Regardless of what happens in the midterms, the nation will not reelect Donald Trump.
Our country may waver but eventually, it will come to its senses.
For those of us who, while not voting for him and recognizing his flagrant flaws, were willing to give him a chance in the hope that he would grow into a president to all Americans, the disappointment has been painful.
His crude behavior towards women and his treatment of immigrants remains intact.
If the country was polarized before, he has deepened the divisions while appearing to have neither the inclination nor the ability to heal the rift.
In a world with a great need for a model in bridge building, he prefers to boast that America will not rise to the task.
In WWII we reached out and set the standard for nation building. The enormous investment that our brave people made changed the world. But now, rather than boldly facing the difficulties brought by globalization, Trump chooses to retreat.
No amount of tax cuts or tariff raising will change the grim outlook.
We are steadily losing our standing in the world and have at the helm a man who lacks the vision to lead. White supremacists cannot come to the rescue because, at their core, they are resentful people, afraid of competing in the world, choosing instead to blame others for their shortcomings.
America has prospered because of its openness. Openness to people and ideas. They go hand in hand.
That Trump does not see that is precisely why he’s become a burden to us.
To face our new challenges, America needs a person who dares to imagine possibilities without the need to devalue others or scapegoat immigrants.
And so, in the end, history will grade Trump as one of our worst presidents, alongside Andrew Johnson who, in succeeding Abraham Lincoln, blocked Reconstruction, denied protection to former slaves and ushered in a century of Jim Crow.
Oscar Valdes 