This is a very loaded issue Ruth and I'll try to be brave about providing some of my views. First, I'd like to say that with Trump being elected, many Americans sent a VERY big message to say we are sick and tired of politics as usual. Most, if not all of our government representatives tell us what they are going to do for us and then it never happens once they are elected. They get too busy with their lobbyists and special interest groups that they forget they are working for us. Now, I personally didn't like either candidate. They both had their bad things and skeletons in their closets. I chose Trump because I felt it was time to get a non-career politician into office. He is a business man - I think the WH needs to be run more like a business. I hope and pray he will be good for our economy. A big concern for me is the national debt - it just keeps going up. This has got to stop and I think Trump will do that, I don't think Hillary would've even looked at it. Personally I think both parties have gotten so far away from their parties roots that they should be ashamed of themselves. Democrats and Republicans, if they follow their general principals balance each other out nicely! But right now they are unrecognizable. As a long time Republican, this is another reason why I voted for Trump, not many of the elite Republicans wanted to support him - he stirred up the pot or the swamp as he calls it. I want true change, I don't want more of the same, and I'm not just referring to the last 8 years. I'm tired of more and more of my paycheck getting thrown at programs that are worthless. I think our entitlement programs are being taken advantage of. My healthcare is more than doubling next year. These are problems that affect me and are important to me. I see us giving money and benefits to refugees and illegal immigrants, while i do not want to seem insenstive to their plight, I want to take care of our own first - vets, homeless, children etc. We've got plenty of our own that need our help - they should be taken care of first - period! ?I don't believe Trump is a racist - I think he got labeled as one because he wants to address the refugee issue and the illegal immigrant issue - because those are minorities he gets labeled a racist. The media conveniently fails to hightlight some of the wonderful and charible things Trump has done over the years. Look at the millions of dollars raised for charities through The Apprentice. Now the tough comment that you asked. Did the Democrats choose the wrong candidate - I can't answer that one because I didn't vote for her, but here are some reasons as to why I didn't vote for her. First, when Bill was the president, and he finally admitted to his affairs, I would've respected her if she had left him. His moral compass was so off - he lied to us for so long until he got painted into a corner where he finally had to tell the truth. Had he just come forward and admitted it when it first broke - fine, I think we would've gotten over it. Now, we've learned a lot about how much of a womanizer he was. Hell, I had to explain what a blow job was to my 8 year old son...not cool! Fast forward to the present - Hillary ran a lot of her campaign on how Donald Trump was disprespectful of women - was he? Yup, probably, but Hillary seemed to conveniently forget about her husband. Secondly, she did in fact mishandle classified information - FBI confirmed. She wasn't charged like others were - look at General Petraus (spelling?), That gave me the perspective that she was above the law. I didn't think I could trust her with information about the US if she were the President. I really didn't like how she called us Trump Supporters as Deplorables and that we should be included in interventions. First, didn't like that labeling, second how is that going to help a VERY divided country become United again if she were president? I also think she would've gone after the 2nd amendment - not saying anything more about that. I don't appreciate being called a racist etc just because I support one candidate over another. Now you mention what did the Democrats do wrong? I don't think anyone did anything wrong regarding the election process. What I do think was wrong was the behaviors. Both candidates acted like schoolyard bullies. They made it ok for us to the same to eachother. People have lost the ability to respect differences of opinion and having civil conversations. As for your gloating vs dispair comment. I'm not going to gloat, it doesn't help the Divided States of America become the United States of America again. We are ALL going to have to work hard for that, we are ALL going to have to give and take and meet in the middle. I'm sure we can do it. I do know that the current protesters and rioters are not helping this. We need to accept that our votting process has decided and we need to come up with a plan to work together. I don't think our current POTUS has done anything to help bring us back together, instead I think he will go done in history as the Great Divider. The last two days, I have finally heard him say words that may help us in the right direction. I hope he continues to give us that message and that Donald Trump continues.
