Like all of us, I am glad this election is over.
Perhaps having been in public life for so many years, I can better understand the consequences of winning and losing elections.
I was a lucky person having won 13 contests for my seat in the state Legislature, but on each of those occasions, I defeated someone whose hopes of victory were as strong as mine.
This was one of the bitterest elections in our lifetime.
The issues of the day were obscured by negative campaigns and appeals to some of the meaner instincts in people.
But the election is history and I am grateful that our system allows the torch to be passed from one administration to a new one.
Unlike Mr. Putin’s Russia where there is no freedom of choice, we are so lucky to live in these United States.
Not every president who ran this country during my lifetime was my personal choice.
I was no fan of the second President Bush, nor was I in love with Jimmy Carter.
But, when a person is elected president in our country we give that person the respect due the office and hope that their actions will be for the common good.
I know that politicians in the heat of battle say many things that are offensive and I have seen those angry words disappear once the successful candidate faces the burdens of office.
I hope that President-elect Donald Trump becomes the statesman that we need in that crucial job.
I hope his is mindful of the fact that the country is evenly divided and there is a need to bring people together.
I really don’t believe that Donald Trump has any intention of deporting 11 million people, many of whom were born here and are protected by the United States Constitution.
I think his make believe wall between the United States and Mexico will eventually become some type of new high tech system that tracks the movement of unwelcome visitors.
I do not believe that the father and grandfather of young women will attack women’s rights to control their own bodies.
Somehow I would like to think that the weight of the highest office in the land will somehow mellow him to become a more caring person.
There is one group who isn’t getting attention in the days following the election and that is the United States Congress.
Many of them think that they survived another contest and are free to follow their own agendas, once again.
How wrong they are. The voters sent a very clear message that they are fed up with the Washington gridlock and they were talking about the Senate and the House.
Years and years of petty political agendas targeting innocent people and doing nothing to approve the lives of so many in need, was one of the reasons why Mr. Trump was elected.
Those polls about how the public feels about the Congress were very accurate. If they ignore the voters they will have to pay for it in two years.
The election is now over but we have a constitutional duty to keep this new president honest and focused on what makes America so great.
