Eight years ago, when Donald Trump won election to the presidency of the United States, I wrote on here about the humanity of Donald Trump. As he appears poised to return to the presidency, I return to that post.
It's difficult. Trump and some of his supporters have ratcheted up their rhetoric on the very kinds of issues that I and other folks voiced concern about eight years ago. For as much as I strive to see their humanity, I don't see reciprocation of that effort on their part, and that is what frustrates me the most about the movement Trump leads and the kind of future for the country and the world that movement might produce. I think I understand the concerns into which Trump has tapped, and I am willing to work through those concerns. I worry, though, about the paths for advancing those concerns that Trump's movement has been advocating.
I am quite willing to accept disagreements on policy and perspective. Take, for instance, Ohio governor Mike DeWine. I have not voted for him (though I likely would have had I lived in Ohio for his U.S. Senate race in 2000, and I left the ballot blank for his race against Sherrod Brown in 2006 because I had concerns about some of DeWine's positions, but I also still respected him). I don't agree with DeWine on a number of things, but since I saw him on C-SPAN in his early days in the U.S. Senate in the 1990s, I have held the impression that he examines things meticulously and scrupulously, and that he pursues policy objectives with an eye toward working across viewpoints and political sides. As Ohio's governor, I have seen him continue in that vein. I think DeWine cares for his fellow human beings, and I think that is evident in what he says and does, even if I think some of his conclusions warrant reconsideration.
Many things I hear from Trump and from some of his supporters don't reflect that same care, and it worries me. At the same time, I will not stop caring about them. I may get frustrated sometimes, but even amid moments of frustration, I love my fellow people, I care deeply for the society in which I live, and I promise that I will continuously seek to work with my fellow people. To Trump and his supporters, congratulations on your election victory. May we find effective ways of working together going forward, and may we do so in a way that is mindful of our differences and compassionate not only to each other, but to everyone.