You wanted change. You got it. Now live with it.

As I write this column (on Tuesday morning) my wife and I are getting ready for an outing, one that includes a visit to our designated polling place to vote in Missouri's presidential primary election.

(Spoiler: I'm going to be saying some positive things about Donald Trump's supporters, so some of you might want to move on to the obituaries right now.)

Even though I am only a couple of hours away from making a decision in this year's primary, I still don't know how I'm going to cast my ballot. I know for whom I am not going to vote. I won't be supporting the Republican front-runner. And I won't be voting for Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders, because I will be asking for a Republican primary ballot.

I am not likely to vote for Ted Cruz. He has worked hard to leave the impression that he is different from other candidates and would be an agent for change in our political process. But isn't that what every candidate claims these days? And then when they get elected, they morph into -- surprise, surprise -- more of the same.

I like the youthfulness and passion of Marco Rubio. And John Kasich comes across, to me, as a steady plodder who has a decent record.

But let's face it, folks. If you're among the millions of Americans who have been saying for years that our system needs an overhaul, isn't it pretty plain that Trump is the real candidate of change? And isn't that why he has so much support -- and so much opposition among GOP power brokers, who really don't want any change at all?

Let me be very clear. This is not an endorsement for Trump. I don't like his political style or his personal style. But I have to marvel at his showmanship and his ability to maintain a lock on media attention, which have propelled him into a likely horse race with the Democratic nominee.

There is something even deeper about Trump and his supporters. The plain fact is that he appeals to many in a way that seems like real change, even if the result looks, to some of us, a lot like Hugh Hefner campaigning to become pope.

Here's something to consider. If most Republicans want Donald Trump to be their party's nominee for president, why shouldn't he be? And if, in the general election in November, most American voters want Donald Trump to be president, why shouldn't he be?

Letting the people choose whom they want for public office is the foundation of our democracy. We're the nose-turned-up nation that sends observers to countries all over the world to monitor national elections. Those monitors aren't there to make sure the best candidate wins. They are there to make sure the election process isn't hijacked. If monitors from other nations came to the U.S. to observe our elections, wouldn't they find the oh-my-gosh backlash, mostly media driven, to Trump's dominance just a bit ridiculous?

By the time you read this, most of the hoopla may be over. Rubio and Kasich may be has-beens. Sanders may be left with little except the knowledge that he made Hilary Clinton work for the Democratic nomination. If so, it will be interesting to see how the GOP leadership reacts to the reality of modern American democracy, a reality that includes the ability of unlikely candidates to dominate the process and turn what are considered weaknesses among other candidates into strengths for the candidate of change.

"Be careful what you pray for" is an adage worth remembering right now. Many of us have said for a long time we want change in politics. This year, we got it.

So why are so many folks having such a hard time accepting it?

Joe Sullivan is the retired editor of the Southeast Missourian.