‘I Feel Lost and Defeated’: Anti-Trump March Cannot Compete With the One Eight Years Ago

By Oliver

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'I Feel Lost and Defeated' Anti-Trump March Cannot Compete With the One Eight Years Ago

Mary Kramer has been under a near-total news blackout since Election Day. The Baltimore-area healthcare professional briefly returned to the media puddle to watch President Jimmy Carter’s funeral, but quickly resumed her limited news consumption.

Words like “despondent,” “devastated,” and “destroyed” flood her mind as she considers her reaction to President-elect Donald Trump’s impending return to power.

“Eight years ago, I was still hopeful. “I still had the fight in me,” the 65-year-old said Saturday on the north side of the National Mall, where a smorgasbord of liberal causes converged in a hodgepodge of a rally just hours before Trump was scheduled to land near Washington to begin his Inauguration festivities.

“This weekend differs greatly from the march I attended eight years ago. That was full of hope and fight.

She looked around as people milled about on a cold, grey lawn, with the Lincoln Memorial under renovation serving as a backdrop for speakers. “This country is just never going to elect a woman,” she said, referencing Hillary Clinton’s and Kamala Harris’ defeats to Trump.

“It’s never going to happen, and we have to recognize it for what it is. I believe that by the end of this, we will have neither a Constitution nor a democracy. All because we simply will not vote for a woman.

Almost exactly eight years ago, global capitals were brimming with optimism, and Washington’s sunny streets were packed. On Saturday, it was sparsely attended due to a dreary drizzle in Washington, DC. The Reflecting Pool, located between the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial, was partially iced over.

Piles of grey snow sat next to muddy lawns. And the tall fencing served as a militaristic reminder that Trump will take office in two days, even though his inauguration ceremony has been moved inside the Capitol due to frigid temperatures on Monday.

Many of those present appeared to recognize that they were in a distinct minority as they prepared for Trump’s return. They are equally dissatisfied with their chances of mounting any meaningful opposition to Trumpism in a city where his allies control both chambers of Congress and hold a 6-3 majority on the Supreme Court.

Whereas the first iteration of The Resistance appeared to be full of potential, this facsimile feels much more muted and reminiscent of a communal therapy session.

The signs and slogans seemed familiar. The “We Rise, We Resist, We March” and “Feminists Against Facism” prints have been staples of this type of political performance for nearly a decade. Others were slightly fresher, with plenty of takes from the legion of Childless Cat Ladies, as Vice President-elect J.D. Vance decided to slam Trump’s critics.

Even so, it was impossible to be confident that attending this rally—which promoted causes as diverse as environmental justice, Free Palestine, trans rights, and D.C. statehood—would do anything more than confirm the current Left’s belief that intersectionality will save it.

The current liberal network’s umbrella proved to be quite large, encompassing social and racial identities, niche causes such as specific coral reefs, and reproductive and voting rights; however, it may be rather flimsy in the face of MAGA headwinds.

“I’m tired. I’m exhausted. Nancy Casavis said, “I am angry,” wearing a sweatshirt and hat with vulgar language to mock Trump. The 66-year-old retired special education teacher, who now lives in The Villages, Fla., said she expected a difficult four years. “But we can’t sit down and shut up.

I don’t want my grandchildren to think that what they’re seeing in a Trump universe is acceptable. So she held a variety of hand-made signs and took photos, which she intends to add to a collection of protest photos she is gathering to show her family members so “they know we were on the right side of this fight.”

To be sure, not everyone was as depressed. “I can’t believe ordinary people voted for this man. “But they did,” said Celia Laurent, a 65-year-old state administrator from Baltimore. “Which is why we have to keep marching.”

However, no one could credibly claim that the scaled-down turnout matched even the smallest of city demonstrations from just before Trump’s first term. “I visited here eight years ago. “This is 1% of that,” said Anneka Hall, a 54-year-old real estate appraiser who traveled from Clovis, California, for the weekend to attend Trump’s inauguration.

The ceremony’s move to the Capitol Rotunda is disappointing for Hall, whose daughter attends a local school, but she still plans to attend a Young Republicans event Saturday evening and Trump’s Inauguration Eve rally at the downtown sports arena on Sunday.

Still, Hall stood on a sidewalk overlooking the crowd, listening as the speakers jumped from topic to topic. “What’s wrong with hearing what the opposing party is doing and saying? I don’t despise the other side. It’s good to know how radical they’ve become.”

In doing so, she may have explained why the Democratic institutionalists were not competing for stage time, which could have been a reel of TikToks given the audience’s deference.

Instead, the festival-roaming atmosphere was more of a safe space for those in a city otherwise full of visitors in red MAGA hats and the occasional U.S. flag doubling as a cape at other tourist spots.

“I feel lost and defeated,” said Esther Vogelzang, a 57-year-old mental health therapist from St. Paul, Minn. “I was worried people wouldn’t show up. But it turns out I am not alone.”

No, not alone. But also not joined by as many as were here eight years earlier. It’s why the second Trump era is going to be much different than the first for Democrats.

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