Decision 2018: Vote for change

Photo by Lane Christiansen and Lane Christiansen | The State Press Rap artist Kanye West performed a free concert for Chicago Public Schools students who had improved their grades this year in Chicago, Illinois, Thursday, June 11, 2009.

By Austen Bundy | 11/17/2016 9:50pm

As soon as Donald Trump was projected to win the presidency on election night, I immediately began seeing a flurry of tweets and Facebook posts predicting that Trump will lose to Kanye West in 2020.

It hasn't even been two weeks and we're already talking about four years from now. Chill out people.

People are so afraid for Trump's presidency that they can't even bring themselves to live in the present and move on with their lives.

It's honestly way too early to be talking about the possible 46th president but, instead, people should be looking forward to 2018. That's where there's still hope for those of you who are looking for it.

Two years from now, there's this magical thing called the midterm election. It's your chance as voters to oust the Republican majority in Congress if you so wish.

The midterms are often forgotten by voters and turnout is much lower than in the presidential election.

Just last week almost half of the country's eligible voters decided to stay home (10 million of them being democrats). So, honestly, we brought this Republican wave upon ourselves.

But even now, Congress isn't guaranteed that everything they propose will get passed, let alone signed into law by President Trump.

There's still the ability for the Democrats to filibuster in the Senate, and the Republican Party's control over the House is a slim one at best.

After eight years of using the filibuster against President Obama, Republicans now want to get rid of it https://t.co/kj2j6nZwy0 — Salon (@Salon) November 10, 2016

"In the midterm election it's going to be hard to change congress but that doesn't mean (Democrats) can't try," ASU political science professor Dave Wells said. "A victory for Democrats in 2018 would be maintaining their current standing."

Another option for the Democratic Party in gaining more influence over Republicans is winning back more state government positions in 2018.

Gov. Doug Ducey is up for reelection here in Arizona and that could be a prime chance for Democrats to take over a traditionally Republican state.

Even in 2017 some key battleground states will be having gubernatorial elections that could change things for the midterms. Virginia is one of those states and it's governorship has switched parties in each election since 2005.

So, if you're someone who is disappointed in the outcome of this election and can vote in 2018, then do your research and make sure you vote in the midterms.

It could be your last chance to make things more bearable.

Reach the columnist at abundy@asu.edu or follow @abkbundy on Twitter.

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Editor’s note: The opinions presented in this column are the author’s and do not imply any endorsement from The State Press or its editors.

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