Americans rose Wednesday to understand that our fate lies now in the hands of Donald Trump and a Republican Party that will, come early 2017, control all three branches of our government.
Trump was not the people’s pick. In fact, Democrat and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton won the country’s popular vote. But Trump won in the country’s Electoral College votes – and that’s the determining factor.
Trump swept to victory with an improbable “flip” of five states that President Obama won in 2008 and 2012 – Iowa, Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. His win came after an ugly campaign in which he employed racist, xenophobic and misogynistic tweets and comments to court ordinary, reliable Republican voters – mostly men – who felt left behind in a changing global and technological economy.
Now on the morning and days later, we must hope he remains the president-elect Donald Trump who, early Wednesday morning, gave a cogent, gracious victory speech of hope and unity.
“Now it is time for America to bind the wounds of division. To all Republicans and Democrats and independents across this nation, I say it is time for us to come together as one united people,” he said.