Our country will survive Trump — as it would have survived Hillary

The following article was published Nov. 8, Election Day. Early Wednesday morning, Donald Trump was officially declared president-elect. 

If hyperbole were money we'd be drowning in cash this election season. Then half of it would probably go to even more attack ads. Election day is here. Such a long, ugly campaign on both sides with two candidates considered the least likable in the history of polling. Both sides have described a dystopian future if the other is elected. One, Hillary Clinton, has often hinted at no future for the human race at all with her constant charges of Donald Trump being a man who should not be trusted with the nuclear codes.

I am not voting for either major party candidate. While Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson is far from perfect, he is my choice over these two. People have gotten angry at me for this, giving me the cliche of how I'm throwing my vote away. I think voting for someone who's character I find deplorable, which in this case is either Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump, is the very definition of throwing away my vote. People then revert to the argument of 'lesser of two evils.' Again, back to the dire predictions of what one will mean for the country over the other.

I am not scared of what a Clinton presidency or a Trump presidency will bring for one simple reason.

I have faith in you.

America is not our borders, our states. Ultimately, America is our people. This election season has been the ugliest I have seen in my lifetime. But I believe no matter who wins the country will be just fine in the end. We have survived the War of 1812, The Mexican-American War, the American Civil War, World War I, World War II, the Vietnam War, the Gulf War, and so many others. The Civil War was our nation's bloodiest. The Vietnam war tore us apart socially. Yet we have always found our way in the dark back to each other. We have survived from slavery through the Civil Rights Movement. We have gone from women not being allowed to vote to a woman now a major party candidate. We have endured natural disasters, economic depressions, social unrest, terrorism, and everything else fate has thrown at us. Things have never been perfect in this country, and our founding fathers had the wisdom to know they never would be. This is why they created a constitution that was a living document that could be altered as time went on. This is why we created a system of government with three branches and checks and balances. So that if things ever got as dark as both candidates are prophesying now, the American people can pull back on the reins and course correct. It's why Richard Nixon was forced into a resignation. It's why Bill Clinton and Andrew Johnson were impeached (but not removed from office). Just as the candidates warn of the other winning and America changing for the worse, America in reaction to such events can change for the better. Ultimately, America is our people. And I have faith in you.

I have faith that no matter who wins and what they do, you will be watching closely. I have faith that the system of checks and balances will work. I have faith that if they don't work, you will come together as a people to make the changes necessary. America isn't so much the land we walk on and the air we breathe. America is its people. It's you. And you together will always be more powerful than any president.

I have faith in you.

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