Editorials, Opinion Believing in America
If anything is crystal clear following this national election cycle, it is that the United States is a country divided.
2016 produced a General Election like no other in history. Both presidential candidates, Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, were marred by scandals of varying levels. Their political leanings and past decisions were criticized, picked apart and called into question, to degrees that have never been seen before. Some argued that the choices for president were dismally inadequate and even embarrassing, while others defended their chosen candidate to the bitter end.
Unexpectedly, and some would say astonishingly, Trump — a New York real estate developer and reality television star who has never before served in elected office — overcame unlikely odds and on Tuesday, Nov. 8, was voted into office as the nation’s 45th president.
During the final month of campaigning, Trump was asked more than once if he would “accept” the election results. It was a loaded question that always elicited vague, coy answers. In the end, however, it turned out to be Clinton who had to find the right words to communicate to her supporters and the rest of the country that she would indeed support a peaceful transition of power.
Think what you may about Clinton’s politics and background, her concession speech provided some words of reason in an incredibly uncertain time.
