains to be done. Having a president who belittles women, openly supports white supremacists, has no regard for the civil rights of immigrants or refugees, calls for the exclusion of transgender individuals from the military and who attacks the rule of law, has caused a national debate to open up on each topic. These rigorous and informative debates have been focused on the most important social issues of our day, and in some cases achieved positive results.

I am also grateful that political scientists, journalists and historians have quickly weighed in on the Trump election and presidency. Elected officials are writing tomes on what it means to be a Republican or a Democrat. Experts are poring over the 2016 election results to gain insight on the Trump victory. The general public needs to be informed about the Trump fallout, beyond what cable news and sound bites can supply. These books and articles will help.

Lastly, as a progressive Democrat, I must admit there is a certain perverse gratitude in being “outside the walls” and placing those in power under constant siege. Now I get to laugh at all the political cartoons and jokes on late-night television directed at a president who each day provides new material. While his missteps are laughable, the progressive advances in policy he has erased may not be recovered for decades. But Trump is giving us valuable insight into the elasticity of our democratic institutions and how they function under stress.

When I can agree with the commentary of conservatives George Will and Peggy Noonan, and see them making some of the same points as liberals Paul Krugman and Nicholas Kristof, I know that there is hope for the American political system.