Robin SmithBeloved University of Tennessee Lady Vols basketball coach Pat Summitt has been credited with words she was supposed to have used to challenge herself in her struggle with Alzheimer's disease and to challenge some of her players on the court: "Toughen up, Buttercup."
Summitt's no-nonsense approach to competition needs to inform us all, post-Nov. 8, 2016.
Heading into the presidential election, the rules of engagement were predetermined and established. The "teams" were formed over the course of months-long battles within the primaries of the Democratic and the Republican parties. When the brackets yielded the championship pairing, the nominees of the DNC and GOP delivered loyal supporters the excitement, rivalry and suspense of a true championship match. Of the 538 electoral votes available and awarded based on winning the votes of states, Trump-Pence won the match with 306 to Clinton-Kaine's 232.
But the rivalries have devolved into petulant tantrums and criminal acts by the losing side. Yet, a good discussion about the Electoral College has emerged.
Simply, the Electoral College is comprised of electors based on population of states that purposefully honors the representative aspects of the democratic republic of our federal government. Rather than awarding population centers such as Los Angeles, New York City and other large urban areas with the power, the Founding Fathers created the Electoral College to honor rural, urban, suburban and all voters.
Trump-Pence won in 3,084 counties of the 3,141 total in America. Without the Electoral College, voters in urban areas would have greatest influence over each national election. But, just as each state has two U.S. Senators, regardless of population, to represent the 50 states, our founders' brilliance prevents mob rule.
Let's focus on those who reject this reality. I have received hundreds of emails shared with me by a couple of the Tennessee electors whose votes will be cast on Monday, Dec. 19, to officially elect the presidential ticket of the United States. These emails range from name-calling to clear electioneering for an elector to abandon his or her vote for the winner of their respective state.
Here are a few excerpts, verbatim:
From Debra Peterson: "We are seeing the demonstrations and more are planned. This election brought out the racists and bigots that will not make our country great, but rather are shredding the very fabric of our society."
From Gaelan McKeown: "America cannot abide a sexist, racist, xenophobic, homophobic charlatan for president "
From Anne Undis: "I hope that you can leverage the privilege that you have, may it be whiteness, gender, religion, age, position of power, etc., to not allow Donald Trump to be elected. Voting for Donald Trump is, at the very least, enabling racism, sexism, Islamophobia, etc."
From Shari Sykes: "What if Germany had a similar vote before Hitler came into power? What if there was a way that history could have changed course? That small window of opportunity could have avoided the incredible loss "
From Rebecca Trammell: "I personally feel threatened, outraged, depressed, and my central nervous system is responding to these threats of my personhood and citizenship in this great nation, much the same as the moment when I was raped by a white supremacist and got pregnant at age 13. This man is the epitome of a godless mongrel waiting to attack. You are not safe, I am not safe, and the United States is not safe."
From Stephanie Myers: "We've seen this before. It was called Nazi Germany, and it didn't start with throwing people in ovens."
Our founders were wise. America is a democratic republic. So, let's stop the hysterics and, as Pat Summitt might suggest, "Toughen up, Buttercups."
Robin Smith, a former chairwoman of the Tennessee Republican Party, owns Rivers Edge Alliance.