In 2004, when George W. Bush won re-election, I wrote a post called "Hope In A Hopeless World." The election of Donald Trump seems so much worse. Is there any hope now?

My 2004 post sounds positively hopeful, especially in comparison to how I feel now. But reading it over, some of my ideas still seem sound, if I may so. The main points, adapted for today, are:

1. Trump is not popular. Clinton is favored to win the popular vote. That means Trump is vulnerable, especially in the court of public opinion. That leaves a door open to mount an effective opposition to his probably-even-more-unpopular policies.

2. We still have the court of public opinion available to us. Republicans have been very savvy about using messaging when they lost. Why can't we?

3. I wrote then that rather than condemn the Swift Boat Vets (who went after John Kerry with a bogus, irrelevant issue), we could take a page from their playbook: Fasten on a single issue and hammer it home again, again and again. Wouldn't social media facilitate that? And isn't it what Trump did very successfully? 6. We have a lot of material to work with. Trump has so many shortcomings that sooner or later his chickens will probably come home to roost. Why not rush them along so that we don't go down the tubes along with him?

We know that Trump will not be able to implement all the things he has promised. We know that he will disappoint many of his followers. We know that there are lots of Republicans who do not like him. Our only hope seems to be a robust opposition. I'm not so sure there's a chance but... well, what do you guys think?

I don't know that I'll be able to watch Fox today. I feel like I need to take a breath and think about where to go from here.

Let's all take a time out and take stock.

Meanwhile, here's the song I thought of in 2004 and again this morning when I could not sleep.

Crossposted at News Hounds.