The following editorial first appeared in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:
Donald J. Trump was elected president of the United States Tuesday in free and fair elections. Love or hate Trump, because of our cherished democracy and playing by the rules that are at the core of American principles, we are fully obliged to support the president-elect as he seeks to govern the nation to the best of his ability and in the people’s interest.
After running in the most unconventional and brutal presidential campaign in modern history, Trump gave a short victory speech that was conventional and calming: “I pledge to every citizen of our land that I will be president for all Americans,” he said. “Working together, we will begin the urgent task of rebuilding our nation and renewing the American dream. … The forgotten men and women of our country will be forgotten no longer.” Those words indicate that he not only understands the obligation voters’ commitment places upon him, but that he also wishes to get America past the bitterness and division of the past year.
The voters left both the House of Representatives and the Senate in the hands of a Republican Party majority. That means that America should be free, starting in January, of the paralyzing political gridlock that has so hampered President Barack Obama in addressing the nation’s problems.
Voting results indicate that first and foremost among these problems is the feeling of many voters that their well-being is not being seen to by Washington, that they are being left to rot. Dealing with these issues is going to require Trump’s balancing his campaign pledges of a tax cut, reducing America’s military presence overseas without jeopardizing its security, and renewing America through constructive, remunerative work. He must not forget the geography of the American Brexit: Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Ohio. Those are the states that made Trump president. Trump ran on the promise of doing something about a broken American dream. He cannot now say that it was a metaphor, that none of it is really possible.
Trump enters the White House with the immense enmity of millions of Americans who are aghast at his conduct on the campaign trail for the past year and a half. Yet to echo Hillary Clinton in her gracious concession speech Wednesday, “We owe him an open mind and a chance to lead.”
