Aaron Rupar: If you're roughly my age, it's wild to reflect on the optimism for the future Americans felt when Obama [View all]

was elected — young Americans spontaneously took to the streets to celebrate! — and contrast with what we face today. The falloff over the past 18 years is hard to process.

If you’re roughly my age, it’s wild to reflect on the optimism for the future Americans felt when Obama was elected — young Americans spontaneously took to the streets to celebrate! — and contrast with what we face today. The falloff over the past 18 years is hard to process.

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) 2026-03-09T15:56:07.313Z

Aaron's in his early 40s. But I don't think it's that particular age that matters. Anyone old enough to remember the optimism we felt when Obama was elected understands what he means.

And those of us who are older remember a lot of progress from earlier decades that we're now seeing reversed.