Losing power can drive some people mad and cause them to do crazy things to regain their seat on the throne.
In 2008, the Republican Party lost their power and was in shambles. They had lost control of the House, Senate and Presidency. They had lost the previous presidential election due, in large part, to controversial decisions surrounding their nominees, and the previous administration was so despised it fueled a complete party overhaul in the national government.
Luckily for the Republican Party, the then-current administration was so hated by their base it sparked a wave of anger, fear and frustration. The Republican Party rode this wave to retake the House, the Senate and even the White House. Establishment Republicans used the momentum of the wave to regain their lost power, but they clearly underestimated the damage it could do. 
The wave the Republican Party rode was founded largely in the Tea Party Movement. According to Katie Connolly of BBC, the Tea Party was constructed in anger toward big government, former President Barack Obama and Democrats, a large group of the nation, and shared thanks to a “groundswell of populist anger over government bailouts of failing banks, insurers, and auto companies.”
The Tea Party was vehemently anti-Obama, and while they claimed repeatedly their hatred was based entirely on issues and policy, racism’s fingerprints covered the party and their supporters alike. As Angie Maxwell of Vox explains in her article, “anti-Obama sentiment among whites has brought old-fashioned racism back in the public area, and the Tea Party… gave it a home.”
The dangerously racist and hateful rhetoric used by the Tea Party was clear and present, but Establishment Republicans refused to denounce the bigotry. Instead, they stoked the flames in order to gain political victories. The flames the republicans failed to squash back in 2009 eventually birthed now President Donald Trump.
Nearly a decade later, the roles are completely reversed. The environment of the Republican Party in 2009 is eerily similar to the one Democrats occupy in 2018. Thanks to the power of hindsight, though, we now know the end result this environment can create: Trump.
While it may be hard to believe Democrats could elect a Trump-like figure, one must remember how impossible it seemed for Trump to win at every political level just three years ago. No one predicted a Trump administration, but now that we know it is possible, we must prevent a repeat of history. Unfortunately, it seems the democrats are taking similar steps as Republicans circa 2009. 
While the Republicans had the Tea Party, Democrats have the progressives. Figure headed by leaders like Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, the Progressive Movement has used the “blue wave” predicted to occur during the 2018 midterms to bring Democratic Socialism to the mainstream.
Progressives have plenty of momentum to shake up Washington, just like the Tea Party, but in order to do so, they have already taken several steps which ring eerily similar to the mistakes of the Tea Party. 
The most striking similarity between the Tea Party and progressives is the complete hatred of either presidents. Whether Obama or Trump, the resistance movements against them run on hate instead of policy. Because of this, each candidate tries to push more hatred into the mainstream instead of bringing new ideas and policies to the table.
For proof, look at Governor Andrew Cuomo of New York. Cuomo faces Cynthia Nixon in the democratic primary. Nixon has owned the progressive platform to a surprise surge in popularity, despite having no political experience and earning her fame as an actress. Sound familiar?
Nixon is so popular, Cuomo has gone further and further left to prevent a major upset. From legalizing marijuana to a tax on plastic bags, Cuomo flipped on several key issues and continues to sway left. His appeasement to the far left reached an apex when, according to CNN’s Maegan Vasquez, Cuomo said ”America was never that great.” The comment drew major criticism, but it shows the level a veteran politician like Cuomo must go to win a democratic primary in 2018. In order to prove he hates Trump, he attacked America itself.
All the hatred the left has for Trump allows them to turn a blind eye to candidates with some major red flags, just like the Tea Party. For another example, let us stay in New York and look at an experienced progressive candidate.
Alexandria Ocasio Cortez is the current progressive darling and has won the democratic nomination for her district in a major upset. She took the nation by storm with her Democratic Socialist platform and passion, but her inexperience and vagueness have brought some controversy to her campaign.
As she embarks on her “listening tours” around the country, she already barred the media from attending two town hall meetings last month, according to Sarah Mervosh of The New York Times. The move was heavily denounced, but she is still expected “to have little difficulty defeating [her opponent]… in November.”
Cortez’s move mirrors authoritarianism, and sounds very similar to Trump’s dangerous rhetoric, yet she is still predicted to win. If the left is willing to allow acts like this to slide with little to no repercussions, it opens the door for another Trump.
Democrats are in an odd predicament thanks to the Trump administration. Their hatred for Trump and their thirst for change could possibly bring about some tremendous good, but as we have all witnessed with the 2016 election, anything is possible. The Republicans showed us what happens when you sell morals and decency for power and politics. The Democrats need to avoid repeating history, or we may see another Trump in the White House.