When 2016 came around and Donald Trump won an unprecedented victory against Hillary Clinton, many conservatives heralded his win as a death blow to the current political establishment that had been running Washington DC and the Nation for decades. Trump's victory was amazing and managed to knock down many Washington dynasties and give a voice to a large portion of America who had been voiceless for years. Throughout his first term Trump has worked hard to keep the promises he made in 2016, and while he may not be a perfect candidate, he certainly was a breath of fresh air in the stale swamp that had become Washington D.C.

However, we are not at the end of the road yet, as an entertainment journalist, the upcoming 2020 election is reminding me of the Star Wars saga, which as I am sure you remember is about a scrappy rebel force that was mocked by the Establishment empire yet managed to destroy the balance of power and bring down the corrupt Empire led by the Sith Lord Palpatine. 

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Much in the same way, Trump managed to pull together an alliance of people who against all odds defeated Hillary and the Democrats in a crushing loss of power. It's been said that revolutions that are successful only last if they are codified by its followers and its enemy are not allowed to regroup and strike back. The victory over slavery was not codified until the civil rights movement, the American Revolution itself was never fully successful until we defeated the British for a second final time in 1812, and WWI never fully ended until the completion of WWII. History is littered with various examples of victories that have been undone due to the victorious sitting back and allowing the previous opponents to bide their time and undo what occurred.

Republicans and Conservatives may feel the need to rest on the laurels of victory, to feel safe in the 2020 election because let's face it Joe Biden is not looking like much of a threat. However, the election of 2020 will be a codification of everything that Trump and the GOP stood for and won in 2016, and that 2016 victory is in jeopardy right now. Looking back at the Star Wars, in the final episode of the Skywalker Saga, Episode 9 “The Rise of Skywalker,” it is revealed that the Sith Lord Palpatine returned from the dead and led a new Empire to undo the victory of Luke Skywalker, Han Solo and the others in Episode 6 “Return of the Jedi,” it is revealed in the last film that the evil Emperor is being kept alive by the ghosts of all the Sith Lords who came before him as he screams "I am all the Sith" while fighting Luke’s adopted daughter Rey Skywalker who represents the Jedi, sensing defeat all of the previous Sith Lord's had gathered into one man Emperor Palpatine in a stand to prevent final defeat at the hands of the Skywalkers.

This reminds me very much of the upcoming election of 2020, many may think the Democrats, Hillary Clinton, Bill Clinton, Obama, Biden, Nancy Pelosi, and others were crushed in the election of 2016, and indeed they were, but they have poured all their support into Joe Biden in a last desperate attempt to defeat Trump, Pence and the Conservative values they stand for, and through them the American people who elected him in 2016. 

Not unlike the Sith Lord Emperor Palpatine, Joe Biden is "All of the Democrats." Palpatine Joe Biden is a weak old man being controlled by the defeated ghosts of the Democrats before him. The election of 2020 is more than a simple election, it's not just Biden vs Trump; Biden represents the combined forces of all the defeated establishment that fears its final ultimate defeat if Trumps 2016 victory is codified by the American People. If they lose in 2020 the populist revolution that swept Trump into power will also ignite a sweeping change that will overwhelm the Democrat party as its members rise up to fill the void and the Establishment will be truly gone.

All of Trump's base needs to turn out again to support him in 2020. British politician Tony Benn once said "Every generation must fight the same battles again and again. There's no final victory and there's no final defeat.”  We can’t take victory for granted, we can’t fight so hard and for so long, only to sit back and expect that victory to last forever. This election is the checkmate to 2016's check. As the Emperor was swept away forever in Episode 9, so let's defeat the current version of the establishment forever in 2020.

 Byron Lafayette is a journalist and author, who writes on the film industry. He currently serves as Editor in chief for ViralHare, follow him on twitter @ByronLafayette