Marshawn Wolley: The election is over. What does the US do now?

I’d say this election cycle was unprecedented, but I think the term has been used too often.

Barring an election like 2000 when the public was introduced to the term “hanging chad,” we likely have a solid sense of what federal, state and local leadership looks like by the time this column publishes.

I’m willing to wager that millions of people are elated. Their candidate won the presidency, and so their values won the day. While all the promises made by their favored candidate assuredly won’t happen because the opposition is set on ruining the country, they remain hopeful for progress on their collective agenda.

Finally, the country can turn the page and be great again.

I’m also willing to wager that millions are devastated. They don’t understand how so many fellow citizens could be so wrong. From immigration and the border, to abortion and women’s health, there are real concerns that will impact people’s lives.

I dare not diminish the loss of life connected to the issues for which people are concerned. The needless loss of life is tragic. But I do express the disquiet about the use of death to make a political point.

Not to mention the economy. The economy had the lowest propensities of landing softly.

And crime—steadily moving in the right direction but stubbornly not fast enough.

I think it’s also important to recognize that a significant group of people in this country are afraid about what is going to happen during the next four years. They are terrified. Change is coming, but how it will happen at the federal level is anyone’s guess.

Funny how similar we are even in our divisions. Even in our fears.

The rhetoric on both sides of the national conversation was too hot. I think one side was far worse than the other, but at issue is what happens now.

As fellow citizens, we will only have a government as good as the one we are able to hold to the highest accountability. And while it is true we will only deserve the government we are willing to fight for, there are all types of casualties in the process.

I am concerned about the truth and its consistently striking resemblance to whatever echo chamber I decide to reside in for the moment while watching cable news. (Note to self. Stop watching cable news.)

I wonder about friendships lost and family relationships strained over social media posts.

I also worry about those fellow citizens who are more sensitive to the intensity of our political rhetoric—and what they might do.

But some elements of American life are enduring.

Whether it is at the federal, state or local level, no political ideology disappears.

Weakened perhaps by public rejection, no doubt, the issue is messaging. Keep at it, and the people will come.

There is also the paradox of the zero-sum game in politics, with the victors receiving the spoils. That’s even though—far more often than not, and at all levels of government—there isn’t a unanimous one-sided political victory.

After all, there are even different kinds of political partisans inside of political parties.

Admittedly, I am writing this before what I am told is the potential end of democracy.

I just hope someone is here to read this, and that the Republic is still here.•

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Wolley is president and CEO of Black Onyx Management Inc. Send comments to ibjedit@ibj.com.

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