Yeah, this is definitely gonna get spun by republicans in 2018 when they're up for reelection to something like, "But why didn't the democrats block Trump when he entered the white house?", completely unaware they they are the fucking party in power for the next two miserable years.

And the sad part isn't that they'll resort to a blatant and obvious lie to try to get voted back into power, it's that way too many voters who went republican this year will stay in their toxic bubbles and not even make the toddler-level deduction that the party in (almost absolute) power is the one that by default is *responsible for policy changes made during this incoming administration.

But maybe this can be interpreted later in 2018 as a desire within many voters to see an opposing party check whatever excesses the Trump administration takes with violating civil liberties and taking away healthcare etc, because as it stands, if you were a mainstream republican (even tea partier!) before this election, you saw (and still see) right through the ultra-nationalist rhetoric Trump's pumping out on Twitter that will hurt American interests abroad and kill international trade deals vital to our economy. If you were a mainstream democrat, you knew all this beforehand and knew that a thin-skinned afterbirth like Trump, in addition to his complete (and ongoing) failure to be an okay human being even in public, wasn't going to handle any dissent well, especially if it came from the dreaded left. As it stands, the right (not the alt-right, bear in mind) is barely tolerated by this petulant child, and the feeling is mutual between the two of them.

So all that democrats will have to do is follow the still-developing Sanders model of opposition to Trump: work with him when he seems interested in legislation that will alleviate most Americans concerns (Obamacare immediately comes to mind), and directly, and I mean directly oppose him when he threatens civil liberties and favors crony capitalism over worker protections. A few concessions to the nascent progressive wing of the Democratic party would also undoubtedly ensure future support: these people are the ones who are going to fight Trump the hardest anyway, so why not give them meaningful representation in the Party? (Looking at you, DNC chairmanship)

So the path is clear for democrats: highlight Trump's disasters in office, take advantage of his false populism, and expand your own populist appeal outside Washington through the grass-roots. There will likely be a lot of revenue for campaign funding from big donors lost through this, but at the end of the day, the voter counts. And the voter hates big money, and the voter hates Trump as a quasi-fascist Kleptocrat.