Donald Trump Presidency is What We Make of It: Commentary

The polls were wrong.

Just how wrong became abundantly clear in the late evening hours Tuesday as Donald Trump managed to gobble up more electoral votes than anyone, perhaps even the New York businessman himself, thought possible.

As the evening passed and melted into the early morning hours of Wednesday, it was clear: Trump would be America’s 45th president. As shocking as that result was to some, what came next has been even more disheartening.

Peaceful protests have boiled over to become full-blown riots. Fires have burned. People have been injured. Assassination threats have been tweeted. The very hatred and divisiveness anti-Trump protesters have vowed to disavow appears to be driving the “Dump Trump” train.

Is this who we really want to be, America?

As a journalist, I’m hesitant to share my opinions. As a mom, I’m finding it difficult to sit on the sidelines and stay silent.

Like it or not, Trump earned the votes he needed to score a victory Tuesday night. As of Jan. 20, 2017, he will be America’s next president. Ideally, that will mean he will serve all Americans – not just those who voted for him.

Is Trump up to the task? That clearly remains a matter of debate. Is he flawed, perhaps deeply so? Very likely, but who among us is not?

We the People, however, can make sure he serves us well. In fact, it’s our duty to do so. This is our country and its fate rests in our hands.

Clearly, we as a people are divided, and therein lies a very big part of the problem. Trump won not because of racism, anti-liberalism, xenophobia or fear mongering (although those things very likely drove some of his supporters). Trump won because the status quo isn’t working for large swaths of our country.

Don’t believe it?

Take a look at the electoral map that lit up red on Election Day. Even states that normally go solid blue turned red. Trump broke the “blue wall” Hillary Clinton’s campaign relied upon not because voters in Pennsylvania, Florida or Ohio who previously voted Democrat suddenly became uneducated, misogynistic or racist. He broke the wall because good, hardworking people – our friends and neighbors – are hurting. Concerns about grocery prices, insurance costs (yes, even under Obamacare), the country’s educational system and its immigration system, as well, drove people to the polls to vote for what they hope will be a meaningful change.

Will it turn out to be so? That’s entirely up to us.

Our country is not a pure democracy. We live under a representative system that has built-in checks and balances. It’s up to us to ensure our representatives hear our thoughts on the issues that seem to matter the most: education, national security, immigration, jobs, healthcare.

Yes, we’ll have a Republican-controlled White House and Congress over the next few years. But, keep in mind, many of these people face re-election in two.

Already, President-elect Trump has shown some pliability. His cry to do away with the Affordable Care Act entirely has been tempered with a turn to keep two of its most important provisions in place (coverage of pre-existing conditions and the ability for children to stay on parents’ policies until they’re 26). That’s a good sign; hopefully, there will be more.

The next four years won’t be easy and they wouldn’t have been so under any president. Let’s face it; America faces too many challenges for a cakewalk.

Will Trump turn out to be a good president? Only time will tell. We the People, however, can help make it so by voicing our concerns and opinions respectfully, reaching out to our representatives and finding common ground amongst ourselves. We’re not Democrats or Republicans first; we’re Americans.

President Trump will either do a good job, or we’ll “dump” him at the ballot box in 2020. I, for one, am rooting for him, simply because I’m rooting for America and its people.

Patch photo via Rick Uldricks