By TOM TYE

Guest columnist

I would like to share some thoughts on what has possibly been the most dynamic, fractious and divisive presidential election in the history of our nation.

President-elect Trump was wise enough to realize early in the process that he needed to speak directly to the forgotten or discounted middle American voter who felt that no one in Washington was listening to their concerns or really cared about the impact that overreaching legislation and executive orders were having on their daily lives. He also realized that these Americans were more than a little concerned about  national security, illegal immigration, the weakening of our nation’s military and poor trade deals.

It is my personal belief that Americans were most concerned about who would be responsible for filling the vacant seat on the Supreme Court. While we may not approve of some of his language or the way he expressed his views, he spoke directly to those issues and what he said resonated. In the words of his wife Melania, “He’s raw, but he’s real.”

At the beginning, most Republicans were surprised at the momentum his campaign was gaining on a daily basis and then we came to realize that he was not only campaigning for the nation’s highest office, he was starting a movement that could not be stopped. And it wasn’t!

America is a very proud nation and rightly so. We are proud of what we have accomplished over the past 240 years and we know that we can still accomplish great things both at home and abroad in the future.   Mr. Trump’s message that none of this can be accomplished by continuing the status quo, coupled with his boundless energy and enthusiastic delivery may have been best stated just last week, when he said, “We will heal our divisions and unify our country together.”  He also stated, “There is nothing we cannot do!”  

Few president-elects have ever faced such daunting, myriad tasks. Even fewer have accepted the comprehensive mantle of terrorism, fiscal decline, the economic strife and demands of under/unemployment, differences of opinion on both our own and the global environment and who and how to protect nations weaker than ours.

Trump’s vision for the future is that of America as a rich nation. Those were his words again last week. Wealth gained on behalf of all Americans willing to come forward to push and pull the wagon of prosperity, rather than hitching a ride, will ignite a rebirth of spirit and achievement across our land.

Republicans have been very successful during this past election season. We now hold the majority in the Kentucky House and Senate and the Kentucky Governor’s Mansion; as well as majorities in the national House and Senate and the nation’s highest office. With that success comes great responsibility. Eight years ago, we were willing to give current President Obama a chance to guide our nation with his vision and I would ask that everyone extend the same courtesy to president-elect Trump.

The electoral process is over.  We will have a new president on Jan. 20. It serves absolutely no purpose to continue to demonstrate, criticize and refuse to accept what is literally the will of the people. I plead with everyone to try to find a way to come together for the good of our great nation. We are better than what we have seen on the news these past few weeks.

If together we contemplate Proverbs 29:18 — “Where there is no vision, the people perish” — we will soon find the peace, calm and prosperity all who cherish our great nation are seeking.

Tom Tye is the chairman of the Boyle County Republican Party.