Editorials

The Results Are In

In perhaps the biggest surprise in American politics, Donald J. Trump was elected as president of the United States. Most of the polls, almost every one in the media, had been indicating that Hillary Clinton would be elected. It seemed like it was done deal. And yet it wasn’t.

President-Elect Trump won the election. Mrs. Clinton lost by the rules of the Electoral College, one that Mrs. Clinton wholeheartedly supported prior to her defeat and one that Mr. Trump questioned.

Any complaining or protesting at this point is counter-productive and futile. It is a done deal – Mr. Trump will be inaugurated as president on Jan. 20, 2017. Out of respect for the Office of President and for our nation, we, as Catholics, owe him our prayers.

We owe it to ourselves as a nation to give the president-elect a real chance to be the president, just like we would have owed it to Mrs. Clinton had she won. Failure to do so will only hurt our nation and cause divisions, some of which are actually being exacerbated by the media.

Supporters of Mrs. Clinton’s campaign can analyze and blame all the people and circumstances that they want, but the fact remains that she did not connect with many voters. It also did not help her campaign that she almost categorically refused to connect with any voters who were explicitly religious in their overall worldview. It seems like the values that were put forth in her campaign were not those with which most Americans can totally agree.

Exit polls show that Catholics backed Trump over Clinton, 52 to 45 percent. We have a tremendous opportunity to help increase a truly Catholic worldview at this moment, with the possibility of Supreme Court appointments and other changes in policy.

We can debate the merits of the Electoral College and the popular vote all we want, but the fact is that if the rules had been different, the campaigns would have been run in different ways.

Each side needs to ask itself if this debate would even be happening if their candidate of choice won or lost. We need to come together for the good of our nation and our world and prove, as we always can and do, that the United States of America always has a peaceful transition of power.

One thought on “The Results Are In

  1. think the Clinton and Mr. Podesta received a catholic and Christian Spring in this election but not the one they expected.
    I believe it is time for Catholic , Christen, and Jewish faithful to fight for their beliefs. We have been silent while the Media, our politically correct and progressive elected officials have attacked our beliefs, “We Must Modernize our religion’s today to societies rules”. Religion is faith and belief in God and His Natural order of life, not man’s.
    The Constitution guarantees our freedom to practice religion without government interference. Today the some of our Supreme Court Justice have their own personal opinion of what the Constitution means. I’m sorry to say a number of elected Catholics officials believe,”Their faith doesn’t have to be followed in their political life”. God will be their final judge, not me.
    God bless America and may His will be fulfilled.