Trump’s First Year in Office: The Awakening

Traditional Republicans made a deal with the devil. The devil had other plans. On Inauguration Day 2017, no one knew the depths of havoc to which the White House would descend. Traditional Republicans thought President Trump would mature into the job. The rest is histrionics. In the last months of the 2016 campaign, my wife and partner, Norma, canvassed for the Democratic Party. She always has paid attention to current events, but what motivated her to volunteer this election cycle was the threat of a Trump administration. Throughout the fall into early November she reported to Macomb County Democratic headquarters each weekend, was assigned a walking partner and a map, and hit the streets talking to residents for three hours each Saturday and Sunday. On Election Day, Nov. 8, all Dem foot soldiers did extra duty, one final push to put Hillary over the top. They knocked on doors from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. At the end of that long shift they retreated to their command center for the last time, cautiously confident. Upon returning, campaign bigwigs were reporting ominous internal exit-polling numbers for the Great Lakes State and they needed all hands for a late surge. Norma and her crew went back to the streets for another two hours. Around noon the next day, Hillary Clinton conceded the election to Donald Trump saying, "We owe him an open mind and a chance to lead."¦ [Tom Ersin has degrees in communications and counseling. He's a long-time political observer and author of a half-dozen nonfiction books on 21st century U.S. politics.]