Swerve

America swerved yesterday. We don’t know yet what we’ve swerved into.

The other day on the highway I had to jerk the wheel to avoid a semi-truck that was sliding into my lane. I was grateful there wasn’t a ditch there. Swerving can get you in trouble.

America swerved yesterday. We avoided the moral and political catastrophe of a Hillary Clinton presidency. We don’t know yet what we’ve swerved into. It has always been more important (in my mind) to defeat Clinton than to elect Trump — even though the two events were so tightly linked. We avoided the most obvious disaster for which I’m very grateful.

But I’m well aware that half of America thinks we drove the country down a ravine. Canada’s immigration website crashed about 10:30 p.m. on election night, and as I write this on Wednesday morning it’s responding only intermittently. Coincidence? I’d have to be convinced.

The LA Times is reporting “sadness, anger and bursts of rage” this morning, along with vandalism and campus protests. The Daily News went way over the top with its cover this morning, but there’s something informative there anyway: A lot of people are horrified today. 

Good Morning America today showed images of men, women and children reacting in fear and horror. They brought a psychiatrist on the show to help parents explain to their children what had just happened. They did a responsible job of putting it in context: some families are happy with the outcome, and this advice was only for those who weren’t. The psychiatrist’s words were wise and helpful — and eerily similar to the advice you’d hear from parents after a bomb was dropped on their town.

So there’s healing needed. And if a good ground game is important to win an election, it’s even more crucial to recover our sense of unity.

Ground game means you. You’re only one person, right? Sure. But if your one vote was worth your time to go the polls yesterday, your one unifying move today could be worth at least that much too.

This we do know: there are fractures to be mended, and they are too deep to leave in the hands of a new president.

It’s simple: go find someone who’s upset about Trump’s victory and listen to them. Hear what they’re angry or worried about. Explain your side if they ask, but don’t argue. You don’t need to win this one; you won the election, and that’s good enough. The best thing you could prove might just be that you’re not so “deplorable” after all.

We go forward from this election with one big question settled but a whole lot of unknowns still looming before us. This we do know: There are fractures to be mended, and they are too deep to leave in the hands of a new president. It’s going to take someone far more strategically placed: you and me.