Our worst fears for Clinton White House came to life with Trump

Last year one week before Election Day, I announced that I would be withdrawing my support for Hillary Clinton.

I feared that given the divisions our country faced, which were of course magnified during the campaign cycle, I simply could not back a candidate for president that would enter the Oval Office embroiled in scandal. 

{mosads}I argued that Clinton’s first 100-day agenda would have taken a backseat to partisan divisions and polarization, with little chance of constructive legislative action occurring.

I still believe that that would have been the case, but in one year since the election, it is evident that this same political gridlock and scandal has stricken the Trump administration.

Over the past year, the Republican agenda has completely stagnated, if not failed, and our country is so politically divided that moderates are unable to effectively voice their positions through all of the partisan gridlock. 

While President Trump has accomplished many of his campaign promises, including withdrawing from the Paris Climate Accord, more aggressively using military force to combat ISIS, reforming the H1-B visa program and most recently calling to end the diversity visa program, many of his key domestic policy goals have failed to come to fruition.  

Trump was unable to follow through on his signature campaign promise to immediately “repeal and replace” the Affordable Care Act, and his inability to unite moderate Republicans and more the conservative House Freedom Caucus behind his proposed replacement plan has presented serious challenges for other aspects of the president’s policy agenda.

Democrats are certainly not going to consider his tax plan, with the tax cuts too heavily weighted on cuts for the rich. His plan will also hurt states disproportionally with high state and local taxes, putting their social safety net at risk. 

Lastly, Trump’s $1 trillion-dollar infrastructure bill, a cornerstone of his campaign promises, is nowhere to be seen.

In addition to political divisions and an ineffective domestic policy agenda, the Russia investigation has impeded Trump’s ability to govern. 

To be clear, I do not believe that Robert Muller’s investigation should be stopped, especially now that it has become clear that ties between the Trump campaign and Russia existed.

That said, in this year of great political strife, the Democratic Party was also unable to effectively lead. 

The Democrats had every opportunity in 2017 to redefine their party, and help heal political divisions. 

What they should have done is push forth a set of pro-growth and inclusive economic policies, promote a tax reform plan that does not simply raise taxes on the highest earners, and endorse the use of religiosity and traditional values to organize common ideals and goals for the American people.

Instead, Democrats have been resisting and attacking President Trump after every move he has made, and exacerbated the aggressive and extreme partisan rhetoric that has led to an unproductive government.

The Democrats must return to promoting principles and values that once animated the party and helped our entire country succeed, not just one political party.

Looking forward, there are a lot of things that need to be done, and many of these things will not fix themselves, especially if Democrats and Republicans cannot work across the aisle.

A recent report from the Pew Research Center stated that, “The divisions between Republicans and Democrats on fundamental political values—on government, race, immigration, national security, environmental protection, and other areas—reached record levels during Barack Obama’s presidency,” and, “In Donald Trump’s first year as president, these gaps have grown even larger.”

While both political parties are entrenched in scandals, including the most recent revelations about Clinton’s control of the DNC, and the aforementioned Russia investigation, lofty calls for impeachment and politicizing investigations is only impairing Congress’ ability to pass the transformative legislation that hardworking Americans voted for one year ago.

It is clear that the American people deserve, and will get answers to all of the questions stemming from the election. But it is now time to embrace alternatives and centrism from both sides. Otherwise, things will get worse before they get better. 

Douglas E. Schoen (@DouglasESchoen) served as a pollster for President Clinton. A longtime political consultant, he is also a Fox News contributor and the author of 11 books, including “Putin’s Master Plan: To Destroy Europe, Divide NATO, and Restore Russian Power and Global Influence.”