They say politics is the root of all evil.

The 2016 election season across America can attest to that. It was, without a doubt, the nastiest, most vile and contentious election cycle in the history of our nation.

At no time ever in our history have we stood so divided over beliefs and principles. That’s not healthy, but yet it’s what makes America the world’s melting pot.

We, the people, have spoken. Like it or not, Donald Trump will be inaugurated in January as the 45th President of the United States. And, in true American fashion, he pulled off a win that the majority of our nation’s mainstream media said was impossible.

Donald Trump is the “Rudy” of American politics, as in reference to that rags-to-riches Notre Dame football based movie. “Rudy” is the millions of Americans fed-up with the way politics is now played in our nation’s capitol.

What was so amazing is that Trump pulled off this upset without the full support of the Republican Party and against all logic typically employed by those seeking political office. And he overcame the odds despite having Hollywood, academia, the majority of the mainstream media, and the heavy influx of foreign dollars funneled into Hillary’s campaign via the shady Clinton Foundation working against him. 

And, even more amazing is the fact that if the current (as of 8:30 a.m. Wednesday morning) numbers hold, Trump will earn the Oval Office without winning the popular vote. Then, he was trailing Hillary Clinton (59,180,209 to 59,043,559), but yet managed to win several key states – to include North Carolina, Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin – that put him over the top of the 270 electoral votes needed.

For Clinton, it was a bitter defeat, so much to the point where she opted not to publically concede the race to Trump in the wee hours of Wednesday morning, despite seeing the handwriting on the wall in two key states (Pennsylvania and Wisconsin). Instead, she sent her campaign manager, John Podesta, out to address her supporters. He offered little hope, other than to say ballots were still being counted. Mrs. Clinton did concede later Wednesday morning.

For our nation to heal and move forward from this election, Clinton must take responsibility for her failed campaign, one where she managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. Her undoing, in our humble opinion, was that she was viewed as an untrustworthy leader as well as part of the Washington establishment that America’s silent majority (the unaffiliated voters) cast their ballots against in record numbers.

On the other side of the coin, President-Elect Trump needs to tone down his bull-in-a-china-shop style and govern with a strong, but caring, hand. His often-time bullish rhetoric during the campaign was used as “eye candy” to draw in support. He is now in charge of the proverbial china shop and we can ill afford to pick up the pieces he may break.

Instead, he and we, as Americans, need to rather use that time wisely, as in restoring our economy, reducing our national debt, rebuilding our military, reestablishing the USA as the most powerful and most respected country in the world, and restoring faith in our elected leaders, both in the White House and in Congress, after years of ineffectiveness by both. 

In Trump’s favor is that he is not a politician. He’s not a Washington insider. He’s not part of the elite establishment, those who are in the pockets of powerful lobbyists.

In other words, he owes no one any political favors, but yet he faces the tough task of building a bridge across the nation’s deep divide and bringing us together to, in his words, “Make America Great Again.”

However, he can’t “drain the swamp” in Washington, as he promised on the campaign trail. But at the very least, he can begin the process of cleansing the water, tainted for decades by corrupt politics.

Good luck, Mr. President-Elect….the nation, and the world, will be watching.

– The Roanoke-Chowan News-Herald