Where to from here?

By Mark Hopkins

The election is over and all the ballots have been counted. This has been the worst of the worst of presidential campaigns. I have watched every campaign for president since 1948. (Being a Missourian when Harry Truman is running will tend to draw you to the radio and newspaper. I would say TVs, but we didn't have TVs in rural America in 1948. Believe me, every schoolchild in Missouri was watching our hero, "Give 'em Hell Harry," upset Gov. Thomas Dewey, the New York City candidate.) That one was noteworthy because it was perhaps the greatest upset in election history, not because of personal attacks on opponents.

However, we have never had a negative campaign like this one in my lifetime. Virtually every demographic group under our flag came in for attack, including African-Americans, Hispanics, women, youth and the college-educated, just to name the most obvious.

We should acknowledge that we never have a campaign where the truth does not suffer on the campaign trail, where candidates are vilified, and charges are hurled about as if they are legal indictments. Even with the constant attacks on President Obama in 2008 and 2012, we did not witness even half of the viciousness of this campaign.

But, now it is over. The TV and newspapers can move back toward normalcy. We can begin to breathe again. We may even be able to watch a favorite show without constant negative advertisements. However, one thing we need to remember, one important thing is necessary for democracy to work. When the voting is over and the majority has spoken, it is incumbent on all of us to add our assent to the will of the majority. Today, it doesn't do us well to remember the rhetoric following the 2008 and 2012 elections when one side swore to "fight the winner tooth and toenail," to "make sure he is a one-term president." Those comments were not worthy of our elected leaders. Today, the challenge is to pull together behind the will of the majority. Remember, when we went into the polling booth to cast our ballot for the candidate of our choice, we were really voting for democracy, for our country, for our future, for our children and grandchildren, for America.

A good friend of mine said months ago, "Well, the devil we know versus the devil we don't." To a certain extent, that seemed to be an accurate statement. That same friend said late last week, "Well, my candidate didn't win, but the winner is now my president and I will give my support. We have to remember that we are all in this together. If the new president doesn't succeed, we all fail." That is the only attitude those who profess to love democracy, freedom and the United States of America can take. Anything less is unworthy of us.