The election of Donald Trump gave me feelings of relief and concern, for my country and the Republican Party. I also include ideas of how it was he won, and whether racism was involved.
And I cover other reactions to his election. Or do I?
Here are my thoughts on the election of 2016.
Mentioned links:
Dear America, This Is Important — Trump Did Not Win Because of Racism
Trump Did Better With Blacks, Hispanics Than Romney in ’12: Exit Polls
The  Great Liberal Freakout

Show transcript
Wow. Just…wow. How did that happen? During the evening of November 8th, 2016, I just kept asking that question, as various states that Hillary Clinton should have had in the bag turned red for Donald Trump. I went to sleep at about 1:30 in the morning, but then I asked it one more time, as I turned on the TV when I woke up and found out that Trump was President-elect.
So how did I feel when I found that out? Well, a bit of a mix of relief and concern. Not joy, nor excitement; relief and concern. Let me explain.
As I’ve said here a few times, I was voting for the party, the platform, not the President. I think that Donald Trump was possibly the worst candidate that the Republicans have put forward in my lifetime. From his trash talking, to his lack of self-control, to his buttons so easily pushed, to the nervousness I felt every time he would go off-script, his temperament really is radically different from other Presidents. To some, that’s precisely what they were looking for; a non-politician to shake things up. To me, it was too much.
But Trump promised (or at least paid lip service to) conservative Supreme Court justices, ones that would protect our constitutional rights of freedom of religion, and that would protect the unborn. He promises to get tough on terrorism, ISIS and Al Qaeda in particular. He’s not afraid to intone the phrase “radical Islam”, which, as I’ve said before, has caused our current President to take his eyes off the ball and target those who merely disagreed with his policies. There are other issues on which I agree with him – issues that I think the Republican Congress must tackle – but those were my top 3. So that is where my relief comes from. Hillary Clinton was actively against those first two – religious freedom and protecting the unborn – so that’s why, even if Trump doesn’t really advance those causes, we at least will not lose ground there.
But I am still concerned. I am concerned for the country, in that Trump’s loose talk has poisoned the well of cooperation. I can see how Democrats might not want to be seen as working with him. Without a filibuster- or veto-proof majority in Congress, that means he’s going to have to reach across the aisle. He’s made it difficult for them to reach back, to say the least.
And I am concerned for the Republican Party. The thought was that if Trump lost big, Republicans would think twice about putting forth a similar candidate in the future. If Trump lost narrowly, it might split the party between those that thought we needed someone even more like him, and those who thought we needed someone less like him. But he won, and in some states that conventional wisdom said he shouldn’t have. My concern is that the party is still split, and that the group that thinks we need candidates more like him is now going to grow.
I do not want that. I want a true conservative who’s rhetoric doesn’t give Democrats easy pickin’s. I want a candidate whose negatives don’t approach 60%. But my concern is that the party, heady with a big victory over a Clinton,