In the early morning hours of November 9, 2016 the new President-elect, Donald Trump, gave his victory speech. Like most such speeches there were a lot of inspiring generalities and not much detail, but this was our first glimpse of Trump after he realized he was going to become the President of the United States and that makes these words especially important, so let's take a close look at them.
The most surprising thing about this speech was that Trump talked about "Secretary Clinton" rather than "Crooked Hillary" and instead of threatening to put his opponent in jail he praised Hillary for a "very hard-fought campaign" and said "very sincerely" that we "owe her a major debt of gratitude for her service to our country."
This was a radically different tone from what we heard during the campaign. There is always some shift in emphasis after an election - we campaign in poetry but govern in prose as New York governor Mario Cuomo once said. Nevertheless, the shift in Trump's speech is pretty extreme: from "lock her up" during the campaign to "debt of gratitude" after the election. The name calling and legal threats during the campaign may have been just emotional appeals to whip up the enthusiasm of his base supporters. If that is true, we have to wonder how these people will react when they realize they were just being "played" in the same way they feel they have been played by every other politician. Maybe we'll find out.
With millions of other Americans I believe there was good evidence to call Trump the most dangerous presidential candidate of our lifetimes. We believe he is a clear threat to freedom and democracy and the fact that he has now been elected provides no new evidence to counter that belief. Even so, just as we should not mindlessly support a candidate, neither should we mindlessly oppose a president. I looked for good things in Trump's victory speech, things I can support while still keeping my eyes open for potential dangers, and here is what I found:
1. Bind the wounds:
In a common phrase from victory speeches Trump said: "Now it is time for America to bind the wounds of division.... To all Republicans and Democrats and independents across this nation, I say it is time for us to come together as one united people."
I can support bringing people together. We will have to watch and see how Trump intends to do this. Will it be done with give and take and compromises between opposing views, or will it be done by forcing people to go along with the views of the new president and his followers?
2. President for all:
In another good sign for the future Trump said, "I pledge to every citizen of our land that I will be President for all of Americans, and this is so important to me. For those who have chosen not to support me in the past, of which there were a few people, I'm reaching out to you for your guidance and your help so that we can work together and unify our great country."
I can support efforts to be the president of all the people and reaching out even to former opponents for help. Time will tell if Trump can live up to these noble sentiments or if they are just the typical political rhetoric of victory speeches.
3. Working people:
Trump reiterated that his supporters form a movement, not just a campaign. "As I've said from the beginning, ours was not a campaign but rather an incredible and great movement, made up of millions of hard-working men and women who love their country and want a better, brighter future for themselves and for their family."
I certainly support building a better future for American workers. We will have to see the details of Trump's policies and examine whether they actually help workers or not.
4. Opportunity:
In his speech Trump promised that "Every single American will have the opportunity to realize his or her fullest potential" and "the forgotten men and women of our country will be forgotten no longer."
Of course I support greater opportunity for all and leaving no one behind but, here again, we will have to see the policy details and find out if they result in the intended consequences.
5. Veterans:
Trump promises that "We will also finally take care of our great veterans who have been so loyal...."
Certainly we can all support Trump on caring for our veterans and wish for success in achieving this goal. Let's watch what he does here and make sure his policies provide real benefits and are not just for show.
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6. Economic Growth:
The President-elect says "We have a great economic plan. We will double our growth and have the strongest economy anywhere in the world."
I support efforts to increase economic growth that will benefit all Americans. Many people doubt that we will see growth much greater than what we have seen in recent years but economic growth is certainly a good thing so if Trump can do this without causing other problems, like inflation, we could all be better off than we are now.
7. America First:
The new President says "I want to tell the world community that while we will always put America's interests first, we will deal fairly with everyone...."
I have no objection, in principle, to putting America first IF we really are fair to others so we can hope for Trump's success here while also watching to make sure we don't cause harm to others in the world community.
8. Common Ground:
In a very good line Trump says, "We will seek common ground, not hostility; partnership, not conflict."
I wholeheartedly support common ground and partnership. Admittedly, during Trump's campaign there seemed to be very little of this kind of thinking but we can certainly hope he will attempt to govern differently than he campaigned.
9. Pride:
Trump also looks forward to a time when "hopefully you will be so proud of your President."
I support working to make people proud of you. If Trump is driven to do good things to make people proud of him then we can all benefit together.
10. Infrastructure:
In my opinion one of the best things Trump said in his victory speech was "We are going to fix our inner cities and rebuild our highways, bridges, tunnels, airports, schools, hospitals. We're going to rebuild our infrastructure, which will become, by the way, second to none. And we will put millions of our people to work as we rebuild it."
I support rebuilding our infrastructure. If done right this can provide jobs, put money into local economies where it is most needed, and provide capital resources to drive further economic growth. Typically, Republicans are loath to support this kind of public spending so let's hope Trump can persuade them to go along with this plan.
One of the doubtful claims made in Trump's victory speech was this: "It is a movement comprised of Americans from all races, religions, backgrounds, and beliefs, who want and expect our government to serve the people -- and serve the people it will." Does Trump really believe that his "movement" is supported by people from all races and religions? Polls and voting results seem to contradict this idea pretty soundly. And here is the danger: If Trump really believes that he has the support of all then maybe he will feel no need to reach out and win people over. That could be bad.
In conclusion I want to be very clear, Trump said terrible and dangerous and un-American things during his campaign. He promised to bring back torture and kill civilians, he promised to ban immigrants based on religion and to lock up his political opponent. He longed for more power to sue newspapers who criticize him and repeatedly indulged himself in childish and vulgar insults of anyone who hurt his feelings. He also boasted about groping women. Anyone who argues that we should forget these things and start with a "clean slate" is being irresponsible. The campaign Trump waged tells us a lot about who he is and we should never forget what we have learned about him.
On the other hand, we can HOPE there is more to Trump than we have seen thus far. We MUST hope that his administration will be better than his campaign. It is time now to live by the old saying about PREPARING for the worst, while still, nevertheless, HOPING for the best.
Copyright © 2016 by Joseph Wayne Gadway
